NRV families attend free day at Wonder Universe, courtesy United Way of Southwest Virginia
June 13, 2022
As prices rose for entertainment options this season, families from across the New River Valley enjoyed a free day of fun and discovery at Wonder Universe in Christiansburg June 4. United Way of Southwest Virginia hosted the event, complete with prizes and giveaways, learning experiences, and a chance for the whole family to enjoy a great day together free of charge.
United Way of Southwest Virginia (UWSWVA) sponsored the day as an outreach project to let parents and families in the New River Valley know about the good work UWSWVA is doing for families in the NRV. Dr. Susan Patrick, director of Childhood Success, said, “We are focused around early childhood initiatives and really improving the quality and the availability of parents’ choices related to early care and education across the region. And this is one way we thought we could really reach a lot of parents in the Christiansburg area.”
Wonder Universe is a hands-on children’s museum located at 782 New River Road, Suite 812 in Christiansburg. Director Shelby Koninckx said, “There's a little something for everyone here. We have a restored Oliver tractor that's named Nelson. We have our fire truck that was generously donated to us. We have the Appalachian Trail stage, which highlights our regional trail heritage as well as kind of conservation efforts in the region. We have a Shelor Motor Mile Raceway with some air pressure powered cars that go, and our Sparks Space Creative Arts area. So, there's, like I said, something for everyone here.”
QianQian Cao brought her two sons to the event, and said she was glad to learn UWSWVA is making strides in helping NRV families find accessible, affordable child care. Cao said that even with two incomes, the price of child care could be “exhausting,” and that “your organization is trying to help all the daycares and all the families here.”
One of the programs Cao and other parents were introduced to at the Family Fun Day is the Birth to 5 Hub, an online portal operated by UWSWVA. Christine McCartney, childhood success coordinator with UWSWVA, explained, “a parent can go in there and they can choose the county that they live in and a list of early childhood centers and every available childcare in the area. There are family day homes that we support and the information there about those centers and how to contact them.”
McCartney knows first-hand how important the work UWSWVA is doing in the NRV is. “I've been with the United Way since October. For the 20 years prior to that, I was a director at child care centers in the area,” McCartney said. “And as a director, I can tell you from that perspective, working with United Way, just the support for families that I could give because of United Way and the grants that were available – we depended on United Way to come in and do trainings with our teachers side-by-side, mentoring in the classrooms, just real, direct, hands-on support.”
Childhood Success Coordinator Whitney Caton, who works exclusively in the NRV, said she was thrilled to be able to partner with Wonder Universe in reaching out to families. “I love getting our name out here in the New River Valley. A lot of people don't know who United Way of Southwest Virginia is and what we do, how much effort and care that we put into increasing that quality in early childhood education. They don’t see how much we are on the ground here, helping teachers, helping programs. It's good to let parents see that side of it, let them know that we're here to help.”
Said Patrick, “we're just letting families know that we are working towards high quality child care and early experiences across the region and that we're working with a number of different providers here in the New River Valley to make that happen for them. We have a lot of resources that parents might find helpful, and we wanted to share those with them today.”
