Lisa Price was a tireless champion for the work we do at Kidzu Children’s Museum – she deeply understood the value of learning through play and helped us reach so many goals.  Most recently, she founded our Museum Advisory Circle and helped spearhead the effort to create and open The Nest – our new space dedicated solely to infants and toddlers.

Before she became ill, Lisa started to shift her focus to a new project. She wanted to create a Grandparents’ Committee and Grandparents’ Fund to encourage Grandparents in the community to be actively involved at Kidzu – and in helping their grandchildren learn through play.

So, we are going to do what anyone who knew Lisa always did – we’re going to do exactly what she wanted and create both entities and we’re going to name them in honor of Lisa.

The Lisa Price Grandparents’ Committee will serve as a community committee that will be a liaison between our staff and the senior citizen community in our area. The committee will help recruit volunteers and contribute to vital programming at Kidzu.

The Lisa Price Memorial Fund will honor Lisa and her work through direct support of Kidzu operations to make sure that our Museum is as accessible to as many families as possible. The Fund will support programs and opportunities that were dear to Lisa’s heart like:

Our Refugee Campaign to welcome and support our growing refugee populations from communities around the world -- including Afghan, Karen, and Ukrainian communities, among others -- with free facilitated playdates in partnership with UNC Humanities.

Open-access, early childhood programming in The Nest and our Outdoor Learning Garden by partnering with the Early Head Start home-visitation program and welcoming multilingual families for facilitated sessions in the museum.

Our Wellness Campaigns and Teddy Bear Clinics, which educate thousands of children and offer free vaccines in partnership with UNC Pediatric Clinic.

Our Literacy Initiative and multilingual story times that prioritize literacy and bridge the gap left by COVID and the summer slide.

Our Environmental Sustainability and Stewardship focus on keeping our community pollinator garden free, thriving, and open to all creatures big and small.

Our arts and STEM outreach, bringing rigorous STEM and outdoor learning kits to title-1 and under resourced communities.

Sincerely,
Jamie DeMent Holcomb
CEO, Kidzu Children's Museum