The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center plans to highlight collaboration and commonality among nonprofits at this year’s It Takes Our Village cocktail party fund-raiser.
The evening will celebrate nonprofits — Amber Waves Farm of Amagansett, the East Hampton Library, the Springs Food Pantry, the Garden Club of East Hampton, the L.V.I.S., and Paddlers for Humanity — that the center believes embody the theme and the goal of raising children and enriching the lives of families here.
The benefit will take place on June 29 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Mulford Farm on James Lane. The nonprofits honored have contributed to programs at the child care center in various ways, including assisting in the planning, operation, and sustainment of the gardens, providing access to books, and enabling athletic opportunities.
The nonprofits also assist in training the center’s teachers to educate students in these programs, which contribute to the hands-on learning environment there.
“We want to let them know how much we appreciate all the things they’ve done for us,” Tim Frazier, the center’s executive director, said. He stressed the idea of “bringing our community at large together” and raising awareness of the child care center, particularly among working-class families.
The fund-raiser will also see the unveiling of a new award, the Eleanor Prize, named in honor of Eleanor Whitmore, a founding member who died in 2023 at the age of 98. “Eleanor was so involved with us up until the end,” Mr. Frazier said. The prize honors an individual who exemplifies what she worked for in her lifetime: creating opportunities for families across the East End’s diverse communities.
The center was founded in 1969 to provide an affordable child care space for working families in a region described in a press release as a “child care desert.”
Pete and the Stray Dogs, a bluegrass band, will perform at the fund-raiser, the Clam Bar of Napeague will do the catering, and beverages will be donated by Wolffer Estate, Sunboy, and Montauk Rumrunners.
Tickets, which start at $250 for individuals, or $150 for young professionals under the age of 40, are available on the center’s website, ewecc.org.
“We all have our mission, our goals, our agendas,” Mr. Frazier said of the array of nonprofits. The mission of this fund-raiser, though, is to demonstrate their togetherness as they support the center and its work.