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Give a little bit of 'Art and Soul' for charity
The Gazette - Wednesday, June 3, 2009
by Stephanie Siegel and Jen Beasley
All children need safe places to play, create, relax and dream, but for the children at National Center for Children and Families, many of whom have been abused, abandoned or placed in other harmful situations, such a place is especially important.
That's why NCCF, a Bethesda nonprofit that serves needy children and families, is planning to build the Freddie Mac Foundation Youth Activities Center on its Greentree Road campus. The $5.6 million facility will be 20,425 square feet and include a two-story gym, a performance stage, creative arts studios, a dining facility and meeting rooms.
The center will be a place where children and parents can play sports, express themselves through art and get involved in other healthy, stress-reducing activities.
Currently, NCCF does not have a cafeteria or common area to accommodate homeless children and families. The new center will include a 1,028-square foot kitchen that will serve as a place to teach meal preparation and nutrition and a 1,700-square foot dining room where families can eat together.
NCCF has already raised $3.6 million for the project and is on the way to raising the rest. Community members can help NCCF reach that goal next week, when NCCF holds its seventh annual Art & Soul Charity Auction from 7-10 p.m., June 12 at The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane. Proceeds from the event will go toward the construction of the Youth Activities Center.
The auction will feature artwork by youth from the Greentree Adolescent Program and by prominent local artists Kari Minnick, of the Kari Minnic Art Glass Studio in Silver Spring and Ellen Sinel who is represented by Zenith Gallery in Washington, D.C. A silent auction will feature non-art items and 60 pieces of original art from regional artists.
In addition, awards will be presented to Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the District of Columbia Public School System, Montgomery County Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At large) of North Bethesda, the Montgomery County Community Foundation and James Ward, a success story to come out of NCCF's FutureBound Independent Living Program.
Tickets for Art & Soul are $150 and can be purchased by contacting Heidi Coons at 301-365-4480, ext. 114. Learn more at www.nccf-cares.org.
