When Festival of Children Foundation brings together executives from 29 different charities in one room to discuss the fundamentals of grant proposals, ideas are developed, friendships are made, and valuable information is shared freely. On December 1st, fundraising expert Melissa Brown joined us from the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University to lead the collaborative discussion as part of our Executive Training Seminar series. She provided valuable information pertaining to the steps of proposal development, including linking project goals to community need, matching projects to funders’ interests, preparing a budget, and writing effectively for proposal review.

Nonprofit executives left feeling energized and empowered to approach the often overwhelming world of grant writing. “I feel confident that what Melissa taught me today will make a ‘leaps and

bounds’ difference in my ability to write grant proposals for our organization,” wrote Marie Gentosi of Assistance League Newport-Mesa. The seminar was provided at no cost to member organizations, thanks to the generous support of The Allergan Foundation.

Executives from The Joyful Child Foundation, Music for a Cure, Web Wise Kids and others join together to learn, share and collaborate

“Improving the lives of children by strengthening the charities that serve them.” Winter 2011 | www.festivalofchildren.org

A Moment With...

Q: Tell us about Tennessee Children’s DanceEnsemble.

A: The Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble (TCDE) is a 30-year old modern dance company made up exclusively of children 8-17 years of age. It was born of the late Dr. Dorothy Floyd’s belief that children could achieve artistic excellence equal to adults, and has won international acclaim. More than just a modern dance company, TCDE is a vehicle for showing children that they can make a difference in the world.

Q: Whatmakesyourorganizationunique in itsapproachtoservingchildren?

A: TCDE is unique in that its artists are children. Often times, arts organizations that serve children are made up of the adults who perform for them. The effect of having children perform for children is astounding, because our audiences leave believing that they too can do anything they set their minds to. Also unique is the fact that nothing is compromised because we are young; we hold ourselves to the same artistic standard as any other modern dance company, adult or children.

Q: Whatchallengeshaveyoufacedindeliveringservicestoyourdancers?

A: We are continually challenged to change the mindset that most people have when it comes to children and dance - the “recital mentality” whereby children are expected to be silly and make mistakes. Before we came along, serious modern dance was simply not done by children. We often don’t get taken seriously in our quest for funding, and more than once we’ve had it said, “We need to support artists who do this as a living. These are children.” Funding continues to be a great challenge as there are so many transportation costs associated with our tours. Airlines simply can not be as generous as they once where, and nearly 25% of our members receive financial aid to stay enrolled in our programs.

Judy Robinson,Managing DirectorTennessee Children’s Dance EnsembleKnoxville, TN

(Continued on Page 2)

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MEMBER EDUCATION: ONE SEMINAR AT A TIME

The nationally-acclaimed The Capital Grille restaurant made its Orange County debut this fall and to commemorate, opened its doors to over 250 friends of Festival of Children Foundation for a wonderful celebration. Guests were treated to a complimentary spread of the restaurant’s most exceptional appetizers, entrees, desserts, wines and cocktails. From lobster and crab cakes to the restaurant’s signature Kona-crusted dry aged sirloin

and flourless chocolate espresso cake, not a detail went unnoticed. The Capital Grille made a generous donation to Festival of Children Foundation in honor of the event to support the continuation of our programs for children’s charities. Said John Martin, President of The Capital Grille, “We were thrilled to partner with Sandy Segerstrom Daniels and the area’s leading children’s philanthropic organization on this event. We honor the wonderful work of Festival of Children Foundation and look forward to continuing our successful partnership in the years to come.”

Thank you, The Capital Grille, for your exceptional service, hospitality and generosity!

A KONA-CRUSTED CULINARY CELEBRATION

SPREADING HOLIDAY CHEER FROM EAST TO WESTWhat do you get when you send Julius the Monkey on a cross-country tour to spread a little holiday cheer? Milk, cookies, candy canes, and hundreds of books for kids who need them the most! Festival of Children Foundation partnered with Paul Frank Industries this holiday season on a six-stop tour, where patrons got to enjoy holiday treats, as well as a 20% discount in the store with a donation of any new or gently-used book. We then distributed the collected books to some of our member charities that promote literacy in four of those cities:

• Orange County Children’s Therapeutic Arts Center (Santa Ana, CA)

• Screen Actors Guild Foundation (Los Angeles, CA)

• Children of the City (New York, NY)

• Working in the Schools (Chicago, IL)Some of Paul Frank Industries’ biggest fans celebrate the holidays with “Santa Julius” on his cross-country tour

Pau

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Dear Friends,

Happy 2011 to you! We can hardly believe how quickly the time has passed as we enter our 10th anniversary year. We continue to grow, develop programs, and enjoy collaborations with children’s charities across the country, and we’re so happy you’re here to share in our work. As always, we hope you enjoy reading these wonderful stories of what’s happening with our member organizations.

