In its 35 years, the festival has donated more than $1.5 million dollars to more than 30 charities that serve children, families, and communities throughout central Arkansas. Proceeds from this year’s festival will benefit the Annunciation Scholarship Foundation and the Annunciation Ministries, as well as these nonprofit organizations:
Community Connections is dedicated to providing quality extracurricular activities for children with special needs as well as support for their families. Programs offered include football, soccer, art, music, theatre, cheerleading, basketball, tennis, volleyball, golf, swim, a teen game group, and martial arts. Family resources includes an autism resource center, parent support groups, mental health support, educational workshops/webinars, and respite care events. Programs are offered free of charge to families in multiple cities in central Arkansas.
Easterseals Arkansas is a nonprofit health and human services agency dedicated to helping children and adults with disabilities and special needs achieve greater independence and improved lives. Easterseals provides services across the state to meet the varying needs of people with disabilities and their families. These comprehensive services provide a continuum of care from birth to aging adults and focus on the family as a whole.
Centers for Youth and Families ("The Centers") began in 1884 and, today, continues its dedication to changing lives of those most vulnerable in our community – children in foster care, teenagers with no safe place to live, parents in need of answers to be the best parents they can be, students who need specialized academic instruction, and people of all ages struggling with mental and behavioral health diagnoses or substance abuse. Every year, The Centers' 300 employees strive to serve nearly 4,500 individuals from across Arkansas and create pathways to hope and healing.
Youth Home is one of the largest and most experienced nonprofit mental health providers in Arkansas. Its mission is to equip and empower youth, adults and families to become healthier contributing members of the community by providing compassionate emotional and behavioral health care. Mental illness is illness like diabetes or cancer, and Youth Home is committed to ending the stigma that keeps people from seeking help when they need it.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas provides its services free to children and families through its three core programs: Ronald McDonald House (1981), has provided a "home-away-from-home" for over 40,000 families whose child has been sent to a Little Rock hospital (ACH, Baptist, UAMS) for life-saving medical care. Each night they have a private suite, meals, laundry, friendly faces and more; Ronald McDonald Care Mobile (2009), a 40-foot mobile dental clinic provides free dental care to underserved children; Ronald McDonald Family Room at UAMS (2020), on the hospital's NICU floor, where families can stay together overnight steps from their baby, as well as day services including, snacks, shower, laundry, and a quiet place to relax.