No doubt about it, child care is expensive and getting more expensive with each passing day.  In Virginia, child care tuition consumes 37% of the median income of a single parent and 12% of a two-parent family.  In many states, child care tuition now exceeds that of community college.

With the cost of quality child care rising every year, parents are struggling to balance basic household needs with their child's academic future.  Hopkins House is hoping that its 75th Anniversary Venetian Masquerade Ball will help raise enough money this year for scholarships so that low-resourced working and military families with children enrolled in its three preschool academies will no longer face this choice.

 

Every year, through the generosity of its donors and friends, Hopkins House provides well over $200,000 in scholarships to the children of low-resourced families.  Nearly a quarter of this amount is raised through this annual ball, attended by local celebrities and politicians.

 

"We are committed to the children and families of this community," says Hopkins House President/CEO J. Glenn Hopkins.  "Every child, no matter their family's financial circumstances of the moment, deserve to attend quality preschool.  And, our incredible and very dedicated staff, volunteers, and donors are working hard to make this a reality."

 

Tickets to the ball are specially priced at $75 in recognition of Hopkins House's 75th anniversary this year.  The ball is on Saturday, November 1, 7:00 pm, at the Belle Haven Country Club just across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge in Alexandria, Virginia.  DC's top all-female band, Be'la Dona, and emerging recording artist Chelsey Green and the Green Project are performing.  Along with the jesters, plate spinners, magicians, and dancing, food, and drinks, this is an event not to be missed, and a very worthwhile cause.