As you know it is that time of year again when we charge our typical $30 registration fee. This is due in the month of September and will be added to your statement.  We have a proposal to you that we think you might be interested in.

Giraffe Laugh is pleased to be participating in the Sara Lee Tickets Fore Charity and the Albertsons Boise Open for our 5th straight year. Instead of paying your registration fee directly to Giraffe Laugh you may pay your registration fee by purchasing at least one ticket to the Albertsons Boise Open which is only $25. You can use the ticket yourself or purchase through your business to give to clients or customers. One hundred (100%) of your ticket purchase will come back to Giraffe Laugh!

Giraffe Laugh benefits by sharing in a $50,000 bonus pool provided by Supervalu and Sara Lee. Our portion of the bonus pool is based on our percentage of total ticket revenue from the Tickets Fore Charity program. More tickets equal a bigger share of the pot!

Here is how you can order your tickets:

1. Log onto http://www.albertsonsboiseopen.com click on the tickets tab and select Giraffe Laugh from the drop-down menu of options.
2. Enter your player’s name as the organization representative in order to receive credit.
3. Please mail, email or bring in a copy of your purchase confirmation in lieu of your September registration fee so we know your payment is coming from the Boise Open.  Your purchase confirmation must reach us by the end of September 2010 to receive a $30 credit on your October statement.

Thank you,

Lori Fascilla & Neile Kyle

6/28/10 – HELP GIRAFFE LAUGH WIN $250K FROM CHASE COMMUNITY OF GIVING  – Click here to vote for us!

SUMMER UPDATE 2010:

The promise of summer lies somewhere between the ever threatening clouds and varying degrees of clothing that range from full on ski coats to sun dresses and flip-flops. Hopefully by the time you’re reading this all confusion will be settled by the appearance of warm and sunny days that you are now lamenting! Regardless of what it’s doing outside, there are a lot of exciting things going on inside at both Giraffe Laugh’s, so read on for our summer update!

We were blessed with an anonymous donation this spring that our capable Board of Directors are now researching how best to appropriate. We’ve started meeting regularly and look forward to unveiling some plans, especially for our GL1 building that is in need of some repairs and updating.
The recognition of work well done is truly rare, so we are humbled by this acknowledgment of not only the work we are doing to prepare children for kindergarten, but the nod of approval that early childhood is an important and crucial time in a child’s life.

Studies show that for every $1 spent on early childhood there is an economic return for our community of $17. This impact is undeniable and we appreciate our donor beyond words… however we will begin with “thanks a million”. Our donation will one day translate into $2,380,000.00 according to the Perry Preschool Study.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

The Preschoolers will be attending swim lessons in June, July and August to begin their love affair with water that should serve them well as a lifetime skill and pleasure activity. Additionally we will visit the Botanical Gardens 3 times in June to explore nature at its finest. We need drivers to assist us in getting to the Gardens so if you can attend, please sign up at one of the centers to help out. You must be 21 years or older, and we need a copy of your valid driving license and insurance.

SWIM LESSON DATES…
GL2: June 7-17, July 6-18, August 2-12 from 10:30 – 11:15
GL1: June 21-July 1, July 19-29, August 16-26 from 10:30-11:15

BOTANICAL GARDENS…
Both centers: Friday, June 11th Earthworms 9:30-11:30
Friday, June 18th Ready, Set, Grow 9:30-11:30
Friday, June 25th Ladybugs 9:30-11:30

CLOSURES:

We will be closed on Monday, July 5th in honor of Independence Day. We hope to see all of your well rested, non-sunburned little faces here on Tuesday! This is our gentle reminder to remember the sunscreen and naps during your celebrations!

QRIS = Quality Rating Improvement System = Better things for all of us!

QRIS is a program that we have elected to be a part of in order to improve our program while increasing services to our kids and families. As a result of moving through this process we now have three teachers who are signed up at CWI to work on their CDA certification in preschool or infant/toddlers. The following teachers are signed up, so if you have time to ask them about the program, please do! Beverly Haugen, Preschool CDA and Laura Hernandez & Dora Rodriguez, bi-lingual Infant/Toddler CDA.

