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Wonder Works To Hold Fundraiser To Celebrate First Birthday
Birthday Ball will take place Saturday, June 26 at Wonder Works from 7pm to 11pm
June 15, 2004 - Wonder Works, a Children’s Museum in Oak Park, is having a party to celebrate its 1st birthday. The fundraiser will take place Saturday, June 26, 2004, from 7pm to 11pm at the museum, which is located at 6445 W. North Avenue, Oak Park.
The event will include a live and silent auction, a split-the-pot raffle and entertainment by a children’s jazz trio. It will be like a Taste of Oak Park, with food that has been generously donated by many area restaurants, including Avenue Ale House, Café Le Coq, Cucina Paradiso, Fuego Loco, LaBella, Maggianos, Sparacino, Vivaldi, Winberie and others. Michael Griffin and Clarice Harris are the event co-chairs.
Proceeds will go directly to benefit children and families and to provide field trips for low-income children from Oak Park, Chicago and the surrounding communities.
A non-profit organization, Wonder Works opened in May of 2003 in a 6,400 square-foot building on North Avenue in Oak Park. Wonder Works provides a hands-on, multigenerational environment to strengthen the social, emotional and intellectual development of children from birth to age ten. The exhibits are interactive and designed to foster the creative spirit in children and families.
In less than one year, Wonder Works has sold nearly 1,000 family memberships and welcomed over 35,000 visitors. "We have come so far, we still have a ways to go," says John Harris, board president. "It took seven years to reopen the museum, and now that we’re open we’re trying to build a community resource and tourist attraction that will serve families for many generations."
"Five exhibits are still on the drawing board, and we need to increase our budget to hire additional staff and add programs, such as providing free admission for schools in underserved areas that do not have funding for field trips," says Harris.
Tickets for the Birthday Ball are $75 apiece. A limited number will be available at the door. For more information, please call 708.524.5313 or email clariceharris@earthlink.net.
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