EXCERPT FROM: MLive.com
By Tarryl Jackson
A statewide nonprofit started by Jackson native Carol Walters is hosting a fundraiser Thursday in the city to provide child-care aid for disadvantaged families.
The Women’s Caring Program is hosting its annual Twilight Gathering” garden party fundraiser at the Granary Patio in Ella Sharp Park.
The nonprofit, which started more than 30 years ago, supports early childhood education through licensed quality child care.
The annual fundraiser, which usually takes place at the nonprofit’s headquarters in Milford, will be held simultaneously in five different cities: Jackson, Battle Creek, Lansing, Detroit and Traverse City.
“Because the Women’s Caring Program is expanding its mission ... we decided to spread our wings and have five separate parties across Michigan,” said Shelly Hendrick, CEO of Women’s Caring Program. “We’ve been really impressed with the response.”
The fundraiser has attracted as many as 800 individual and corporate sponsors. Since 1995, the organization has raised more than $2 million to help struggling, working families who are not eligible for state aid for child care.
Hendrick said the nonprofit does not have a set fundraising goal. “It’s all about educating people about the Women’s Caring Program,” she said.
Any money raised will go to the nonprofit’s ChildCare Commitment program, which provides financial support for child care and early education for children up to age 5.
ChildCare Commitment pays up to 40 percent of the child-care cost of one child for a year.
“It’s really helpful for them to have this funding for day care,” Hendrick said. “It’s really important for us to try to help people. ... who are trying to be productive citizens.”
Officials have said it takes up to 30 percent of an average working family’s income to pay for child care.
There are almost 350 families currently on the program’s waiting list.