Celebrating 18 years of love at The Small Idea!

Happy holidays to all of you! 2024 will be a special year for us. We are celebrating 18 years of The Small Idea! It has been an amazing time raising children to love each other. It’s such a simple, small idea, but we know how powerful it is. Eighteen years and hundreds of happy, healthy, smart and grateful children are all the proof we need. They are artists, high academic achievers, athletes, volunteers, thinkers, doers, activists….They are all these things! They make their families and their community proud.

We are writing to you today to ask for your help. Our partnerships with government agencies such as the Department of Education (DOE) and the Administration of Child Services (ACS) have impacted our budget significantly. They consistently underpay or do not pay at all. Over the past three years we've had to cut many of the activities and events that make our program special.

Our goal now is to raise enough money to fund operating costs to safeguard against ACS and DOE late or nonpayment. Your help will also allow us to continue to offer affordable tuition for working people. The socioeconomic diversity of our program is something we will never compromise.

For eighteen years, all of you have helped The Small Idea by:

*Helping to buy the house on w 159th street

*Supporting local politicians and community leaders

*Attending art shows and musical performances supporting local artists

*Celebrating in the backyard: birthdays, graduations, baby showers, and all types of family gatherings

*Attending upstate camping trips and covid summer programs

*Fundraising for community organizations close to the Small Idea: Uptown Dreamers,

Undocumented Women’s Project, newly arrived immigrants, Black Lives Matter, Colectivo Amaranta, Black Health, Word Up Bookstore, Pluma Poetica, and many more!

*Participating in classes and workshops: yoga, meditation, drum circles, music, art, book clubs, poetry and book readings, Know Your Rights workshops, and so many more!

*Contributing experiences and insights during many a school placement meeting (because even though your child was past PreK admissions, you still empathize with families going through that high-anxiety process!)

If 300 families contributed $50 each, we would reach our goal. Please contribute if and what you can.

Please also share widely to all of your families, friends and neighbors who love The Small Idea. We will be celebrating 18 years in the backyard on the following dates:

Friday March 15: 6 pm

Saturday March 16: 11 am

We hope to take a group picture of all our babies, past and present, who can join us. There will be food, drink, and friends!

Thanks so much for 18 years of love! Future Small Idea friends will thank you too!

Peace,

Melissa and Kevin