Manatee County Families to Benefit from $6,000 Grant

Forty Carrots Family Center has been awarded a $6,000 grant from the Eugene F. and Elizabeth Hull Fund, Weichel Family Fund and Anonymous Donors of Manatee Community Foundation for its Partners in Play® (PIP) parenting education summer program at the Braden River Library.

This unique program is designed to strengthen the bond between parents, caregivers and children (ages 0-5) by offering a safe, developmentally appropriate and creative play experience, guided by Forty Carrots’ professional parenting educators, at no cost to the participants. These research-based groups encourage both play and relationship building, which is at the heart of this program.  Since January 2018, Forty Carrots has served 533 unduplicated clients at Braden River, many of them returning week after week. Demand for groups at Braden River consistently exceeds capacity.

“We are so grateful for Manatee Community Foundation’s vital support for our Partners in Play® program,” said Forty Carrots CEO Michelle Kapreilian. “This grant will enable us to serve more families in Manatee County, strengthening the family bonds that are so crucial in the early years of a child’s life.”

Braden River Library is one of 15 library locations throughout Manatee and Sarasota counties where the PIP programs are offered, serving more than 2,500 clients annually at no cost. PIP groups are open to parents, family members, caregivers and children ages 0-5, from all backgrounds and socio-economic levels. These groups become even more important when you consider that 84 percent of the children in PIP are not in preschool – and PIP can help fill that gap in learning, helping to prepare children for kindergarten.