Commending Festival of Children Foundation

COMMENDING FESTIVAL OF CHILDREN FOUNDATION -- (House of Representatives - September 29, 2004)

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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, Walt Disney once said that "Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children." Today we honor the Festival of Children Foundation, an organization with the specific purpose to improve the lives of children and families throughout Orange County, California by fostering education, community involvement, and the arts by collaborating with local children's charities.

Through their hard work and efforts, the Festival of Children Foundation has been able to showcase the work of non-profit groups as a way to increase exposure and sustain volunteer, leadership and financial support for these groups. The Foundation, being an umbrella organization, has made it possible to serve as a free recourse to these groups by encouraging collaborative efforts to serve the community as well as a place for groups to share ideas and lessons on community mobilization, planning and overall best practices. In the last two years, over 100 non-profit groups in southern California have benefited enormously from the exposure, partnership and assistance from the Festival of Children Foundation.

As another way to truly reach out and assist children, the Festival of Children Foundation had declared September 2004 as a month to "Celebrate the Magic of Childhood," working with 52 agencies and organizations to serve the children of southern California with high profile exhibits to continue with the Foundation's mission.

I would like to congratulate the Foundation on their excellent work and assisting to strengthen their community-most importantly, their efforts to benefit the lives of children.