The Thrive to Five Playfest is free family event that offers activities from A to Z that are perfect for kids from zero to five!  This event raises $130,000+ each year and is a gift to our community as well as the Southwest Human Development families we serve.  Corporate partners and the generosity of our volunteers make this event possible.

Our event sponsors enjoy exposure on-site, on the website, via social media, print media, television and radio, and through signage and collateral materials. Sponsorships for the event range from $1,500 to $30,000. Each includes logo, signage and website exposures, inclusion on t-shirts, 10’ x 10’ booth area, registrations for your team to get involved and optional peer to peer

Little Free Libraries are “take one, leave one” book stations stocked with children’s books and permanently installed in low-income neighborhoods, making books available where children/families might not otherwise have access. A Little Free Library will reach hundreds of children and families for many years to come. SWHD provides easy-to-assemble kits and the Library could be built and decorated as a group activity with members of your team, or SWHD can arrange for the Library to be crafted by other community groups. Our standard investment request is $1000 per kit. Learn more about this program here.

We offer Little Free Libraries to be built by your team or your corporate clients as a team building benefit. These could be great engagement activities at corporate wellness fairs. They can be placed by us with partners, or with non-profit and community contacts that you connect us with. Click here to watch some short videos about the experience.

Festival of Tales, held at Paradise Valley Community College each year in April and December, is a free, fun family event with a variety of activities that all center around storybooks and literacy activities. This event is attended by over 1,200 families. Every child attending leaves with a new book. You are invited to attend as a sponsor. We will include your logo on the t-shirts, signage and provide a tabling space. We would also love to have your team volunteer to give out books! You can learn more by watching this video.

Reading Buddies are stuffed animals that help children practice reading in a nonjudgmental environment. Reading Buddies help encourage children to read by simply being present as a listening ear, or by serving as a routine reminder. Reading Buddies each come with their own “house” and a passport in which there will be a first message to the child encouraging them to not only read to their Buddy, but also to use their imagination to draw or write about their adventures and books they’ve read.

We offer Reading Buddies building activities to your team or your corporate clients as a team building benefit. 

The Annual Holiday Party is held in December at Sahuaro Ranch Park in Glendale. Historically, about 30 families (about 130 people in all) participate. They enjoy a day of arts and crafts, great food, games and bounce houses, and maybe even a visit from Santa! You will be invited to attend, and volunteer opportunities will be available.

Give Back Drives are another great way to get employees and clients into the act of giving. We annually host drives to provide support to our programs and families in need. Including:

Grow A reader is a virtual book drive to raise funds to support early literacy. We partner with companies, restaurants and other consumer focused businesses to host our flower pots for the month of May. These flower pots solicit donations via purchased books and provide an opportunity for staff and customers to make online donations that we use to purchase books for kids in need. See more here.

• Back to School Drives in the month of July support our foster care families in preparing to go back to school. The average cost to prepare a child for school is $450.

• Gingerbread Kids Holiday Drive allow your staff and customers to sponsor children in our programs. You would claim any number of children and we would provide a tag

that provides their shoe and clothing sizes as well as their toy and activity interests.