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Naples Children and Education Foundation, founders of the Winter Wine Festival, will host “Meet the Kids Day” on January 26, where you can meet some of the children that are helped by the community’s support.

Erin was having a difficult time negotiating the world as a teenager. She had faced some emotional challenges, with her self-esteem taking the biggest hit.

But Erin found help at David Lawrence Centers . “I feel like I finally have someone I can really talk to,” she says. “I feel better about myself, and I know I have support.”

Teens like Erin and younger children will be the focus on “Meet the Kids Day,” to be held January 26, 2018 at the Boys and Girls Club of Collier County. You will be able to meet some of the children that you help with your donations.

Meet the Kids Day is sponsored by the Naples Children and Education Foundation, founders of the Naples Winter Wine Festival. NCEF’s mission is to “support effective, disciplined charitable programs that significantly improve the physical, emotional and educational lives of underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County.”

The Festival will be held January 26-28 with the theme of “All We Need Is Love.” Since its inception in 2001, the Festival has raised more than $161 million for children in need.

Some of that funding has gone to David Lawrence Center’s children’s programs.

“Their gifts have helped provide services we wouldn’t normally be able to provide,” says DLC’s Karen Buckner, Director of Children’s Community Services. Thanks to NCEF funding, DLC has been able to add the following staff positions:

• Erin Brewer, School Liaison, who works with Collier County schools to address children’s mental wellness;
• Sandra Mustelier, Immokalee Children’s Outreach Specialist, who, among other duties, works with after-school programs in that community;
• Ana Alvarez, children’s clinician, who provides specialty mental health treatment to at-risk, uninsured youth in Collier County.

“Through these programs,” says Buckner, “children are able to receive treatment services and support for their emotional and behavioral issues. This allows each child and family to overcome life’s challenges—ideally preventing the need for more intensive services.”