The STEM Starter Fund provides scholarships to economically disadvantaged families, school and community groups to experience the excitement of interactive STEM at the Children’s Science Center’s Lab. A core component of our non-profitmission is to reach all children with unique opportunities to explore and create and each year we rely on the generosity of hundreds of donors who contribute 50% of our annual revenue.

The STEM Starter Fund is changing the impact of informal learning each year enabling us to directly serve thousands of visitors; collaborate with service non-profits such as Shelter House and Cornerstones, and engage groups from pre-schools and elementary schools across our community with hands-on fun STEM experiences at the Lab.

Some of the ways donations to the STEM Starter Fund inspires a love of STEM learning:

> Subsidized Lab Admissions for over 2,000 (and counting) students and teachers through engaging field trips and group visits. Visits by elementary schools, afterschool program groups, and preschools make up the majority of our field trips. For 35% of the students in the region who qualify as at-risk, a field trip to a science center is almost out of reach. The STEM Starter Fund make these experiences possible every day.

> Providing Family Membership scholarships for families who would not otherwise be able to enjoy a year’s worth of family visits to the Lab.

> Partial transportation subsidies. Many of our non-profit partners and Title I schools do not have enough resources to get to the Lab. Transportation among these groups is a significant challenge and the STEM Starter Fund was able to overcome this barrier for several groups.

Consider becoming a champion for STEM learning with a donation of $1, $2 or more to the STEM Starter Fund.