By Daily Press staff
Proceeds from a festival this weekend will give low-income families an opportunity for child care.
The “Dino Fair,” a free family festival benefiting low-income families who need scholarships to attend the non-profit Growing Place child center in Santa Monica, is scheduled for Saturday, May 3.
Pony rides, games, a petting zoo, volcano arts, face-painting and a moon bounce are among the features of the annual festival which will run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The school is located at 401 Ashland Avenue.
The Growing Place is a non-profit child-development center with a mission of providing quality child care for working families. The festival’s activities are aimed especially at children aged 3 to 7 years old. Fees collected from the various booths and games are earmarked for scholarships for low-income families and for educational materials.
The Growing Place provides partial scholarships to approximately 20 percent of its families, who can enroll their children for pre-school on weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. year-round. Parents volunteer to run all the booths at the festival, which is one of Santa Monica’s most popular family events, organizers say.
The mission of The Growing Place is to offer an emotionally secure and challenging educational environment for pre-school children aged 2 1/2 to 5 years old. The Dino Fair is the school’s main community fund-raiser of the year. The sponsors for this year’s event include The Foley Family, Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy, Technicolor, Verizon and Wells Fargo.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 1, 2003. Read the original PDF.