On September 29, the House approved, by voice vote, a resolution (H. Res. 759) commending the Festival of Children Foundation for its outstanding efforts on behalf of children. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) sponsored the resolution.
According to the resolution, “Numerous individuals and organizations across the United States devote precious time, energy, and resources to enrich [the nation’s] future by helping children advance their hopes and dreams and to realize their aspirations.” The resolution explains that the Festival of Children Foundation has been established in southern California to “showcase those nonprofit groups performing exemplary works, so that they may through increased exposure secure and sustain the volunteer, leadership, and financial support necessary to be successful.” Finally, the resolution states that the California State Legislature has taken official actions commending the Festival of Children and recognizing September as “Child Awareness Month.”
Rep. Rohrabacher explained that “too often in our communities many families have not even been aware that certain charities exist; and at the same time, there are many who are willing to volunteer their energy and their resources to help these charities, yet they do not know these charities even exist. In the meantime, we see there are charities that spend much of their scarce resources that should be going directly to the children to overcome this gulf that separates them from both the donors and the needy.” He added, “We need to make sure that all the children of this world can reach their potential and have a happy life. And so I applaud those individuals who are engaged in this noble, noble effort. I especially applaud the individual initiative of Sandy Segerstrom Daniels, the founder of the Festival of Children. She took the initiative to form a private nonprofit organization bringing all of Orange County’s children’s charities together.”
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) said that the Festival of Children Foundation “improves the lives of children and families in Orange County, California by collaborating with local children’s charities to promote education, community involvement and the arts. In the last 2 years, more than 100 nonprofit groups in southern California have benefited enormously from the exposure, partnership and assistance of the Festival of Children Foundation. In particular, the foundation has declared September 2004 as a month to ‘Celebrate the Magic of Childhood.’ It is working with 52 agencies and organizations to serve the children of southern California with high-profile exhibits to continue with the foundation’s mission.”
