Hello, my name is Tamella Zade and I am the Director at Tiny Stars Childcare and Preschool Center. We coordinate a rigorous Summer Camp for our school agers at both of our sister centers: Tiny Stars and Carousel Kids Care. Both centers are located in Northeast Philadelphia and serve children of families who receive subsidy support. Most families have a hard time to afford the additional costs of field trips and enrichment programs, causing a barrier for our inner city children to experience quality learning opportunities. These experiences include higher costs for tickets, transportation, staffing, scheduling, etc.

Most of our families scavenge last minute to be able to collect funds the day before or day of a trip to be able to make their children happy. We can sense that these families are in dire need of these dollars, while also creating a burden for the program to make last minute changes. It is also hard for our programs to plan in an organized manner, due to families not being able to financially commit ahead of time. We also do not want to put a financial strain on families that are already struggling. Summer Camp should be an exciting time, not a moment of financial strain for our families.

I am inviting you to donate towards field trips and enrichment programs by sponsoring Philadelphia families that struggle to financially afford these opportunities for their children. Inner city kids have financial and physical boundaries to exploring what our city and suburbs have to offer. It breaks our heart to see the disappointment children feel when they do not get to go on exciting trips and adventures. Our goal is for all of our students to be able to explore with us, with no child left behind! Nothing is more rewarding than when you see a child experience something for the first time with wonder and a BIG smile on their face. Let's help our kids smile together!