Primrose School at Lakewood Ranch raises funds for charity through Spring Fling

Sara Campbell, the regional manager of Primrose Schools, said the Lakewood Ranch school's Spring Fling April 18 was a "scaled back version of a carnival for little people instead of big people.”

While she also called the event "high energy with bubbles and music," it had some important goals, other than providing the school's students with face painting, a bean bag toss, an egg hunt, arts and crafts, bubbles, and other games.

Trudi Krames, the school director at Primrose, said their students' families have been very generous to donate toys, books, self care products and more to create baskets to raffle off during the event. There were different themed baskets (summer, storytime and fairytale). 

Through the event's fundraising efforts, they were able to raise $3,507, which will be distributed between the Primrose Children's Foundation and Mothers Helping Mothers. It was more than double that was raised at Spring Fling a year ago.

Photo by Madison Bier

“It’s always fun when the kids get to play with their classmates and the money (raised) goes to charity,” said Kyle Stalnaker, the father of 5-year-old Savannah Stalnaker. “When the kids are happy, I’m happy.”

Stainaker said the schools parents rally to support Spring Fling because they know its importance.

“We’ve built enough trust with Primrose that if they say it’s a good cause, I’ll be there and donate,” Stalnaker said.

Campbell said Primrose Children’s Foundation assists with funding of the schools and the national support center.

“It’s important because those are funds that they also use to support children who are underserved or in crisis,” Campbell said. 

Mothers Helping Mothers is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 1990 to assist families in need.

“They help families, not just mothers, with resources that aren’t always available to them to help them be successful,” Campbell said. “That could be financial, it could be literacy.” 

Along with the monetary donation from Spring Fling, they also donated 635 books to Mothers Helping Mothers in February. 

Photo by Madison Bierl

“As a mother myself, it’s nice to know they’re out helping others,” said Heather Walding, the mother of 2-year-old Aria Sorbo, who attends Primrose. “It’s not easy.”

Primrose School at Lakewood Ranch serves children ages 6 weeks up to 12 years old.

“It’s one of those schools that is very welcoming, and everyone knows every child’s name,” said parent Katelyn Turner. 

Christina Dickens said that she and her 2-year-old son Carter love Primrose as well. 

“We love it, it’s like his second family,” Dickens said. “He has such a great bond with his teachers, and they treat him as their own.” 

Campbell said they are proud to serve as many children as possible during Spring Fling.

“Everyone helped, everyone did their part,” said Christine Tejeiro, the education coach who has been heavily involved in planning Spring Fling. “I wish we could do this every weekend.”