The energy was palpable and the setting unparalleled when over one hundred business leaders, investors, philanthropists, and committed community members convened to align on Vermont’s solution to our child care crisis.
Hula cofounders Russ and Roxanne Scully graciously hosted guests in The Reef at Hula, along with cohosts and committed child care champions Win Smith and Lili Ruane, Jim and Andrea Crook, Kyle and Katie Clark, and honorary cohosts Bob and Christine Stiller.
Russ and Roxanne, stewards of thriving communities in their own lives and work spaces, emphasized the role of child care at the center of healthy communities—and I couldn’t agree with them more!
As a parent of twin toddlers and CEO of Let’s Grow Kids, my life’s work is driven by the basic premise that when we invest in our children, we all benefit. This premise drove cofounders Carl Ferenbach and Rick Davis to establish Let’s Grow Kids in 2000, and it is what inspired Bob and Christine Stiller to commit an extraordinary 8-figure leadership gift to Let’s Grow Kids.
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Since 2018, with the Stiller's leadership investment, generous support from long-time donors, and a groundswell of new campaign partners, Let’s Grow Kids and Let’s Grow Kids Action Network, together as Vermont’s Child Care Campaign, have raised $42.5 million. I am deeply grateful to every campaign donor whose personally meaningful expression of support makes Vermont’s Child Care Campaign possible.
With this critical philanthropic leadership, sweeping public support and public will, close relationships with early educators statewide, and the near-unanimous passage of H.171 (“Vermont’s Child Care Bill”) earlier this year, success is in sight. Together, we will reform Vermont’s child care system to one that centers equity, affordability, and quality, so that children, families, and communities can thrive.
I remain overwhelmed with gratitude to our hosts, to our guests, and to every supporter whose generosity makes this mission possible every day. With $11 million remaining to raise to fund Vermont’s Child Care Campaign through its completion in 2025, we are entering the final chapter. With your leadership, Vermont will lead the nation on the moral and economic imperative of affordable, high-quality child care.
Thank you for your continued, unwavering commitment and generous support of this mission.
Gratefully,
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Aly Richards
CEO