Sponsors Sought For Child Care Celebrity Waiter Dinner & Auction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUMMARY: 

Child Care of Southwest Florida is seeking sponsorships for its Third Annual Stars for Kids Celebrity Waiter Dinner and Auction Saturday, Oct. 8, to support the agency’s mission and benefit a scholarship fund for low-income children in need of child care.

Fort Myers FL - August 24, 2011 – Child Care of Southwest Florida is seeking sponsorships for its Third Annual Stars for Kids Celebrity Waiter Dinner and Auction Saturday, Oct. 8, to support the agency’s mission and benefit a scholarship fund for low-income children in need of child care.

Sponsorships ranging from $750 to $5,000 are still available for the event, to be held from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa. Individual tickets are $100 or a table of 10 may be sponsored for $1,000.

The event raised $27,000 last year to provide child care scholarships for low-income children.

Tickets may be purchased by calling 278-1002 or visiting the website at www.ccswfl.org.

NBC-2 Anchor Kellie Burns and Auctioneer Scott Robertson (who also is vice-chairman of the charity’s board of directors) will share duties as master and mistress of ceremonies.

Celebrity waiters serve the meals and perform “extra duties” in exchange for additional tips. The waiter who collects the most tips from his/her table wins the coveted 2011 “Most Appreciated Celebrity Waiter Award.”

“We have an outstanding roster of celebrity waiters, who will be announced in the next couple of weeks,” said Linda McNabb, development director of Child Care of Southwest Florida. “And we already have some great auction items that I know everyone will be interested in taking home with them.”

The evening will include both silent and live auction items, including a two-night stay at the Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa and autographed sports memorabilia from the Minnesota Twins, Miracle Baseball and Miami Dolphins.

Funds raised during the evening will be used to provide scholarships for low-income children to receive child care in the six centers operated by Child Care of Southwest Florida, Inc. and to support the mission of the non-profit agency. 

Child Care of Southwest Florida, Inc. is a private non-profit organization dedicated to providing high quality child care services throughout Southwest Florida. The agency provides child care for children from infancy through age 8 at its six child care centers in Lee and Hendry counties. In addition, it offers training for early childhood professionals, and administers the federal food program for eligible centers and family child care homes throughout Southwest Florida. 

The agency must rely on generous donations and volunteer efforts from members of the community, corporations and foundations to build and maintain programs that make a difference to low-income children. Child Care of Southwest Florida, Inc., is a United Way agency.

For more information about Child Care of Southwest Florida, Inc., or the Stars for Kids Celebrity Waiter Dinner and Auction, please call Linda McNabb at 425-1017 or visit www.ccswfl.org.

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FACTS ABOUT CHILD CARE OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA

Child Care of Southwest Florida, Inc. (CCSWFL) is a 43 year old 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization providing quality child care to disadvantaged families in Southwest Florida and supporting the child care industry as a whole by managing the USDA Child Care Food Program and coordinating state-mandated training.

Current research shows:

• By age 5, 90% of a child’s brain structure has developed.
• Close to 70% of young children under the age of 5 are in some form of early care and education settings on a regular basis.
• The quality of current child care programs indicates that only 15% are of high quality.
• By 3rd grade, children from low- income families have vocabularies of around 4,000 words, while their middle income peers have vocabularies of around 12,000 words.
• For every dollar invested in a high quality early learning program there is a benefit of $7 to society—savings on educational programs, crime costs, welfare costs, and revenue from taxes from higher wage earnings.

In light of these statistics, Child Care of Southwest Florida’s long term goals are to:

• Provide high quality early care and education settings to low-income children in our child care centers.
• Keep children in our child care centers whether or not their families have the ability to pay.
• Connect the families of the children we serve to other social service agencies that provide the comprehensive support these families need to create a stable home environment where they and their children can thrive.
• Continue to support the child care industry with the USDA Food Program, mandated training, inexpensive high quality professional development opportunities and a forum to discuss and begin to solve the pressing issues of the industry.

Celebrity Waiters from 2010 included Mr. Incredible (Roger Mercado); Wonder Woman (Lisa Cronin-Miller) and Superman (Greg Frith).