Inaugural Family Fun Day arrives in Carson City this Saturday at Mills Park

Families unite Saturday at Mills Park in Carson City for the first-ever Northern Nevada Family Fun Day, a community event featuring live music, workshops, shopping, raffles, a Kids Zone, giveaways, raffles and more.

There will be rock climbing demonstrations, face painting, pirates, obstacle courses, a bubble station, music, a photo booth, ice cream, refreshments beginning at 11 a.m. and running until to 9 p.m. The event is being coordinated through Faith Hope Love of Northern Nevada, which is an informal group of families that coordinate to help families and individuals who have experienced crisis situations or issues with hunger, poverty and homelessness.

Unlike so many other special events in the area that are marketed toward adults, this one has been designed specifically by families, for families, said Cassidy Davis, one of the event's organizers and owner of Northern Nevada Hot Spot.

"We wanted to have something family-based where there's no alcohol, and it's just a fun, sober day where we can raise money," she said.

Proceeds collected by Faith Hope Love of Northern Nevada from the fun day will go toward feeding and clothing the region's needy, Davis said. Collection bins will be set up for canned food and socks donations, Davis said.

Socks are particularly in need as a clothing item right now, she said.

Several other charitable organizations will be at the event, too, trying to generate funds for their projects, Davis said.

"All other charitable organizations at the fun day will be doing things at their booths to attract people and raise money for their causes," she said. "There's going to be a lot of money raising going on."

Davis said part of the motivation for organizing the Family Fun Day was to offer a venue that was purely family-friendly.

Too many such events in the area have come and gone over the years, she said.

"I grew up in the area, and I'm watching a lot of the events die that were really family friendly," said Davis, who resides in Stagecoach. "There's a lot of fun events to go to, but a lot of people talk to me and complain about so much alcohol around the kids."

She said she hopes to restore that spirit with Northern Nevada Family Fun Day.

"We're trying to bring wholesome family entertainment back to the area," she said.

With so many play activities already scheduled for Saturday — including a mechanical bull, Sumo suits, bungee run, obstacle course, hamster ball, bubble station, carnival, face painting, and more -- it's shaping up to be the sort of venue that draws a large crowd.

Davis said that was the goal from the very beginning when the fun day idea was first conceived.

"Last year we did several small events to help families in need," she said, noting that Faith Hope Love holds fundraisers throughout the year to help its neighbors.

The organization, an informal association of area families who pool their resources together in an effort to help others, reached out in 2015 to aid a family displaced by fire, a child with a brain tumor, and the victim of a drunk driver, Davis said.

"This year we were able to grow, and we're getting a bigger team," she said. "I wanted to do something bigger to raise more money, instead of just small events."

Faith Hope Love's family network grew so much in the past year, Davis said, that the charity's goals naturally got bigger, too.

"We're trying to build it bigger, because we have really big goals this year," she said. "We didn't realize how many families were going to help last year."

Just during the Christmas season, she said, 80 homeless people were fed along with 17 families, who were provided with full dinners. The charity also helped provide Thanksgiving dinners to the needy and supplied toys to children during the holiday season.

A large event like the Northern Nevada Family Fun Day, with the potential to attract thousands, is likely to go a long way toward helping Faith Hope Love achieve its 2016 charitable goals.

While bigger isn't always necessarily better, Davis said large events can help more people in need, too.

She said her business and the Faith Hope Love charity are all about supporting local people and giving communities a boost.

"That's why we want to build the events bigger," she said. "We're trying to help small businesses get out there, we're trying to help grow the economy, and we are also trying help people in need."

Davis said she has been getting the word out via social media and other advertising, reaching all over the West Coast.

"We do want to bring in out of towners to help boost the economy," she said.

But her assistant, Shana Downs, said the focus will also be on local vendors so that money made from the event will stay in the area.

"A lot of events in Reno-Sparks draw vendors from California, but ours are local people," she said."We're trying to keep the money here, and the growth here. That way the money stays in the community."

Since the event campaign began, Downs said the Northern Nevada Family Fun Day Facebook page has gotten tens of thousands of views.

"Every single week we're gaining at least 2,000 new views, and they are responding to it as well," she said. "The communities themselves, and all of the chambers of commerce in Northern Nevada are getting in on it now, too."

The number of vendors who have signed up for the fun day has been increasing, too, albeit at a slower and steadier rate than the buzz generated by social media.

"The list is getting longer," said Downs, who also grew up in Northern Nevada and attended Reed High School in Sparks.

Preparation for Saturday's family festival has been a monumental undertaking for Faith Hope Love, which is used to organizing much smaller events like craft fairs, Davis said.

But the fact that its proceeds go to support a number of worthy causes makes the effort worthwhile.

Davis said the overall fundraising goal for the Northern Nevada Family Fun Day is around $10,000.

"I think that's realistic with everything we have going on," she said.

Davis also said she hopes Faith Hope Love may be able to achieve non-profit status with the success of the first Northern Nevada Family Fun Day.

"We're working on it. Hopefully, after this event," she said. "Right now, we're just a bunch of families that help families in need."

Attendance at the Northern Nevada Family Fun Day is free, Downs said, although activities will have their own costs in order to raise funds for various charitable causes.

Besides donations to help provide essentials for area needy, Downs said plenty of incentives exist for families to spend money at all of the fun activity venues.

There will be a $100 cash giveaway, several individual raffles with prizes, as well as one large raffle featuring a grand prize made up of donated items provided by each vendor, she said.

Downs said donors to United Blood Services at the event will be entered to win a new car.

Blood donations, she said, are going to be a major push during the Northern Nevada Family Fun Day, because of a general shortage at area banks.

"Our goal is to feed the homeless with this event, but also to increase blood donations," she said. "Blood banks are short 45,000 pints of blood this year alone."

The banks are seeking blood of all types, Downs said.

Northern Nevada Family Fun Day is an all-day event, lasting from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday.

Wristbands, available to buy online in advance or the day of the event, allow for unlimited all-day access to Kids Zone activities, Downs said.

Purchasing the wristbands in advance, she said, will be cheaper than what they will cost on the day of the event. Go here to purchase wristbands online.

Although the National Weather Service forecasts sunny and warm conditions Saturday with highs in the eighties, there will be plenty of shade available at the Northern Nevada Family Fun Day.

Most activities and vendors will be situated within the large, mature trees that line much of Mills Park.

For more information on the inaugural Northern Nevada Family Fun Day, visit Northern Nevada Hot Spot here.

Information on Faith Hope Love of Northern Nevada can be found on the Web as well as on Facebook.