Gardere Initiative, a community coalition that aims to address social ills affecting children in the Gardere area, hosted Kite Fest at Hartley/Vey Park.
This kite-flying themed event featured games, workshops, local food vendors and kite-flying competitions on March 30. The family-friendly event was a huge success, with hundreds of attendees from around the Greater Baton Rouge area coming out to participate in the festivities.
Cindy Sonbuchner, operational director of Gardere Initiative, spoke of how making Kite Fest reality was a team effort.
“The parents spent their whole Saturday cooking food for this event, helping set up, and blowing up balloons to decorate,” Sonbuchner said. “They’ve been looking forward to this and really poured themselves into it.”
Kite Fest is one of many family-friendly programs hosted by Gardere Initiative that offers positive outlets for the youth of Gardere. Founded in 2006, the coalition has seen substantial growth and is now sponsored by the likes of BREC and Our Lady of the Lake.
“We are honored to sponsor community initiatives like Gardere Initiative,” Emily Stevens, senior director of operations, said. “Through promoting community wellness, we can nurture the growth of children and families.”
The scenery at Kite Fest consisted of many smiles and lots of laughter, with the sunny spring day being perfect for kite-flying at the park. Children got their faces painted, parents helped them set up their kites and volunteers in Kite Fest t-shirts buzzed around like bees to keep the event going according to plan. Observing brought about an important realization: building and sustaining a community takes selfless people who are willing to spare their time and help.
Ontario Griffin, also known as Mr. Clean DJ, is a local DJ specializing in clean music sets and volunteered to be the MC for Kite Fest.
“These kinds of events are important because they provide the community safe ways to have a good time,” Griffin said. “I’m here to give back to the community and show that it’s possible for neighborhoods that are deemed troubled to have positive aspects”.
Kite Fest is also a refreshing offering for local children in an era of handing them a smart device to keep them occupied. Gardere Initiative also owns a community garden at Hartley/Vey that local children assist in maintaining, a way to get kids to have fun outdoors and spend more time with family and friends. John Moffitt, a local parent, brought his sons to Kite Fest for the same reason.
“I just wanted to get them outdoors and out of the house,” he said. “I flew kites as a kid and wanted them to have that experience as well.”
To keep up with Gardere Initiative, you can follow them on Instagram @gardereinitiative.
