$100K at Stepping Stone’s fundraiser - Westfair Communications

From left: Rhonda Kiest, Lucia Rilling, wife of Norwalk”™s Mayor Harry Rilling, and Sandra Miklave, board chair of the museum.

Stepping Stones Museum for Children in Norwalk recently announced the results of its second annual FriendsGiving event and by any measure it was an unqualified success. More than 120 guests attended the sold-out event to dine on cuisine created by chef Matthew John. FriendsGiving raised more than $100,000 for the nonprofit museum”™s Open Arms Accessibility initiative.

Rhonda Kiest, president and CEO of the museum, credited event chairperson Kristine Granetz and her team for “transforming our museum”™s spectacular spaces into a glorious harvest setting that brought friends together for this crucial program.”

Offering monthly free admission evenings, parent workshops, free traveling exhibits for schools and more, Open Arms reaches more than 45,000 children, caregivers and teachers at an annual cost to the museum of nearly $750,000.