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Children's Trust Family Expo in Miami-Dade expected to draw 30,000

Published Saturday, May 30, 2009

BY PERRY STEIN
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Miami-Dade County families can leave money woes behind on Saturday and join the more than 30,000 people expected to flock free of charge to The Children's Trust Family Expo.

The expo -- running from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m -- hopes to connect area families with tips on health and education while providing them a fun-filled day of activities.

''There is nothing commercial about this event. The sole purpose is to connect people to programs and services and that really is the key,'' said Emily Cardenas, senior communications manager at The Children's Trust. ``We really want to be true to our mission, we want people to have one event of the year where they can come and not feel like someone is trying to sell them something.''

More than 200 exhibitors will be in attendance, including providers with information about summer and after-school programs, injury prevention, vaccinations, programs for children with special needs, pre-K registration and KidCare.

The kids won't be bored because the halls of the expo center will be jam-packed with exciting things to do -- from face painting to balloon sculptures to magicians.

Organizers also have set up a reading corner with storytelling and will hand out brand new books for the children to take home.

Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora and Diego and PBS Kids' Clifford the Big Red Dog, Arthur and Alpha Pit will be on site greeting and talking to children.

Despite the current economic climate, The Children's Trust got a generous grant from Target -- the event's sponsor.

The national retailer covered just under half of the expo's costs and enabled the trust to accommodate this year's larger crowd. About 25,000 people attended the event last year.

Established by referendum, The Children's Trust makes investments to improve the lives of children and families in Miami-Dade County.

It receives a large portion of its funding from property taxes. This year, funding fell about 25 percent to $116 million.

''We have seen a significant reductions in revenue in The Children's Trust. We were just scraping by to put on this event, and to be able to expand it is just a dream,'' Cardenas said.