With the QRIS process we are also involving parents in an advisory group that is in the process of looking at all aspects of the program and identifying areas we can improve upon as well as develop into something more if needed. Our first meeting is in June so if you’d like to get involved please talk to us about this opportunity.

EVENT NEWS:

The 5th Annual Bowlathon was a fun event and we hope you all had a chance to check out the photo’s on our Giraffe Laugh Facebook page. Thanks to all of our bowlers and sponsors who made it possible: Riche, Dempsey & Associates Chtd., Peterson Motor Co., Hands on Healing and GB+S greener burke shoemaker p.a., Casa Mexico, Professional Innovations, Pacific Source and Elite Productions. http://www.facebook.com/giraffelaugh
September always brings us the hustle and bustle of Hyde Park Street Fair. This event is our biggest fundraiser requiring up to 40 volunteers per hour over a three day period. If you would like to be a part of helping us make this happen, please watch for sign up sheets and information toward the end of summer. This event is for the entire family. Again, check out our photo’s and descriptions on our Facebook page.

We owe a BIG thank you to Sandy Larsen with the Vandal Alumni Association for organizing an amazing day of transformation at GL2. With the help of Jody, Jeanette and Nancy at Windermere Realty who helped fund our project. We were able to paint the interior of the building and to build an entry garden area for our parents to enjoy. Many, many thanks to all of the people who came and helped that day.
Have a wonderful summer and if you are interested in enrolling for the fall please let us know as soon as possible and we will put you on our list!

Spring has sprung at both Giraffe Laugh sites with the appearance of emerging bulbs and flip flops.  As I type away I’m gazing out my window at none other than rain knowing it brings the promise of more flowers and good things to come.  Here are some of things for us to look forward to along with warmer, dryer weather this season.

CLASS PICTURES!

Thanks to Bach Portraits we will be getting some portraits done of each child along with class pictures.  They have adjusted their pricing for our families so everyone will hopefully be able to order a professional photo of their child.  The dates are as follows:  GL1 will be photographing infants and toddlers on the morning of Tuesday, April 13th and preschoolers on the morning of April 14th.  Giraffe Laugh Too infants and tots will be photographed on Tuesday, April 20th and preschoolers on the morning of April 21st.  If your child doesn’t attend one of those days you can still come and get them taken when the appropriate age group is being filmed.  Thanks BACH!!

5TH ANNUAL BOWL-A-THON: SATURDAY, APRIL 24TH

Our 5th Annual Bowlathon is being held on April 24th, 2010 at Westy’s Bowling Alley.  Bowlers arrive between 1:00 and 1:30 with their pledges that benefit children in need.  They receive a T-shirt, 2 games of bowling, 2 beverage pitchers for their team and lots of fun and prizes!  The grand prize team will win an 18 passenger limousine ride to travel in style to a future event of their choice (thanks to Professional Innovations).  Last year’s team went on a tour of Christmas lights with family members in tow!  Other prizes include: 2 Lift tickets to Bogus, Certificates from Build a Bear, Gift Certificates to Casa Mexico, Free Yoga classes and much, much more!

If you have a business and would like to sponsor a lane the cost is only $100.  Thanks to our following sponsors to date:    Riche, Dempsey & Associates Chtd., Peterson Motor Co.,   Hands on Healing and GB+S greener burke shoemaker p.a.  Signs will be displayed all day over the lanes and will be listed on our website for one year!

PROJECT DAY(S) AT GIRAFFE LAUGH TOO: APRIL 30TH – MAY 1ST

Winderemere Real Estate and the University of Idaho Alumni Association are teaming up with our parents on Friday April 30th from 6:00-9:00  and Saturday May 1st from 9-12 and 12-3 to improve the outside and inside areas at our Grand St. location.  We will be prepping on Friday to paint on Saturday and prepping the outdoor area for pavers and flower bed improvements. We are grateful to these wonderful people who are working hard to make Giraffe Laugh a pleasant, inviting place for parents and children!  If you’d like to join us, please email us and we’ll put you on the list for one of the three shifts.  Don’t forget to wear your VANDAL GEAR!!!

