Community Corner

Donate to Franklin Avenue Kids Day!

Six days left to lend a hand giving Crown Heights-area kids of all ages a free day of fun.

 

On July 21, Franklin Avenue between Sterling and Park place will be converted into a paradise for kids with water slides, a bouncy houses and this year, even a small Ferris wheel.

And all of it will be free for any kid that shows up.

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But organizers still need to raise about $2,300 to make it happen, and this year, they’ve gone high tech to make it happen.

In addition to the weekly bake sales and solicitations to area merchants, organizers from the Crow Hill Community Association have set up a kickstarter fund. As of Wednesday afternoon, they’ve raised $4,222 of the $6,500 needed to rent the plethora of rides.  

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They’ve got six days to raise the rest.

Franklin Avenue business owner Kevin Phillip . It was much smaller then—a skate ramp set up in a neighborhood parking lot. The next year it progressed into a small water park and became a full-fledged carnival the year after, with bouncy houses, cotton candy machines and face painting.  

Phillip and wife Garnett Alcindor continued to expand the event. Last year there was a rock-climbing wall, dunk tank and obstacle course. And this year, they’ve set their sights even higher.

“There will be a Dixie twister, tubs of fun and a little Ferris wheel,” said Alcindor who owns Franklin Avenue’s and the soon-to-open Taste Buds with Phillip.

“It’s like we’re bringing Coney Island to Franklin Avenue,” she said.

The event will take place rain or shine. Each year organizes request and fail to get a rain date from the city. “So every year we kind of just pray,” Alcindor said.  

Area kids help raise funds by holding weekly bake sales at The Candy Rush on Saturdays from noon to 4, and area merchants donate to the event.

The fundraising is difficult, but Alcindor says it’s worth it.

“Kids walk up every year and say ‘Is this just for us?” she said. And as soon as it’s over, kids start asking about next year.

“It’s like their big event every single year. It’s a lot of pressure,” she said.

“It’s exciting and it’s a rush and as it gets closer to the event, Franklin Avenue gets insane. But when it happens, there’s no need for music,” she said.

“The sound of the kids— jumping, laughing, playing—that sound is the most beautiful sound on earth,” she said. 

Franklin Avenue Kids Day will take place on Saturday, July 21 from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., on Franklin Avenue between Park and Sterling places. To donate, go to the event's kickstarter page


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