We look forward once again to shining a spotlight on children’s charities this year, especially in September with the fourth annual National Child

Awareness Month, an effort we continue to lead with our friends in Washington, DC.

Thank you for your interest in improving children’s lives. None of this would be possible without your generous support!

Warm Regards,

Sandy

Founder’s Corner

Winter 2011 | www.festivalofchildren.org

Q: How has TCDE collaborated with otherorganizations and corporations to enrich theworkyoudo?

A: TCDE receives nearly 25% of our income budget in the form of in-kind donations from corporations and individuals. We collaborate with a local television station when we tour that produces a documentary afterward to showcase our sponsors. This effort has been hugely successful in obtaining publicity for our organization. We also partner with several international organizations, such as the American Wind Ensemble Orchestra, and continue to raise money for other children’s causes while on tour.

Q: DescribeadefiningmomentinyourcareerattheEnsemble.

A: The most defining moment for me with TCDE was when we lost our founder and artistic director to cancer in 2001. I questioned how we would continue, but as I watched Irena Linn ably take the reins and continue without skipping a beat, it was truly a defining moment. I knew that the dream of our founder, Dr. Dorothy Floyd, had become a reality - a seed that would produce after its kind for generations to come. I knew that we had pioneered something new and wonderful in the world of dance and that people would forevermore think in a new way about children’s ability to dance.

Q: How can the community – both local andnationwide–getinvolvedintheworkyoudo?

A: The best way to get involved in what TCDE does is to help us with performance opportunities. Our repertoire of over 100 dances makes performances possible anywhere and to any audience. TCDE is available to tour year-round and can perform in non-traditional venues as well as on the proscenium stage. Additionally, we continue to seek funding to aid in the cost of running our operation successfully as we continue to inspire children and adults alike!

(Continued from Page 1) Top-Notch Services for Top-Notch Charities

As a foundation that strives to make things easier for our member organizations on a daily basis, we partner up with businesses that can provide services at no cost to those that need them the most.

We are so very grateful to two of our partners, both on a local and a national scale, that are making things happen for our member organizations:

Art Institute of California-Orange CountyEach academic quarter, Art Institute of California offers pro bono graphic design, web design, and culinary assistance to our charities through the Institute’s Community Access Resource Exchange (CARE) program. Students at the Art Institute complete projects from start to finish for nonprofit organizations as a way to build their portfolios and help out charities in need at the same time. From informational brochures, to event invitations and brand new websites, the students invest many hours in to providing creative assistance to organizations who could not otherwise afford work of this caliber.

In 2010, Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, based in Tustin, CA, was in dire need of a new website that reflected their growth and impact. Over the course of two academic quarters, Art Institute’s students met and brainstormed with the Center to come up with a creative and intuitive design. Within just a few months, a new website was launched. Cheryl Posner, Executive Director of the Center, wrote, “We are so grateful that Festival of Children Foundation made this partnership available to us at no

charge. The Center simply cannot afford to hire this kind of talent. Without the students’ help, our website would still be sleeping; we could hardly wait for it to wake up!”

If you are a member organization looking for pro bono assistance in graphic and web design in your area, please contact us for more information!

Sheppard Mullin Richter & HamptonMOMS Orange County, whose mission is to help women and their families have healthy babies by offering health care coordination, education and access to community services, recently shared with us: “In this day and age, resources are stretched thinner than ever,” said CEO Pamela Pimentel. “In the face of the rising demand for client services, oftentimes the ‘business of running a business’ is pushed to the side.”

Thanks to the generous support of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, MOMS Orange County began receiving pro bono employment advice and legal counseling from Jennifer Abramowitz, an Associate Attorney, in 2010. Jennifer helped MOMS Orange County implement a large-scale review of their employment policies and practices and has been available should they have any legal questions or concerns. Pam says, “With Jennifer’s help, MOMS Orange County has been able to access expertise that we would probably hesitate to channel our resources towards otherwise. Her insights have helped us identify and reduce business risk by circumventing potential issues that could be a costly challenge for us in the future. Thus, Jennifer and Festival of Children Foundation have helped MOMS Orange County become a more efficient business which in turn allows us to ultimately put more dollars into client care, community services and helping families have healthy babies!”

