by Greg Stanton

Phoenix City Councilman, District 6 

As a new father, I understand that trying to keep your kids safe can sometimes seem like an overwhelming task. But knowledge is power, and the more we know about keeping our kids out of danger the better we feel about their safety. This is why I am proud to be a part of Keeping Kids Safe Day—a fun and interactive child and home safety event.

Keeping Kids Safe Day will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at Morningside Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 3312 E. Campbell Ave. The event is sponsored by the city of Phoenix along with Morningside Evangelical.

    Keeping Kids Safe Day will offer valuable educational opportunities in a fun atmosphere both you and your kids can enjoy. The city of Phoenix Police and Fire Departments will be at the event giving valuable safety tips. They’ll teach you anything from how to keep your kids safe around water to how to help your kids understand what to do in case of a fire or other emergency. Phoenix Children’s Hospital also will be there to help you understand how to conduct a thorough car seat safety check while Police will be demonstrating how to do VIN etching on your vehicle—a useful auto theft deterrent.

    In addition to providing the very best safety resources, Keeping Kids Safe Day will be a mini spring festival. Phoenix Rotaract/Rotary chapter will keep you going by cooking up delicious barbecue and other tasty eats. Additionally, there will be an Easter egg hunt because Easter is the day after the event—so you won’t have to plan your own Easter extravaganza and your kids will still have a great time!

    While your kids are having their fun, you can enjoy browsing the 20 or so vendor booths that will be at the event, featuring companies like Pampered Chef, Arbonne, Gold Canyon Candles, Discovery Toys, Cookie Lee, Silpada Jewelry, Kid’s Hairbows, Heritage Makers, Weekender’s Clothing, Usborne Books, and many more.

    Spring brings with it sunshine, blooming flowers, ice cold glasses of lemonade and (slightly less welcome) spring cleaning. You can combine all these facets of springtime at Keeping Kids Safe Day because in addition to the great food, weather and fun, there will be a used goods drop off for all those items you decided to clean out of your house. Bring your used books and clothes or canned goods and they will be donated to a local charity. And for those of you who can’t say no to a good book, Century Branch Library will be having a used book sale to raise money for their kid and teen programs.

    You can always know more about keeping your family safe and you can always spend more time with your family, so join me at Keeping Kids Safe Day—I know you’ll have a good time.

Phoenix City Councilman Greg Stanton represents North Central Phoenix and is a member of the City Council Public Safety and Veterans Issues Subcommittee. If you have any questions, please call Councilman Stanton’s office at 602-262-7491, e-mail greg.stanton@phoenix.gov or visit phoenix.gov/district6.