A Family Carnival to benefit the Adopt-A-Bear Program will be held on September 14th at the American Legion in Centreville, Maryland from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. The public is invited to attend the event that will include games, cake wheel, silent auction and a raffle. During the Carnival, winners of the Coloring Contest that is being held at the Caroline County Summer Fest on August 15th and 16th, will be awarded prizes.

Adopt-A-Bear, started in 1991, is a non-profit program that provides wrapped gifts to needy children from our local communities during the Christmas holidays. The program was designed to be an “invisible pipeline” for individuals, groups and businesses to reach out to these children and their families during the holiday season. In 2007, gifts of clothing and toys were given to over 2,200 children from Talbot, Dorchester, Queen Anne’s, Kent and Caroline Counties.

Many from the community contributed funds to the “general” Adopt-A-Bear Fund to help buy gifts for those children that were not officially “adopted.” It is through events such as the Family Carnival that the Adopt-A-Bear Committee is working to build up this reserve Fund once again.

Plans are still developing for the Family Carnival and many hands are needed to organize and achieve this fundraiser. If you have time to give, please consider joining the effort. Two planning meetings are scheduled for Thursday, August 7th and Thursday, August 14th at 6:30 pm. Please contact Vickie Quimby at 410-758-4052 for more information.

If you wish to make a donation to Adopt-A-Bear, please send your tax-deductible contribution to the Foundation for Community Partnerships and mark the memo portion of the check with “Adopt-A-Bear.” The address for the Foundation is PO Box 418, Centreville, Maryland, 21617.