QRIS: QUALITY IMPROVEMENT RATING SYSTEM

QRIS is moving forward at both centers now.  We are working on our Sixth and Seventh Strengthening Families Classes this month!  What dedication we’ve seen from our teachers in this regard.  We are thrilled with the changes taking place and enjoying every minute of our experience with our trainer who is challenging us to take a look at what we do and make it even better.  Strengthening Families is designed to prevent Child Abuse before it happens through five key areas:  Connecting parents with others, increasing resiliency, helping children talk about their feelings, parents know how children develop and parents know where to turn for help.

We’ve had two classrooms assessed at GL2 so far which will prompt a grant process whereby we will identify areas of improvements and receive monies from QRIS to make those improvements.  We will keep you posted on our progress!
Thanks to United Way!

United Way of Treasure Valley has once again awarded us $20,000 to use toward scholarships for children in need.  This allows us to provide scholarships to low income families so that their children can attend a quality school at a price they can afford.  We are proud to partner with United Way again and appreciate all those that contributed to this years campaign.

FUNDRAISING WITH CAMPBELL’S SOUP LABELS:

We have a great fundraiser collecting Campbell’s Soup labels so please bring in your labels (really just need the UPC code on your Campbell’s soup labels) and we will put them to good use.  There are boxes for these located at each center. Thanks to Shari for putting this together!

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION:

If your child is going into Kindergarten this year be sure to enroll them in their neighborhood school and attend Kindergarten Registration from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 11. Children must be 5 years old on or before Sept. 1, 2010, to register for the 2010-11 school year. Parents must provide a certified birth certificate as well as immunization records for their child. Parents will receive kindergarten readiness guide, summer learning calendar, and free kindergarten t-shirt. Parents and students will have the opportunity to meet teachers and staff and get a sneak peek at their school. Log on to boiseschools.org for more information.  It may seem a little early but if you are considering a change for your summer schedule we would love to know now so we can enroll new students as openings become available.

OTHER THANK YOU’S:

We are very grateful to Superior Electric who is going to install a furnace and air conditioner at Giraffe Laugh One.  Also to Overhead Doors who repaired our garage door on our storage unit at GL2 free!  Thanks to Windermere Real Estate for getting us a free refrigerator donated and to Vince at Aero Rooter who is going to work on our little toilets for free labor.  We appreciate our community partners!!!

BOISE ALBERTSONS OPEN TICKETS FORE CHARITY:

The TICKETS Fore CHARITY program has generated over $3 million for Boise area non-profits since its inception. Once again, Giraffe Laugh is a participating charity of the Albertsons Boise Open, which means we will receive 100% of ticket sale proceeds purchased on our behalf. Tickets can be purchased online at: Click here to buy online or call 336-3029. Please be sure to designate Giraffe Laugh as your charity of choice.

We are looking forward to a great start to this new decade and are happy to be entering it with all of you!
Thanks for being a part of making our organization strong and successful in 2009.  It was a wonderful year with the kids and teachers and families and The Board and Staff are proud to be entering a new decade with such strength of purpose.

PARENTS PLEASE TAKE OUR MARCH SURVEY:

Tell us what you think about Giraffe Laugh and how we can serve you and your children better.  The last day to respond to the survey is Wednesday, March 31^st, so take a few minutes 5-10 at the most and make your voice heard! Click here to take survey.

PROGRAM NEWS:

As some of you may know we are participating in the Strengthening Families Classes.  There are eight total and the objective is to prevent child abuse before it happens.  Our goal is to enroll the family, not just the child and to partner with parents more to help them through the often difficult task of raising young children.  We will have a small task force once we’re done to talk with some parent representatives to figure out better ways we can meet parent’s needs.  Our classes will be done in May which is when we’ll be looking to some of you to help in this regard.

