Friday, December 6, 2013

Holiday Happenings: The Giving Tree

Posted by Matt Berman

The holiday season is in full swing at the Virginia Discovery Museum, and there's so much going on! To help you keep track of it all, we're rolling out a five-part blog series called Holiday Happenings, which will detail some of the major things taking place at the museum through January 1.


The Virginia Discovery Museum Giving Tree is located in the museum lobby, near the
entrance. Partner with the museum in giving the gift of creativity and imagination this
holiday season by taking an ornament and committing to donating the supplies listed on it.


The giving season kicked off this past Tuesday as part of the second annual #GivingTuesday, a growing movement to create a national day of giving following the Black Friday to Cyber Monday shopping weekend. Consider giving back to your community this year by investing in Charlottesville's only nonprofit children's museum and help us continue our mission to provide a fun, safe environment for children to explore, create, and grow!

Now that all of the museum's angels through the Salvation Army's Angel Tree program have been claimed, we've adorned the Christmas tree in our lobby with a new giving campaign: the Virginia Discovery Museum Giving Tree. Each ornament on the tree lists supplies the museum needs for its exhibits, educational programs, and special events.

Giving Tree Ornaments
  • Dollhouse and/or Dolls (any kind): One of our oldest exhibits -- and a visitor favorite -- needs a makeover! Help us with a major remodeling of our dollhouse.
  • Trains: Our Back Gallery train tables, one of our most popular exhibits, could always use new parts and accessories.
  • Stuffed Animals (all kinds): We encourage imaginative play, and what better way to facilitate that than keeping various stuffed critters around the museum for our young visitors to befriend?
  • Craft Supplies: We try to keep our Open Studio, weekly drop-in programs, and special events stocked full of fun goodies so that our young visitors can make whatever their imaginations allow. Here are the supplies we need:
    • Washable Paint
    • Washable Ink Pads
    • Stamps
    • Glue
    • Markers
    • Face Paints
    • Construction Paper
    • Ribbon and Lace
    • Buttons, Beads, and Sequins
    • Glitter
  • Children's Books (all kinds): We strive to make the museum an educational and fun place for children and parents alike. A lot of our visitors enjoy reading with their young ones in our Tree House room, and we use books in several of our weekly and monthly programs.

If you, or someone you know, has something they'd like to donate, please take the corresponding ornament from our Giving Tree to hang on your own tree at home as a reminder of your gift. Please return all donations to the museum by January 1. Giving Tree donations are tax-deductible, so be sure to ask for a receipt after dropping off your gift.

Thank you for partnering with us in giving the gift of creativity and imagination this holiday season! Happy holidays!

Matt Berman is the Exhibits and Marketing Manager at the Virginia Discovery Museum. Reach him at exhibits@vadm.org or marketing@vadm.org.

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