Kids’ Art A La Carte Offers a Story of Hope

It started with a story- a new dad in a waiting room, scared for the future of his newly-born, premature son. He was desperate, confused and utterly terrified. That is, he was until he came across a little girl who took his hand, looked him in the eye and told him that everything would be okay. The little girl’s name was Hope, and Hope was exactly what that father needed.

It’s what most new parents need, really, and the Child Development Center has spent the past 21 years spreading hope via its Kids’ Art A La Carte event. Each year, Kids’ Art A La Carte has been CDC’s biggest fundraising event. This year marks its 21st anniversary and the event itself will be bigger than ever. In addition to the live auction, there will be 5 raffles throughout the evening – one of which will offer the keys to a brand-new RV to a lucky ticket holder. Various works of art will be on display, and auctioned off as well – all with the goal of raising money to help support the Child Development Center for another year.

“Art A La Carte is huge,” said Alisha Rone, Executive Director of the Child Development Center. “It’s huge for the operations of CDC, because to provide all of the services we do and the extra programming for children with and without special needs, we must rely on our annual event and the community to help keep us going.”

The reach that CDC has throughout the community is enormous. The number of lives CDC has touched, the number of children it has served, and the number of families to which it has offered hope cannot be understated. This event is the community’s chance to say thank you and, in doing so, they might just walk away with a pretty cool prize.

“This is the 21st year of Kids’ Art A La Carte,” Rone stated. “This year, we’ve partnered with [local artist] Zac Pullen to help us portray the story of Hope and the hope that CDC provides to the children and families that we serve.”

The storybook in question is an actual hardcopy version of the story of Hope and what she has meant to the families of CDC. It’s the best takeaway CDC could offer to guests of the event, Rone said, because it is something that really exemplifies the work that CDC does on a daily basis.

“If you’ve ever wanted to show support for the Child Development Center and the children that we serve,” Rone stated, “this is the perfect chance to do it. You get a great meal, an eventful evening with awesome prizes, and you get to see what Hope really looks like to the community.”

When asked what Hope would say to the community, if she could, Rone said that she thinks “Hope would say that this is your opportunity to give to the children who are served by the Child Development Center, that it’s a chance to touch the lives and to provide hope, well into the future.”

The Child Development Center’s ‘Kids’ Art A La Carte’ event has been postponed due to COVID-19. Be sure to follow the CDC on social to see when a new date is selected.

For more information, contact Jillian Riddle at 307-235-5097 or visit https://cdccasper.org/