Kreigh Tomaszewski
December 17th, 2007, 06:49 PM
Around Christmas time each agency in the county usually has some sort of Christmas Party for their foster families. Typically food and games, and sometimes gifts are given to the children.
This year Alticor's One By One Campaign for Children sponsored the traditional party and combined all the county agencies into one big party. They rented the Van Andel Museum (in Grand Rapids, MI) for an evening and bought the parking lot to provide free parking.
The first two floors featured food stations with kids fare (mac&cheese, chicken strips cut in animal shapes), asian (rice, egg rolls, stir fry), italian (lasagna, noodles and meat sauce), and ice cream sundae bars.
The third floor was turned into a carnival midway with all free games and prizes. Santa was on the second floor landing with free instant pictures and candy canes.
Alticor rounded up a bunch of National Honor Society high schoolers and turned them into groups of strolling carolers. Most did not sing in a choir, and they were obviously having fun doing it. There were also clowns making balloon sculptures, and face painting.
When the RSVPs came in, each of the agencies reported having more than doubled their average participation. The event reinforced agency cooperation.
Agency staff handled the door registration and raffle, and caseworkers were wandering around talking to kids and parents. The carnival was staffed by volunteers (mostly from Alticor). A lot of parents were meeting and talking too. Each family got a packet of practical gift certificates, information, and a program/museum map. Free bound journals with a clasp were available for every kid.
From the number of families that were looking at the exhibits, and their comments, I suspect at least a third of them had never been to the museum before. The carousel was free, and the Gaslight Village shops were _all_ open (that is a big deal happening).
I sure hope it turns into an annual event. It was a huge improvement over the traditional agency party. I thought you might find it interesting.
This year Alticor's One By One Campaign for Children sponsored the traditional party and combined all the county agencies into one big party. They rented the Van Andel Museum (in Grand Rapids, MI) for an evening and bought the parking lot to provide free parking.
The first two floors featured food stations with kids fare (mac&cheese, chicken strips cut in animal shapes), asian (rice, egg rolls, stir fry), italian (lasagna, noodles and meat sauce), and ice cream sundae bars.
The third floor was turned into a carnival midway with all free games and prizes. Santa was on the second floor landing with free instant pictures and candy canes.
Alticor rounded up a bunch of National Honor Society high schoolers and turned them into groups of strolling carolers. Most did not sing in a choir, and they were obviously having fun doing it. There were also clowns making balloon sculptures, and face painting.
When the RSVPs came in, each of the agencies reported having more than doubled their average participation. The event reinforced agency cooperation.
Agency staff handled the door registration and raffle, and caseworkers were wandering around talking to kids and parents. The carnival was staffed by volunteers (mostly from Alticor). A lot of parents were meeting and talking too. Each family got a packet of practical gift certificates, information, and a program/museum map. Free bound journals with a clasp were available for every kid.
From the number of families that were looking at the exhibits, and their comments, I suspect at least a third of them had never been to the museum before. The carousel was free, and the Gaslight Village shops were _all_ open (that is a big deal happening).
I sure hope it turns into an annual event. It was a huge improvement over the traditional agency party. I thought you might find it interesting.