Capital Campaign

Our goal is to raise $65,000 for an environmentally friendly roof, flooring, and lighting, with additional energy-saving improvements to our water heater and plumbing system.

For 35 years, Seward Child Care Center, has been a nourishing, growing place for hundreds of young children and their families. The high-quality learning environment treats children as whole individuals, addressing their intellectual, social, and physical development. Its commitment to nonviolent conflict resolution produces kids who know how to solve problems and live together peacefully.

Our upper preschool group, the Penguins, received an award this year for their weekly volunteer service at a nearby long-term care facility. And increasingly, our commitment to organic local food, gardening, recycling and environmental education teaches children about the importance of caring for the earth.

We are now facing an aging building which requires some significant renovations in order to remain a safe and healthy environment for the children and staff. Specifically, we need a new roof, new floors, and updated lighting. These renovations offer us an opportunity to put our environmental ideals into practice.

We are working with a neighborhood architect and green building expert to design a building that are environmentally friendly, low-impact options like a green or white roof, flooring made from recycled materials, and LED lighting and skylights rather than the aging black rubber roof, linoleum flooring and inefficient fluorescent lighting currently in place.

We are excited to be a contributor to environmental sustainability by increasing the energy efficiency of our building, lowering our monthly energy expenses, and modeling green building technology. Although every family pays monthly tuition and contributes four hours each month of volunteer time, an investment of this size will require assistance from individuals, foundations and community businesses beyond our current membership.

Most of our families are middle-income, and 20% of our families are lower-income. We strive to keep tuition affordable, (currently at or below the market rate for child care in Minneapolis) while continuing to attract and retain a high-quality teaching staff. Because of this, we are turning to you for help raising the $65,000 needed to accomplish this project. Please join hands with us and contribute to the Seward Child Care Center 35th Anniversary Green Building Fund.

Your tax-deductible contribution in any amount will help us build a firm foundation to continue the important work of nourishing generations to come.

If you have any questions about the campaign or about the planned renovations, or if you have in-kind donations of labor or materials to offer, please contact our campaign chair, Diane Benjamin, at 612-823-5911 or dianembenjamin@aol.com.

HOW YOUR DONATION CAN HELP

A gift of $750 will cover half of the Polar Bear room energy-efficient roofing.

Our current roof is over 15 years old and needs replacement. This black rubber roof that holds in heat in the summer, creates a “heat island” in the immediate vicinity, and offers limited energy efficiency benefits. Our new roof will be white. A white roof will stay much cooler in the summer sun, reducing air conditioning costs, and lessening the building’s impact on its neighbors.

A gift of $500 will cover a quarter of the Teddy Bear classroom with safe, clean, green flooring.

Our current flooring is scuffed and stained linoleum, deteriorating after almost 20 years of little feet. Portions of the floors are carpeted, which is a non-renewable resource that requires frequent replacements and holds in allergens such as molds and dust. Our new flooring will be a combination of a natural product linoleum with a lower level of harmful chemicals, and recycled carpet tiles, which are easier to clean and have much lower environmental impact.

A gift of $250 will bring more natural light into the Penguin room.

Our current lighting system is almost 30 years old, highly inefficient, and provides low quality fluorescent light in the classrooms. Our new lighting system will include solar tubes to bring more natural light into the classrooms, energy efficient fixtures and bulbs, and necessary safety upgrades to switches and outlets.