If you are a member organization looking for pro bono legal assistance in your area, please contact us for further information!

Introducing…the new and improved Chuck Jones Center for Creativity website, designed by students at The Art Institute of California-Orange County.

Festival of Children Foundation is giving a special gift to five lucky readers! Visit www.festivalofchildren.org/signup, give us your email address, and we’ll send you updates on our news, success stories and events!

Tennessee Children’s Dance Ensemble

When Katie Canton fell in love at 15, she thought she was living every teenage girl’s dream – receiving love letters, heartfelt gifts and charming compliments from her boyfriend, 22-year old John. He would send calling cards from West Virginia to her home in San Francisco, CA, to save her parents’ money on long-distance calls. He boosted her self esteem by calling her beautiful, and told her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

There was only one major factor preventing the two from pursuing their relationship further: they found each other online in an Internet chat room, but had never actually met in person. So several weeks in to their relationship, John told Katie he was ready to visit her in California. While Katie was eager to spend time with her “boyfriend,” her parents were horrified by the idea of a stranger coming to their home. Katie’s father, concerned that she might leave home to be with John against her parents’ will, went to a police officer for help. An officer gave him a copy of the MISSING game, designed by LiveWires Design and distributed by nonprofit organization Web Wise Kids. The officer suggested that the family play it together. The game probably saved Katie’s life.

What Katie didn’t know all along was that John was the primary suspect in the rape of a 13-year old girl, and had been grooming Katie since their initial online meeting to be his next victim. The two never got a chance to meet until they appeared face to face at the trial where all of John’s gestures of love were used against him as Katie presented her testimony. Not surprisingly, John’s tactics followed the same technique that he had used with his 13-year old victim.

MISSING provided Katie with an introduction to Internet safety by telling the story of Zack, a boy in Canada, who forms an online friendship with an Internet predator in California named Fantasma. When Zack leaves home to be with Fantasma, Katie worked “virtually” with a detective to rescue Zack and arrest Fantasma. The game is one of many successful programs of Web Wise Kids, whose mission is to empower today’s youth to make wise choices online. Since 2000, the organization has become a leader in preventing online child victimization by providing innovate tools, such as MISSING, to help young people flourish in a world of media and technology. They partner with people who hold trustworthy positions among youth – educators, law enforcement officers, and parents – to reach today’s digital generation.

Web Wise Kids knows that computer games have proven to be one of the most effective methods of reaching youth. Children and teens readily embrace games because they are fun, engaging, and competitive. They have conflict and challenge that give youth adrenaline, and they have interaction which lets kids “do” and not “watch.” In Katie’s case, it was the game’s characters and storyline that reached her at a personal level, alerting her that John was not a friend, but a predator. Thanks to Katie’s supporting evidence, including her computer files, love letters and gifts, John was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Katie’s family and San Francisco police officers had reached her just in time to prevent a potentially tragic disaster.

Almost nine years later, Katie has turned her experience around completely to make a positive difference in the lives of others. She is now the Ambassador to Youth

for Web Wise Kids, and travels nationwide to share her powerful testimony with other teens and parents to let them know how easily her gripping encounter could happen to just about anyone. She is sought after for television, radio and print interviews and has testified before state congressional hearings. “Web Wise Kids understands how to empower youth in a fun and effective way,” says Katie. “It is this understanding that first allowed the MISSING game to reach me and help me understand the danger I was in. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t played the game, but I am sure I would not be the person I am today. I am forever grateful to Web Wise Kids and their dedication to keeping youth safe online.”

Web Wise Kids has reached nearly ten million children with their programs in the last ten years. For more information on Web Wise Kids or to learn how you can get involved in their mission, visit www.webwisekids.org or call (714) 435-2885.

A Memo From A MemberOrange County Ronald McDonald House: The House That Love Built

The Ronald McDonald House and Ronald McDonald Family Room programs provide a sanctuary near or in children’s hospitals in Orange County for children and their families. Since 1989, more than 10,000 families from all over California, the U.S. and other countries have found a comfortable place to stay for several hours, days, weeks, months, and in some cases, over one year. The more restful environment of a Ronald McDonald House or Ronald McDonald Family Room rejuvenates family members, which helps them to better care for and assist their children during treatment.

