The Arcola Daycare Fundraising Committee raised more than $10,000 at their annual Children's Carnival held at the Arcola Prairie Place on Saturday, May 24.
More than 125 children got the opportunity to jump in bouncy castles and revel in all the traditional carnival activities. Children were treated to face painting, ball toss and potato sack races at the carnival over the weekend.
The event, now in its fourth year, serves as one of the many projects the Arcola Daycare fundraising committee organizes to bring in money to help keep the community's daycare running. Director at the daycare, Whitney Rutten, says the carnival is their main child focused fundraiser and described the event as a big hit she said this year is the busiest carnival they've had so far.
"We had a great turn out and we do kid artwork, so every kid at the daycare and in the playschool do a canvas and then parents can bid on that and it's just a fun thing to get the kids involved," she said.
The committee was able to raise the funds with the help of sponsorship from businesses in Arcola, Carlyle and surrounding areas.
"We have all the profits go back to the daycare because we are a non-profit organization and we try to do fun fundraisers that involve the children," Rutten said.
She explained the carnival is very important and said the committee always tries to host events that can support the daycare and spoke to the significance of community participation.
"We have a lot of children and families from the Carlyle and Arcola communities, so we really like to do things that involve those families," she said.
"We have a lot of fundraisers that don't involve the kids and I think this one is important because it gets everybody out in one building as a community, you get to see what the daycare is really all about and it's really great." Chairperson of the Arcola Daycare fundraising committee, Lisa Pittman, who's been on the board for the past two years, said the carnival was a huge success and spoke to its importance.
"We have a lot of families in and out all day, lots of family fun so we're having a good time," she said.
"We rely on government funding and sponsored events so this is our main fundraiser for the year. It's good to have community involvement within any organization."
Roxanne Waelchli attended the carnival with her three-year-old daughter and said having a daycare in Arcola is very important and the carnival plays an integral role in keeping the daycare going.
"I think it is a great event, I think it was well organized and planned and the kids are having a great time," she said.
