Summer 2023 Play Date With A Firefighter Event!
Our first ever play date with a firefighter event was a sold out smash hit! We invited the UVFA to come to our facility as a part of our “It Takes A Village Initiative.” Our members benefit from local experts in the community in raising the next generation of our community. These member events are a benefit of membership with Mendo LEAP! Non-members are encouraged to join in as well for a small fee.
The team of 7 Ukiah Valley Fire Authority Personnel came in 2 groups. The first group were just finishing up an emergency call and the other half were just heading out to one and would arrive a little later. Attendees were aware of the need for our special guests to rush out should they get a call.
Our 25 children that attended were between the ages of 4 months old to 7 years old. Our current facility is limited in capacity so we had to limit the number of children we could allow into the event. We hope that in the future we can acquire a larger facility so as to not limit the communities involvement and benefit of our events like these.
The Circle Time Bell Rang and all the kids gathered around on the carpet to hear from our guests. Mendo LEAP printed off some home fire safety information that was handed out and our guests demonstrated what to do if caught on fire and informed families of the necessity of a fire escape plan and informing children how to call for help in an emergency.
Everyone was then divided up into 3 groups. That rotated. There was playing in our play area with a couple of the fire personnel, doing a painting project in our Maker Space area and there was vehicle tours and demos out side.
Outside the team brought 2 engines and an ambulance. They parked blocking the whole side street of Church St. just to the north of us between State St. and Main St. So the kids could safely explore the vehicles without an obstructions in the busy State Street or Main Street sides of us.
Slam Dunk Pizza has been a huge supporter of our journey to enrich the lives of families in our community that they graciously offered to donate the pizza for our event! Their Owner Stephanie stopped in for a tour the week before to set up details and then the day of the event their Manager Darion came down when he finished his shift to personally deliver the donated pizza to us. We are so grateful for the support Slam Dunk has offered us. Opening a start-up service business in a small down post-covid is a lonely and challenging venture but Slam Dunk and the several other local businesses who have reached out to us behind-the-scenes to offer their support has been golden. We love this community and hope that our “learn-through-play” facility serves the children and their families of this community well in enriching their lives and futures.
All the kids got to take home a swag bag from Mendo LEAP with some home fire safety activity sheets and lots of fun fire themed goodies!
Thank you so all who came to this fun-educational event. We are excited to work with more community agencies to offer more events like this to our members and the community as a whole. Next Month is PlayDate with a COP with the UPD! Follow us for announcements of when reservations open up for that fun event!
