12,391 Letters = 12,391 Smiles

Festival of Children Foundation would like to thank Team Kids and the students at Vista Verde, a K-8 Blue Ribbon school in the Irvine Unified school district, for collaborating with us on our World Record attempt for "most letters to military personnel in one month."  

Between April 12th and May 12th, 2014, we collected a total of 12,391 letters for our Guinness World Record attempt.  The current record was 10,000, and our count is well over that. To make it official, we're submitting evidence to Guinness World Records in London, England, along with witness statements and details of our claim.

We hear it takes the folks at Guinness approximately 12 weeks to review and confirm a World Record.   We'll announce that good news (fingers crossed!) here on our blog as soon as we hear back.  In the meantime, it good to know that we  put 12,391 smiles on our troops' faces!

Just days left to help us break a Guinness World Record!

Luke's "Letter from Home"

Luke Reeve takes pen to paper for "Letters from Home," a Festival of Children Foundation program designed to teach kids about philanthropy and put a smile on the faces of over 10,000 of our troops!

On April 12th Festival of Children Foundation and Team Kids kicked off "Letters from Home," a month-long letter writing campaign for our troops, with the hope of breaking a Guinness World Record for "most letters to military personnel in one month."

4,397 letters have been received so far.  5,604 more letters are needed by May 12, 2014 in order to break the Guinness World Record!  

Letters can be mailed to:

Festival of Children Foundation

3315 Fairview Road

Costa Mesa, CA  92626

Or written letters can be scanned and emailed to letters@festivalofchildren.org.   To download a template, visit www.festivalofchildren.org/letters.

All letters received by May 12, 2014 will count toward the Guinness World Record!

Festival of Children Foundation's Guinness World Record attempt with Team Kids has officially begun!

Kids of all ages participated in opening day of "Letters from Home," a letter writing campaign designed to break a Guinness World Record for the "most letters to military personnel in one month."   On Saturday, April 12th Festival of Children Foundation and Team Kids got together for an afternoon of letter writing at South Coast Plaza's Carousel Court.  At the end of the day we collected 314 letters.   We only have 9,687 to go!

If you'd like to participate in "Letters from Home" and be a part of our World Record endeavor,
write a letter to the troops, and mail it to:

 Festival of Children Foundation
3315 Fairview Road
Costa Mesa, CA  92626

All letters received by May 12, 2014 will count!    

Caroline, age 7, and sister Vivienne, age 2, from Whittier, CA, celebrated Global Youth Service Day
by writing letters to the troops.

Help Festival of Children Foundation & Team Kids set a World Record!

In celebration of Global Youth Service Day, Festival of Children Foundation, Team Kids and Operation Gratitude are all collaborating on "Letters from Home," a letter writing campaign for American troops.   We're planning on breaking the Guinness World Record for "most letters written to military personnel in one month."

The letter writing campaign will kick-off at South Coast Plaza on Saturday, April 12th from Noon until 4:00 p.m.  Children and their families are invited to show up in Carousel Court where art supplies will be provided and military personnel will be in attendance.  The goal is to collect over 10,000 letters in 30 days.

Letters written from remote locations can be mailed to:

Festival of Children Foundation 

Attn:  "Letters from Home"

3315 Fairview Road

Costa Mesa, CA  92626

Letters written between April 12th and May 12th, 2014 will be counted as eligible for the world record. 

What are your New Year's resolutions for 2014?

Assistance League Newport-Mesa is one of over 500 member organizations of Festival of Children Foundation.

Hey, member organizations of Festival of Children Foundation!  What are your New Year's resolutions for 2014?  To raise more money?  To work smarter?  To build your board?  To cultivate more donors?  As part of Festival of Children Foundation's commitment to offering programs and resources to strengthen our member charities, we offer Achieve's webinars and online resource library free to staff, board members, and key volunteers in your organization.

Achieve, a creative agency for causes, offers an online resource library that holds more than 270+ tools and templates that will save your organization's hard-earned resources and time.

Need a template for grant writing?  Achieve Access has it.
Want some suggestions for sponsorship?  Achieve Access has that too.

From webinars to white papers, Achieve Access has an unparalleled collection of resources.  Visit our website at festivalofchildren.org to learn more.

Happy New Year!

Sharing the Spirit Holiday Party!

Festival of Children Foundation and The Happiness Project are bringing some holiday cheer to 600 underprivileged children at a Christmas Party being organized just for them on Friday, December 6th at South Coast Plaza.

The event, called "Sharing the Spirit Holiday Party," will take place in Santa's Village at South Coast Plaza from 9:00 p.m. until midnight (after the center closes to regular business).  Homeless youth, ages 5-16, from Anaheim, Costa Mesa, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, California will be brought on buses to the shopping center.  As each child departs the bus they'll be matched with a volunteer who will accompany them through a variety of activities including photos with Santa, rides on the reindeer carousel, arts and crafts, nail, hair and makeup stations, and face painting.  They'll enjoy food generously donated by Aloha Plate (the recent winner of Food Network's Great Food Truck Race), Chick-Fil-A, Creme de la Creme, Quattro Caffe and whole Foods Market Newport Beach.

South Coast Plaza retailers are "Sharing the Spirit" too.  Sanrio's Hello Kitty will help supervise their sand painting craft table.  At LEGO, children can build a LEGO mini model to take home with them.  Puzzle Zoo is providing craft projects for boys and girls, and Calico Critters' Bell Hopscotch rabbit will meet the kids in attendance.

Bare Minerals makeup artists will offer some holiday sparkle for the girls, and the Microsoft store will set up Xbox and Kinect stations.  400 volunteers will be on hand to ensure that the event is a success.

Festival of Children Foundation would like to thank the Center for Living Peace for helping to sponsor the "Sharing the Spirit" holiday party.

Festival of Children Foundation raises $208,575 for Orange County Children's Charities

Providence Speech and Hearing Center riders

Festival of Children Foundation invited 10 Orange County nonprofit organizations to fund raise at a signature event we call "The Carousel of Possible Dreams."  Over 100 attendees cheered volunteer riders as they went round and round, and up and down, on King Arthur's Carrousel at Disneyland Resort to raise money for their organizations.

The early morning event, held on November 6th at 7:00 a.m., raised $208,575.  Funds raised will go directly to these 10 organizations:

All American Boys Chorus

America on Track

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Orange County

Festival of Children Foundation

Girls Incorporated of Orange County

Make-A-Wish Orange County & The Inland Empire

Pacific Symphony

Pretend City Children's Museum

Providence Speech and Hearing Center

Wyland Foundation

The Carousel of Possible Dreams fundraiser was held in celebration of Festival of Children Foundation's 10th Anniversary.  "How fitting to host Carousel of Possible Dreams at the place where dreams come true every day," said Jill Bolton, director, Community Relations, Disneyland Resort.  "We are honored to host this program, which aligns with our focus on promoting the happiness and well-being of kids and families."

Girls Inc. of Orange County volunteer riders