Hello friends!
It’s been an exciting summer, and we are busy gearing up for an exciting fall! For those of you who missed the many facebook updates about it, we had an awesome time at the GIFT Conference– Money for Our Movements in early August. We got a whole junior ballroom at the Marriott all to ourselves, and it was awesome! Plus a separate suite in the hotel for the littlest ones. It’s pretty amazing what a group of creative and industrious young people can accomplish with their own space, a couple of hours, and some beads, clay, and construction paper. The kids we hung out with made and sold necklaces, paintings, and figurines to conference attendees and were able to raise over $160 to donate to No More Deaths. We asked what they wanted to raise money for on the first day of the conference. They spent some time discussing it and agreed that they wanted to help people cross the desert without dying. I wish I had a video of 9 year old Jesus getting up in front of a crowd of 500 conference attendees in the huge Marriott ballroom and explaining that no one should die trying to make the journey to the US. You just had to see it. The kids stood outside the room while adults were filtering in and out and made their pitches to complete strangers about why they should buy a painting to support No More Deaths. I left feeling exhilarated and inspired by their confidence and enthusiasm to put themselves out there for a worthy cause.
But if you couldn’t make it, don’t get upset! There are lots of other exciting opportunities coming up, and one in particular I was hoping I might get some feedback on. We’ve been thinking for a while about doing a workshop and/or series of workshops, cause workshops are super fun, and there is so much to learn about childcare that doesn’t just relate to what games to play or how to change a diaper (ha! trick question- we leave the diaper changing to parents!) So if you were to close your eyes and imagine your dream childcare collective workshop, what would it be about? Or if you are thinking, “psshaw, I don’t need to attend a workshop, I need to lead one! I’ve got so much to say!” Then please, speak now! Would you like to collaborate and lead a workshop? If you have ideas, or want to get involved send us an email! You can send to epastel@gmail.com.
So I know I said there were lots of other exciting fall happenings, and there are, but I am getting sleepy and feel like this post is getting kind of long. You can check out our calendar and see what’s available to plug in to coming up.
Lovingly yours,
The Bay Area Childcare Collective
bayareachildcarecollective 