I'm the Event Coordinator, which means I plan our two major fundraisers, and I am the liaison for our auxiliary group. My boss jokes that all of our job descriptions end with "and all other duties as assigned". This means I also coordinate several small events and manage some of the agency's other fundraising initiatives too, like the United Way campaign. 

Work hard, play hard perfectly describes my work at ChildCareGroup. In my A Girl Can Dream: Working Woman post from college, I wrote about my desires for my career. My goal was to be passionate about my job, and I wanted a happy workplace, maybe even with a thrilling environment. ChildCareGroup meets this goal. Work is work, but when you work for a nonprofit that serves children, you get to play a lot too - see why below!

About ChildCareGroup: 38% of Dallas children live in poverty. ChildCareGroup is committed to building a stronger community by providing services to more than 50,000 children, parents and early childhood professionals each year to help lift two generations out of poverty. By offering holistic services to parents and children, we can put them on the path to self-sufficiency and change their destiny. Our comprehensive programs fall into three main impact areas: teach, train, and assist.

Great Adventure Hunt: the Hunt allows more than 360 donors to engage with ChildCareGroup through the way our students learn — through play! The event is a fun and clever scavenger hunt at the Perot Museum. The museum’s five floors turn into exciting and unexpected puzzle sites. During the Hunt, teams of six players compete against other teams to decipher mind-bending clues and solve puzzles. From inflatable gorillas and disappearing ink to edible clues, you never know what you will find at the Hunt! Judges tally the scores, and teams who solve the most puzzles in the shortest amount of time receive special prizes and bragging rights!

Great Big JAM: The JAM is a fun event for 400 children, parents and grandparents on a Saturday morning in spring, at the Dallas Country Club. Kids are invited to wear their favorite pajamas and come enjoy a popular children’s author. Great activities include crafts, balloon artists and face painters. The JAM also provides a chance for kids to engage in philanthropy by bringing a pair of new pajamas for a disadvantaged young child.