This month, a local non-profit childcare center (ACAP) will hopefully be moving back into the education wing at our church’s building. ACAP has been located on city property down the street from us, but the city’s now going to build a multi-use venue on the site and ACAP needs to vacate by mid-November (actually just ten days from now).

Thirty years ago, a group of community and faith leaders in Auburn, Washington met to find ways to help low income families become or stay employed. The focus continues to be on providing children with a positive early childhood educational experience. ACAP originally met at White River Presbyterian Church in Auburn before moving to their current site.

For more details, go to:
http://snurl.com/acap [www_pnwlocalnews_com]

After numerous applications for extensions, grants, and attempts to sell their current portable buildings, ACAP is faced with the difficult decision of perhaps needing to shut their doors forever. This would be a sad blow to many low income and needy families of our city.

ACAP has been the one place in town where difficult-to-place children were accepted without question, loved unconditionally, and provided quality care at a reasonable price. Those kids that other childcare centers in the area were unwilling to take — mainly because of behavioral problems and special needs — now have a caring, committed “family,” and a place to call home during the day.

If ACAP closes their doors forever, these families (currently about 65 kids) will have no place else to turn for their childcare needs, having already been turned down by other agencies and childcare centers in town. For ACAP’s doors to stay open and for them to be able to move to their new location at our church, they need to raise some funds before the 15th of this month.

Unbeknownst to ACAP, I decided to put this special announcement in my email newsletter, Simple Times, and on my blogs, just in case anyone out there would like to help support a worthy cause. I thought it would be such a blessing and encouragement to the teachers and board members at ACAP to receive a few gifts from unknown sources around the country. None of the money raised would go to me, or to the church, or to any other individual — it would all go toward the moving and upcoming renovation costs involved with relocating ACAP to their new home.

Because ACAP’s an official non-profit organization, all gifts are tax-deductible, too.

I asked ACAP’s Director how people could donate to the moving costs, and she told me it’d be best for any donations to be sent to the church’s address since ACAP soon won’t have their current street address available.

If you have any sort of a desire to help at all in this project, simply make checks payable to “ACAP” and send to:

ACAP
c/o White River Presbyterian Church
526 – 12th Street SE
Auburn, WA 98002

Thanks so much for your patience with this request!

And please don’t feel any sort of obligation whatsoever to help with this. I just thought maybe there might be a handful of people out there who may want to help with this situation in a small way.

Thanks, again!

Catherine Levison, bestselling author and nationally acclaimed speaker to parenting and educational audiences throughout the United States and Canada, will be bringing her popular All-Day Educational How-to Workshop to White River Presbyterian Church in Auburn on Saturday, September 20th, 2008.  Pre-registration by September 10th is required (although late registrations will be considered if space allows), and a free lunch will provided by the hosting church to all pre-registered attendees.

“Homeschooling and parenting are intertwined in such a way that they can hardly be seen as separate concepts,” says Levison.  “As one overlaps with the other, we find that all parents are home educators to some degree.”

Some of the topics to be covered at this special all day event are:  An overview of the Charlotte Mason method, narration, literature, art appreciation, formation of good habits, history, science, nature study, scheduling, book selection, and language arts (including foreign languages, composition, handwriting, poetry, spelling and dictation).

For complete registration information, price, map, and the day’s schedule, visit the Educational Seminar link at:  http://WhiteRiverPres.org

I received an email notice just now about an edible plants class being taught at Padilla Bay (at the mouth of the Skagit River up near Mount Vernon). When I got to their website, I discovered all sorts of interesting classes and events.

They even have a class on drawing in a Nature Journal … and any of you who read my various e-newsletters probably already know I really love the idea of keeping a nature journal.

Padilla Bay Information

The Last Polar Bear Exhibit Opening Day
Saturday, June 28, 2008
10:00am to 5:00pm

The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
University of Washington
http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum

“The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World” features stunning photography by wildlife photographer Steven Kazlowski, who has dedicated over eight years of work to bring to life the immediate reality of this most pressing environmental crisis — the devastation of the Arctic ecosystem through global warming.

The Burke offers a full day of talks and activities with something for the whole family. Join us for displays of arctic research and arctic mammals, as well as talks by leading experts on polar bears and the fight to save them.

WALKS AND TALKS

10:30 am ~ Gallery Tour
The Last Polar Bear author and photographer Steven Kazlowski leads a 30-minute tour of the exhibit.

11:30 am ~ Burke Room Lecture
Polar Bears: How Their Lifestyles Make Them Vulnerable to Climate Change
Dr. Steven Amstrup, Research Wildlife Biologist for United States Geological Survey’s Alaska Science Center, will talk about polar bear population dynamics, social structure, foraging practices, habitat preferences, and how reduced sea ice is likely to affect them.

12:30 pm ~ Gallery Tour
The Last Polar Bear author and photographer Steven Kazlowski leads a 30-minute tour of the exhibit.

1:30 pm ~ Burke Room Lecture
The whole Polar Bear truth … and nothing but the truth Executive Director of the Alaska Wilderness League, Cindy Shogan, will discuss her vehement opposition to oil drilling on the North Slope of Alaska. Learn the latest polar bear politics from a self described D.C. political addict, and hear what you can do to help protect this critical species.

This past summer (July 2007), the Gateway 8 movie theaters in Federal Way began showing discount movies.  All shows are only $2 … except on Tuesdays when each show is only $1

The movies come to the theater just before they’re released to DVD, so you’ll need to wait a couple of months to see the latest blockbuster on the big screen.  But the price is worth a little bit of a wait (to me, anyway). 

Gateway Movies 8 – Map
2501 S. Gateway Center
Federal Way, WA 98003

Current Movie Listings:

https://starplex.tstickets.com/starplex.aspx?theatreid=1012

The cost of drinks, popcorn, and candy is comparable to regular theaters, though, so if you’re looking for an inexpensive family activity in the Seattle/Tacoma area, be careful you don’t splurge on treats and spoil your movie budget completely.

~Debi

Are you in the Seattle/Tacoma area of Washington State?

If so, you might be interested in a new email announcement list I’ll be starting soon. It’s called “Simply-Seattle” and will be quick announcements and bulletins from me about events of interest to local families.

It seems I’m always stumbling across information about fun, inexpensive and/or educational things to do in our area, but other than a small mailing list of local moms, I don’t really have a place to share that information.

So if you live in the Puget Sound area (or know someone who does), feel free to sign up for Simply-Seattle by emailing:

join-simply-seattle@hub.thedollarstretcher.com