By Alisa Gershman
At A Children’s Kastle, the focus is always on the children. No matter if it is educating them or providing a safe space to learn and grow, things are no different once the Spring Fling fundraiser comes around.
Every year, the family-owned and operated faith-based school holds a Spring Fling and Trike-a-thon event to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. This year, the school raised over $4,000 for the charity.
Jeff Liebler and his sister, Jackie Liebler, own and operate the location together, creating a warm, welcoming space that parents love to send their kids to each day.
This passion for the school and fundraising started back in their childhood, as both grew up attending A Children’s Kastles in Buffalo, New York, and proceeded to open their own locations once they came to Florida.
The initial goal for the once-a-year, charity-only fundraiser was to ensure parents were not overburdened by incessant, assorted fundraisers throughout the year.
Rather, Jeff said, “our school will only do one fundraiser each year for equipment and improvements around the holidays, … and we wanted to select a charity to raise money for with one fundraising event each spring.”
The school has raised an amazing $60,000-plus in the past 10 years for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. The charity was chosen because its goals for helping and supporting children aligned with the goals of A Children’s Kastle and would work to make its communities a better place.
The event itself is a great time for kids and parents to have fun while supporting a good cause.
“During our Trike-a-thon, students are able to raise money for doing laps in our bike course or by making a monetary donation of their choice. Families and friends help sponsor students through the St. Jude website and then all of the proceeds go directly to St. Jude’s,” said Jeff.
He also said that the fundraiser is used to educate and promote bike safety among the kids, such as learning safe riding habits like wearing a helmet and looking both ways before crossing the road.
A Children’s Kastle has taken strides toward a better future through its fundraiser and plans on continuing the event to benefit its community.
A Children’s Kastle is located at 11297 Winthrop Main St. in Riverview. For more information, visit https://achildrenskastle.com/ or call 813-654-9400.
