December 3, 2024
Pour the holiday cheer! The Friends of Jack & Jill Center – a support group of volunteers committed to developing community awareness, fundraising and program assistance for Jack & Jill Center’s children and their families – is excited to host the 23rd Annual Stiles Light Up Downtown, presented by Michele and Joe Maiuro, at The Plaza on Las Olas on December 3. Adults are invited to ring in the holiday season while giving back to the community with unlimited cocktails, canapés and festive live entertainment including jugglers, stilt walkers and a visit from Santa. The event will culminate with the magical lighting of a 30-foot Christmas tree, illuminating downtown Fort Lauderdale. The proceeds from the event will benefit Jack & Jill Center’s mission to strengthen children and families through innovative education, supportive programming and community engagement. Jack & Jill Center supports children of working families through quality early childhood education, elementary education and family strengthening programs to ensure every child and family has the tools they need to be successful. The adults-only affair for those 21 and older is open to the public. Jack & Jill Center’s mission is to strengthen children and families through innovative education, supportive programming and community engagement. It achieves its mission by focusing on both the children and family units as a whole, so that the entire household, children and parents alike, are able to reach their full potential. Since 1942, Jack & Jill Center has served more than 30,000 children and families in South Florida. It currently serves as a NAEYC-accredited year-round early learning program for children aged six weeks through preschool, as well as an elementary school. The Madelaine Halmos Academy’s (MHA) state-of-the-art elementary school building, an expansion of Jack & Jill Center’s Early Education Center, debuted in April 2021. Serving students from high-need working families in kindergarten–fifth grade, the transformational project is geared to prepare students for success in career and life. The Friends (Auxiliary Board) of Jack & Jill Center was established in 1999 to provide Jack & Jill Center with financial support, volunteer services, program assistance and community awareness. Since its inception, Friends has raised over $6.5 million and has volunteered thousands of hours to improve the lives of children and their families in South Florida.