Friday's Kids sets fundraiser for May 1

SPRINGVILLE — Organizers at Friday's Kids hope to raise $9,000 on May 1 during its annual fundraising auction at the Springville Museum of Art.

The 2010 Lifting Angels Auction seeks to raise funds for families of children with special needs while they are waiting for state assistance.

The nonprofit organization founded in 2001 has collected more than 100 items for the auction, which will run 7-9 p.m. May 1 at the museum, 126 E. 400 South, Springville. The group also is selling tickets online at www.FridaysKids.org, ranging from $5 for students to $20 for nonstudents and $50 for a group. A list of the auction items also is available online. Free child care is available to the first 100 parents who sign up.

Each year, the auction raises money to give parents a night off from constantly caring for the special needs of their kids, said Friday's Kids spokeswoman Amy Powell. Parents can bring their children to a Friday's Kids center in Orem, Salem or Lehi on Friday or Saturday nights to take some time off.

The charity now serves 53 children with conditions that include autism, Down syndrome, brain damage, epilepsy, cerebral palsy and a variety of rare genetic conditions. More than 700 volunteers, many of them students, assist the children, she said.

— Rodger L. Hardy