Community Event and Activity Sponsorship Grant

First 5 San Joaquin has set aside funds for fiscal year 2022-2023 to sponsor events and activities that assist in achieving the priorities established in the Strategic Plan and help to expand the reach of the Talk. Read. Sing. Draw. Play. campaign.

Talk. Read. Sing. Draw. Play. is a local campaign created by the University of the Pacific’s San Joaquin Reads Initiative that encourages parent engagement and provides children ages 0 to 5 with consistent, language-rich experiences. When parents talk, read, sing, draw, and play with children in loving and responsive ways, they build the child’s brain and help them develop the social-emotional skills needed to succeed in school and life. The Community Event & Activity Sponsorship Grant provides community organizations with funding and resource support to serve as Campaign Extenders and expand campaign messages by including education and resource provision into existing community events or planning special Talk. Read. Sing. Draw. Play. related activities for families.

Sponsorship Options:

• A. Community Event: To support activities that increase the inclusion of children ages 0 to 5 and their families in community events that are free and open to the public. The event may be solely focused on children ages 0 to 5, or part of an event with a larger community focus, as long as it includes a focus on children ages 0 to 5. Examples include (please note these are examples, not an exhaustive list): health promotion events, cultural enrichment events that promote family bonding, events that promote early literacy, etc.
• B. Family Literacy Event: To support opportunities for parents of children ages 0 to 5 to enhance their ability to parent young children. This could include many different educational activities. Examples include (please note these are examples, not an exhaustive list): parenting workshops on topics related to Talk. Read. Sing. Draw. Play., family literacy nights, etc. Family literacy events should specifically target children ages 0 to 5 and their families.

Qualified events will do the following:

• Align with one or more Goal Areas in the First 5 San Joaquin Strategic Plan (noted above):
• Target families (primarily) with children ages 0 to 5 or professionals working with families with children ages 0 to 5 in San Joaquin County
• Provide educational and developmentally appropriate activities for children ages 0 to 5
• Be free and available to the public
• Be educational in purpose (e.g. dinners and entertainment-focused events will not meet this requirement)
• Be designated as a “smoke-free” event
• Provide healthy refreshment options for participants, if sponsorship funding will be used for food and drink purchases
• Demonstrate ability to meet target attendance numbers as indicated by a prior year’s event attendance (except Level 1 funding)
• Take place in San Joaquin County