Upcoming Events:Walk for Kids, April 10, 2011

Walk for Kids is a 5K (3.1 mile) walk designed to raise funds and awareness for the services and programs provided by the Orange County Ronald McDonald House. It’s perfect for families, companies, schools or individuals who wants to enjoy a fun-filled morning while supporting the children and families of the Orange County Ronald McDonald House.

A grateful mother’s words of thanks:“A virus went to Liliana’s heart and she became very, very sick. As parents, we were not prepared for the news we heard on that very first night in the hospital when they told us that she might not make it. We stayed at the Ronald McDonald House for 9 nights. Staying at the House was a blessing. We could be by her side all day, come back and eat, and have a beautiful and comfortable place to stay. Thankfully, Liliana improved and we were able to come home. We are forever grateful.” — Kristy, mother of Liliana

How You Can Help:• Volunteer your time to prepare and serve a meal for the families who find a comfortable place to stay at Orange County Ronald McDonald House• Donate food, personal care products, entertainment products, gift cards, greeting cards and more

• Make a donation to enable Orange County Ronald McDonald House to continue allowing them to provide invaluable services to children and families in need• Collect soda can tabs for recycling, and donate your proceeds to Orange County Ronald McDonald House. They’ll even provide a signature “Collection House” to make it easy for you!

To learn more or get involved in Orange County Ronald McDonald House, visit: www.ronaldhouseoc.orgTwitter: www.twitter.com/ronaldhouseOCFacebook: www.facebook.com/ronaldhouseOC

Or, to find a House in your area, visit Ronald McDonald House Charities at www.rmhc.org.

Web Wise Kids: Wisdom Begins With YOU

Printing of A Memo From A Member generously donated by The Printery. www.theprintery.com

Winter 2011 | www.festivalofchildren.org

The House That Love Built in Orange, CA

Festival of Children Foundation is giving a special gift to five lucky readers! Visit www.festivalofchildren.org/signup, give us your email address, and we’ll send you updates on our news, success stories and events!

Katie Canton, Ambassador to Youth for Web Wise Kids.

Festival of Children Foundation3315 Fairview RoadCosta Mesa, CA 92626

Festival of Children Foundation3315 Fairview RoadCosta Mesa, CA 92626(714) 546-0110www.festivalofchildren.org

Founder & Executive Director:Sandy Segerstrom Daniels

Contributor: Taryn Podlas

Festival of Children Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to improve the lives of children by strengthening the charities that serve them. All contributions are tax-deductible.

Festival of Children Foundation News is published 3 times per year by Festival of Children Foundation, 3315 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.

Send address changes to:FOCF Newsletter, Festival of Children FoundationAttn: Member Services3315 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Festival of Children Foundation is giving a special gift to five lucky readers! Visit www.festivalofchildren.org/signup, give us your email address, and we’ll send you updates on our news, success stories and events!

When buses arrived at South Coast Plaza retail center after business hours on December 10th, 350 homeless and motel children from around Orange County, CA stepped out to join a gathering of happiness, charity and holiday cheer.

A collaborative effort hosted by Festival of Children Foundation, South Coast Plaza, YPO Southern California Chapter and The Happiness Project, “Gifts of Love” gave children a chance to be a VIP this holiday season. As each child departed the bus they were matched with a volunteer helped them navigate the various activities. From visits with Santa to unlimited rides on the reindeer carousel, to arts and crafts and delicious food provided by Wahoo’s Fish Taco and Z Pizza, the children were given the Christmas they truly deserved. A teen lounge equipped with video games and music was available for the older children, and every child in attendance received a special gift bag tailored to their age group and gender.

“The opportunity to host this event and visit the shelters and motels has opened our children’s eyes to the very real issue of homelessness here in Orange County. Hopefully this holiday experience of giving to others will motivate children and adults alike to continue to make a difference in our community throughout the year,” said Brian Murphy, President of Athletes First and a member of YPO Southern California Chapter. We graciously thank the 200 volunteers who gave of their time, and the dozens of individuals and businesses that came together with donations and financial support to provide a magical evening for children in our own community.

GIVING GIFTS OF LOVE AND HAPPINESS

Ashley, 5, smiles as she has her nails painted during the “Gifts of Love” holiday celebration

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