Over six hundred children and parents thronged Shivers Park in downtown Chipley, Florida on Saturday, April 14, 2018 as Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida presented the 6th Annual ‘ArtKidDoo’ Festival.
Sponsored in part by community partners, non-profit organizations, public health and safety organizations and private individuals, the event focused on children and art, all in a playful environment, as seen in these photos by Paje Menfi for Real Florida Media, a subsidiary of The Gouling Agency in Chipley, Florida..
‘If a child goes away today without being covered in chalk, mud, soap bubbles, paint or sand’, said former ELC Executive Director Lynne Eldridge at the event, ‘then we did not accomplish our goals here today. Play is the work of the child and there is a fantastic amount of development of a child’s brain during playtime such as this’.
The event featured hands-on arts, food and music, all furnished free of charge and courtesy of the sponsors and community partners.
The Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida administers Child Care Resource and Referral, School Readiness and Voluntary-Prekindergarten (VPK) in a seven county service area, allowing parents an opportunity to be able to work and still afford child card services.
Local PR firm The Goulding Agency in Chipley, Florida has been documenting the event in photos and video clips since the inception of the event, and worked with ELCNWF to design the festival from the beginning.
‘We believe our job includes giving back to the community’, said The Goulding Agency President Debbie Goulding, who worked with ELC in an educational effort to get the word to the public that these services are available.
‘We had great fun here today’, says Goulding, ‘and in addition to having a great time, these children and families found out about ELC and the local providers, and there were many smiles all around’.
One child care provider remarked, ‘ELC goes above and beyond the call of duty and events like this one shows the community just how engaged and how much they really care about children and families. We participated and all of our staff wanted to be involved’.
Eldridge explains that Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida is a non-profit agency that exists to grow healthy children, parents and the relationship between them. ‘Healthy development requires a lot of play’, says Eldridge.
Students from the Patient Care Technician program at nearby Florida Panhandle Technical College also participated in today’s event, assisting young children in decorating and building art projects.
‘This is a great opportunity for our students to interact with young children’, says Rhonda Wilson, Instructor of the program, ‘Especially those who may not ordinarily have the chance to do so, better preparing them for pediatric patient interaction’.
To view photo galleries and video clips from the event, visit Facebook at Real Florida Magazine, and for more information about Early Learning Coalition of Northwest Florida visit them on Facebook or online at www.ELCNWF.org.
