Local residents are invited to become a kid again while helping raise funds for the Studer Community Institute’s Building Brains Program.
“Light Up Learning: A Carnival of Possibility” is set for May 13 at Blue Wahoos Stadium. The event, which includes food, carnival games and music, begins with a VIP pre-party from 5:30-6:30 p.m., followed by the learning carnival from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
SCI Executive Director Katie Ballard said the annual fundraiser supports the Brain Bag program, which began in 2017 and gifts 5,000 to 5,500 resource bags to area families each year.
“The Brain Bag has resources in them, our Baby Steps book and other information about partners in the community who provide support for children,” she said.
Parents are their children’s first educators, she added, and 85% of brain develop occurs before age 3.
“It’s a really critical time, and we want parents to know that’s happening. We also want to equip them with resources, so they can really be effective in those first three years or get connected to other people in the community. Ultimately, we hope to have an impact on the kindergarten readiness rate in Escambia County.”
Kindergarten readiness sits at 36% in the county.
The program has been around for nearly 10 years and partners with local hospitals to make sure that babies born in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties go home with the Brain Bags.
“We have a presence in all of our area birthing hospitals: Ascension Sacred Heart, HCA (Florida West), Baptist and Santa Rosa Medical Center. For every family who comes in to have a baby, we provide them with a Brain Bag,” Ballard said.
Tickets are still available for the “Light Up Learning: A Carnival of Possibility” at studeri.org. VIP are $150, and general admission is $75.
The fundraiser promises a fun time to all. Fly By Radio, a female-fronted rock ‘n’ roll band, will entertain with music from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.
Attendees can also show off their golf skills on a simulator, toss a ring for a bottle of wine, play miniature-golf, take a swing in the Blue Wahoos’ batting cage and even ride a shark.
There also is a Giving Wall where attendees can purchase a light bulb for a chance to win an Elebash Jewelers gift card.
For more information on the Building Brains Program, visit studeri.org.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Light up Learning returns May 13 for fun, games and ‘possibility’
Reporting by Mary Lett, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
