Circle of Friends Donates More Than $321,000 to Kidspace Children’s Museum With Check Presentation

Circle of Friends, the local volunteer organization dedicated to supporting Kidspace Children’s Museum, presented a check for $321,621.30 to Kidspace board members and staff at the nonprofit’s Annual Meeting and Brunch at The Valley Hunt Club today. The event celebrated Circle of Friends’s record-breaking fundraising efforts for the 2023-2024 year, in addition to recognizing outgoing and incoming board members.

Circle of Friends’s outgoing Board President Annie Hewett and Benefit Co-Chairs Devon Midland and Sabrina Doherty presented the large check to Kidspace Children’s Museum’s Senior Manager for Marketing and Community Relations Sara Jennings and Board President Carrie Walker. The funds were raised during Circle of Friends’s Annual Benefit on Feb. 3, 2024, which consisted of a silent and live auction, raffle, dinner and dancing at Oakmont Country Club.

All funds go directly to support free access programs at Kidspace which benefit children and families in need. Programs include Free Family Nights, Kidspace camp scholarships, discounted admission for veterans and their families, free and reduced-cost school field trips, discounted admission for families with EBT cards, virtual learning classes for LAUSD students and Birthday Palooza, which is a giant birthday party held at the museum for siblings in foster care in partnership with Foster Love.

The Annual Meeting and Brunch also honored the work of Circle of Friends’s 2023-2024 Board and inducted its new Board members for the 2023-2024 year. Pasadena resident Elizabeth Angiuli will serve as Circle of Friends’s new president.

Established in 1991, Circle of Friends has raised nearly $5 million in support of Kidspace’s operating budget. The volunteer organization’s purpose is strictly charitable and consists of approximately 100 women from Pasadena, Altadena, San Marino, La Cañada Flintridge, South Pasadena and the surrounding communities. For more information about Circle of Friends, visit www.kidspacecircleoffriends.org and follow on Instagram at @kidspace_circleoffriends.

Kidspace Children’s Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational and cultural institution committed to serving the needs and interests of children and families. The museum hosts nearly 380,000 guests each year on a beautiful, 3.5-acre outdoor campus with more than 40 hands-on exhibits, a live animal collection, and a variety of creative play spaces and water features. Kidspace offers a wide array of free and discounted programs, field trips, and digital resources for schools to maximize access for children and educators. For more information about Kidspace Children’s Museum, visit www.kidspacemuseum.org and follow on Instagram at @kidspacemuseum.