Our Instagramers Seattle community was invited to document and share our experience at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s ‘Family Day’ celebration this past weekend.

photo by @barbro 

The Visitor Center doors were opened to families and the space was filled with free hands-on art making experiences designed to help inspire attendees to make a difference in their worlds. We were encouraged to explore the Visitor Center’s interactive exhibits and photograph families engaging with the activities and with each other.

photo by Rebecca @rtext

Kids could hand-sew a plushy doll for a friend in need of cheer, use gaming to solve world problems, design a bracelet that shares a cause meaningful to them, share their feelings about global issues via a live-streaming wall display and more.

photo by Rachel @iwife

It was inspirational to see how engaged the kids were, and how excited their parents were to witness that level of engagement.

photo by Alan @_shadesofgray_

WHAT’S THE GIVE EFFECT? – The Give Effect is one answer to a frequently asked question at the Gates Foundation Visitor Center: “How can we give back to our community?”  The Foundation collected 250 wishes from local groups that serve youth and families. Throughout the month of December, visitors were invited to choose a card from the “Giving Tree.”  Each gift helped a family or young person in need.

photo by Rachel @iwife

Not only did the Foundation offer a way for individuals to give back to their community, but they also translated that generosity into real donations and financial support benefiting five local non-profit organizations:  YouthCare, Wellspring Family Services, Technology Access Foundation (TAF), Educare and Rainier Scholars.

photo by Dan @dankhole

According to Martha Choe, Chief Administrative Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: “Giving and gratitude are core values at the foundation, and our mission at the Visitor Center is to educate and inspire our local neighbors to embrace them as well. The Give Effect campaign is an exciting way for families to experience the joy of giving back, and come together as a community to make a difference.” [as reported by the Queen Anne View blog]

photo by Dorian @nairodream

WHAT’S THE BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION? – The Gates Foundation has a long history of philanthropy at local, national and worldwide levels.  The Foundation teams up with partners around the world to take on some tough problems: extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, the failures of America’s education system. They focus on only a few issues because they think that’s the best way to have great impact, and they focus on these issues in particular because they think these are the biggest barriers that prevent people from making the most of their lives.  At the Visitor Center, interactive installations provide a hands-on experience for learning about where needs are being met in the world and what challenges remain.

photo by Amara @amarainseattle

“For each issue the Foundation works on, wefund innovative ideas that could help remove barriers: new techniques to help farmers in developing countries grow more food and earn more money; new tools to prevent and treat deadly diseases; new methods to help students and teachers in the classroom. Some of the projects we fund will fail. We not only accept that, we expect it—because we think an essential role of philanthropy is to make bets on promising solutions that governments and businesses can’t afford to make.

photo by Alan @metroseattle

“As we learn which bets pay off, we adjust our strategies and share the results so everyone can benefit.  The Gates family believe that by doing these things—focusing on a few big goals and working with their partners on innovative solutions—they can help every person get the chance to live a healthy, productive life.”  – The Gates Foundation

photo by Nilesh @nileshsoni

Instagramers Seattle would like to thank The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Jori Saeger for inviting us to this great community event, for being so gracious and for the opportunity to spotlight what good work the foundation is doing for communities near and far.

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Rachel White

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