Starlight Family Fun Day Hosted by RISE!!!!

Great Escapes Coordinator Dawn Howard pulled off our first ever Richmond area Starlight fundraiser!  With the help of Jo Downing of Richmond Indoor Sports Experience (RISE) and the huge building–complete with two indoor soccer fields that RISE donated for the event our Starlight Family Fun Day was organized from start to finish in only a couple months!!  As we had hoped, the afternoon of August 23rd really was filled with family fun! At the door each child received a goodie bag and then went to enjoy four hours filled with moon bounces, including an obstacle course and a blow up horse, carnival games, and a little shopping for the adults. Vendors from around the community set up tables and raffle tickets were sold for the over $6,000 in donated items that we gave away! Our performance schedule featured two appearances by Jonathan the Juggler and an exhibition by the gymnasts of VIGS. We also offered face painting, henna tattoos, and an arts and crafts table where everyone got the chance to make yummy looking cotton candy! Kids had the opportunity to spend twenty minutes playing games and singing songs inside the FUN BUS, an air conditioned, padded school bus that awaited them in the parking lot. It is safe to say that our first fundraiser was a success!! Enough money was raised to cover a couple months of Great Escapes! More important though was that this event raised awareness in our community about Starlight and all the different ways we help seriously ill children. We would like to thank all of the contributing sponsors, vendors, volunteers, performers, and RISE staff that helped make this fundraiser possible. We are hoping this year’s event will be a building block for next year and that awareness and donations for Starlight will continue to grow in our community and in our city!!!