San Jose Children's Museum Appeal Letter

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“I just want to share with everyone that I was a genius today!” — A 15-year old student participating in the BioSITE environmental science program, an award-winning collaboration between the Children’s Discovery Museum and schools in low-income Silicon Valley communities.

[Date] Name Address City, state, zip

Dear ______________

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.” — Margaret Mead, anthropologist

At the Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, we are well acquainted with the power of a small group of individuals united for the common good. In fact, we owe our very existence to a committed consortium of visionaries from the public, corporate, and private sectors. Their generosity enabled us to open our doors in 1990 to meet the needs of children, families, and educators as a vibrant new center for learning and discovery.

Since that time, the Museum has enriched the lives of more than four million children with highly interactive and engaging exhibits that focus on the arts, sciences, and humanities. Today, children from infancy through adolescence can exercise their imaginations as they explore our Wonder Cabinet (an early learning exhibit designed to stimulate cognitive development in children under the age of five), “drive” a fire engine, “work” on a valley farm, sort mail at post office, weigh ingredients in a pizza kitchen, open a bank vault, operate a “kid-powered” generator—or simply touch, test, crank, listen, prod, and tinker to their heart’s content. Best of all, our Open Door Policy —which earned the Museum a prestigious Institute of Museum and Library Services award for exceptional service to the community—ensures that no child will be deprived of these unique learning experiences for economic reasons. Each year, we offer free or reduced admission to approximately 70,000 of our 300,000 visitors—nearly 25 percent of the people we serve. Our commitment to children has extended far beyond the whimsical, lilac-colored walls of our 52,000-square-foot Museum. Through outreach initiatives such as Youth Alive (which offers afterschool programs and job training to help at-risk teens stay off the streets, out of gangs and on a positive path in life), BioSITE (our award-winning environmental science program for low-income students) and our Discovery Guide program (which provides meaningful entry-level employment and on-the-job training for women re-entering the workforce, adults who are not native English speakers, and low-income teens) we’ve worked hard to meet the needs of the communities that we serve. The Museum’s Summer of Service Program—which fosters a spirit of volunteerism and democracy building in an age group (grades 7-9) that is often underserved and overlooked—received

Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose ▲ 180 Woz Way ▲ San Jose, CA 95110 ▲ (408) 298-5437 ▲ www.cdm.org


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