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If football is truly a season in the south — which it is — the solstice must be spring football scrimmage day. Here in Fayetteville we do it up big, with a day full of family friendly activities known as RazorFest.
This day of activities, food and fun culminates in the Red-White game (I read red won, for whatever that’s worth). It’s a great excuse to get out of the house on a warm spring day, of course, but its fun with a purpose, which is to expose people to different charitable opportunities and organizations available and in need in Northwest Arkansas.
So Many Ways to Help
The event was started by Champions for Kids, a group that focuses on helping children in communities across the country and beyond through what they call SIMPLE service projects that even busy moms have time to take part in. (One of the current projects is Pack a Snack, sponsored by Abbott Nutrition, which is also a chief sponsor of Razorfest.) At Razorfest food was being collected to benefit local food banks. You can follow Champions for Kids on Facebook to keep up with current projects.
Many of the booths were operated by nonprofits, from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to the Girl Scouts, AppleSeeds to Habitat for Humanity. There were also opportunities to sample healthy goodies like Greek yogurt, fruit bites, juice and other snacks in the Walmart Tastes, Tips & Trends sampling zone.
All About the Kids
This is an event that is clearly designed around entertaining kids. There are giant jump houses, huge inflatable slides, a climbing wall and an area for doing aerial acrobatics, to name a few highlights.
There are mascots everywhere, from the Razorback spirit mascots to Tony the Tiger, SpongeBob and the Elmer’s Glue Bull, to name a few. (Incidentally, the high number of mascots is the reason I went to RazorFest alone; the Bit is phenomenally afraid of big people in costumes and wouldn’t even entertain the notion of coming with me once she knew there would be mascots.)
All this is not to say that adults will be bored. There’s a stage full of live music, a place to get autographs from famous Hogs past and present, a health zone where you can practice golf or go through an obstacle course, and of course the game itself.
I was surprised by the fun mix of vendors, from local companies to big brands and local charities. It truly felt like a community event and something that was set up not just to let the kids have fun — though clearly there was a lot of that going on — but also to educate people on ways they can advocate for kids and help others on a local level. It made me think about how easy it can be to make a difference for others even when you’re busy and feel like you don’t have time. I’ll definitely be heading to this event again when the girl isn’t too afraid to come with me!
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias® and Champions For Kids #cbias #SocialFabric
4 Comments
Tell Bit that I’m not that big on mascots either! There are a few (brands will remain nameless) that totally creep me out. Glad you had fun!
You were smart not to push A into going; I’ve been down that road. She will grow out of it soon, I’m sure. Then you will be forced to go to Chuck E Cheese a million times! It’s funny that we were at the same event and yet got two really different perspectives on it. Fun!
Yeah, I know she’ll get over it, and right now I really don’t mind. At least we won’t have to go to Disney any time soon. 😉
I am so glad you had a great day. Sorry about the mascots. We will have to try to work on that for next year??? 🙂 I am looking forward to getting to know you better. I am going to hop around on your blog posts and learn more about you!!!