Our second big goal for this coming year is to get a star rating through the QRIS program sponsored by IdahoSTARS.  QRIS stands for Quality Rating Improvement System.  You know how you like to look at how many stars a movie or a hotel receives before going?  Soon, parents will be able to do just that with childcares and preschools.  In order to receive the maximum amount of stars (5) the center has to be superior.  Experts in the Early Childhood field come in and measure eight different program areas to determine a rating within the first 90 days of signing up.  Then we have access to funding to help us make improvements in the areas it’s obvious we could improve.  We have one year from that date to make the improvements and then we get our rating!  We are truly excited about this adventure because it will make us stronger and a safer, better, more quality place for children and their families.  We will involve parents in the process and keep you posted about our progress each month in the newsletter.  Watch for coming news!

UPCOMING SPRING EVENTS:

Mark  you calendars for the 5th Annual Bowlathon!  This year we will be bowling for kids on Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at 2:00 pm at Westy’s Bowling Alley by the Fairgrounds.  You can download team forms on our EVENTS page and if you’d like to be a sponsor, we’d love to honor your business with a sign over the lane of one of our teams.  This is a fun day where we bowl two games and each of the bowlers have collected sponsorships from friends and family.  Bowlers bring their collections (we ask each to try to bring in $100) and they get a T-shirt, two free games, bowling shoes and two pitchers of soda or beer.  We have contests and prizes during the event and there is a Grand Prize for the top earner and another for the top team!  It’s really a lot of fun.  Check out our photo’s from last year’s event on our Facebook fan page.  All proceeds benefit the children of Giraffe Laugh!

FUNDRAISING WITH CAMPBELL’S SOUP LABELS:

We have a great fundraiser collecting Campbell’s Soup labels so please bring in your labels (really just need the UPC code on your Campbell’s soup labels) and we will put them to good use.  There are boxes for these located at each center. Thanks to Shari for putting this together!

VOLUNTEERS:

We have some fun projects coming up!  Participating on one of our parent advisory committees as mentioned above, but also we need some help on our outdoor areas this spring.  AND we want to finally paint GL2 this spring as well.  If you’d like to be in charge of putting together a paint team or an outdoor team, talk to Lori about paint, Neile (for GL1) or Sheryl (for GL2) for outdoor improvements.

With spring coming up we will also be doing more field trips so please watch for ways you can help by attending with us or driving.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS:

Thanks to our recent donors, Pacific Source, 1st Congregational Church, Casa Mexico, Idaho Power & the AYCO Foundation.  We appreciate the involvement of many wonderful groups here in Boise and beyond who care about children and their families.

The Fall Friendraiser is an event where we gather to celebrate the past year and to make new friends. This year it is being held on Friday November 13th at 6:30 pm. at Crane Creek Country Club. We would love to have you join us for an evening of dinner, a HUGE silent auction with fabulous prizes and a DVD of our past year and accomplishments. Save the Date and watch for ticket sales soon! Please visit our EVENTS page for more information.

HYDE PARK STREET FAIR CHILDREN’S AREA:
As usual, this was a great success and wonderfully fun! We had over 30 volunteers every four hours helping us make cotton candy, work the carnival games, help kids in and out of bounce houses and painting faces. What a wonderful group of folks that came to help. Everyone received a T-shirt, drinks, snacks and cotton candy.

THANKS also to all those that bought tickets to do all of the fun stuff because without you we can’t raise money for our kids in need. By coming to the carnival you are a part of helping us provide quality early care and education to young children living in economically disadvantaged homes.

Our wonderful sponsors included:  Pacific Source, IPN (Idaho Physicians Network), Idaho Power, Professional Innovations, Tetra Tech, Hands On Healing, The Judy Cole Family and Zamzows (with their wonderful fish coupons).

4TH ANNUAL LUAU UPDATE:
We once again gathered to celebrate summer and once again did it in style…it’s HOT and STICKY, but so much fun! All those little happy faces getting together with their friends and their parents and teachers…what could be better Thanks to all who came and all who helped.

SPRING CLEAN-UP CREW:
We are grateful to the parents, friends and volunteers who helped clean up both centers this spring. Our buildings are shinier and our play areas are more fun thanks to you!

BOWLERS:
Thanks to everyone who bowled with us in March! We had fun.