Celebration Over Stigma: Local Nonprofits Raise Awareness Through Family-Friendly Kaleidoscope Festival
Free event brings together organizations working to prevent child abuse while offering entertainment and resources for Stillwater families
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The annual Kaleidoscope festival returns to downtown Stillwater on the last Sunday of April, offering a day of free family entertainment while raising awareness about child abuse prevention resources in the community.
Organized by a coalition of local nonprofits, the event marks the culmination of Child Abuse Prevention Month with activities including live music, food trucks, a dunk tank, inflatables, and free treats for attendees.
"Kaleidoscope is a free event for families. We bring in all of the child-serving nonprofits from the area. We put on a big festival. We bring in vendors and community partners, food trucks and we just have a good time all afternoon," explains Brandi White, executive director at Wings of Hope Family Crisis Services.
The festival, held near Stonecloud Patio & Taproom in the heart of Stillwater, brings together multiple organizations dedicated to child welfare and family support services.
"There are several organizations here in Stillwater that work with kids in our community and preventing child abuse. So we've come together to put on this fun family event so families can come have a great time and have the opportunity to learn about our different organizations that work in the community to protect our kids," said Heather Houle, executive director at the Saville Center.
This year, the Early Childhood Coalition has taken a role in organizing the event, working in partnership with other community organizations.
"Early Childhood Coalition picked up Kaleidoscope as one of our programs. So we're actually a sponsoring nonprofit for it in partnership with everybody else on the committee," explains Mary Melton, who works at Wings of Hope and serves on the board of the Early Childhood Coalition.
The festival features an impressive array of activities designed to appeal to families with children of all ages. Matt Sullins, Manager of Stonecloud Patio & Taproom, emphasizes the comprehensive entertainment options available.
"The festival is designed to just be free family fun. The whole point is to just be able to have everyone come out and have a good time. There's going to be balloon animals, there's going to be music, there's food trucks here, there's inflatables, there's a dunk tank. We're going to have free ice cream floats or root beer floats," Sullins said.
Beyond the entertainment, Kaleidoscope serves as an important community resource fair, allowing families to connect with vital services in a relaxed, approachable setting.
"Just a ton of things for people to come out, get some information about the local nonprofits and everything that they can or all the wonderful organisations here in town that do so much for our community," adds Sullins.
Sarah Priest, executive director at CASA for Kids, describes the event as "a huge festival just right in the heart of Stillwater."
"We have terrific nonprofits that come out, a bunch of different vendors that set up crafts and just are here for children and families. It's an exciting day to bring your kids out and just have a good time," Priest says.
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The free nature of the event is particularly important to organizers, who want to ensure accessibility for all families regardless of financial circumstances.
"April is child abuse awareness month, and so we thought it would be a great way to end the month by doing something fun and helping families get together to see what all resources are available in their community," explains Melton.
She adds that one of her favorite aspects of the festival is "seeing all the families and the kids having fun and, you know, families walking up asking how much things cost and we say free. And they're all excited."
The event has become a community favorite, recently voted Stillwater's second best event in the Stillwater News Press Best of contest.
For the organizers, who spend months planning the festival, the reward comes in seeing families enjoy themselves while connecting with important resources.
"My favorite part is just to walk down the main street and get to see smiles on their faces, walking around with their pinwheels, their cotton candy, doing their crafts, and just hanging out with their families," Priest said.
Houle has her own unique contribution to the festivities: "My personal favourite is that I get to make probably 300 cones of cotton candy all day."
For Sullins, the emotional impact of the event carries forward long after the day concludes: "Just seeing all the smiles. Like the smiles and the laughter that'll carry me through for probably the next month."
White, meanwhile, particularly enjoys the musical entertainment: "The bands. Definitely the bands."
Kaleidoscope represents a collaborative effort among Stillwater's child-serving organizations, including Wings of Hope Family Crisis Services, the Saville Center, CASA for Kids, and the Early Childhood Coalition.
The festival takes place on the last Sunday of April, providing a festive conclusion to Child Abuse Prevention Month while connecting families with vital community resources in an atmosphere of celebration rather than stigma.
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