Together, we can build a needed community playground in honor of our sweet Sunshine Avy.
Together, we can build a needed community playground in honor of our sweet Sunshine Avy.
Avy's Sunshine Tribe is a nonprofit dedicated to constructing outdoor recreational playgrounds and playscapes that provide play spaces for children of all ages. We are committed to facilitating communities of support and social connection through meetups and public events, honoring the memory of our lost loved ones.
Avy was full of silliness, sass, and Sunshine. In May 2023 she and our family dog, Kemosabe were killed in a car crash. We've been turning our anguish into action by spreading Avy sunshine and raising money to build a much needed playground in the cedars.
We hosted our first signature event and fundraiser, Avy's Sunshine Kite Festival on June 22, 2024. People from all over came to decorate and fly a kite in honor of their own lost loved ones. It was beautiful! There were several ways to participate in person and from anywhere! Check out below to learn more about the event.
Everyone is welcome to join our mission and spread Avy sunshine wherever you go. Join us on Instagram and TikTok at @AvysSunshineTribe.
Show your support and start conversations with our unique Sunshine Tribe Gear!
There's something for everyone: stickers, t-shirts, tank-stops, sweatshirts, hats, bags, tumblers, and more! Get your Sunshine Tribe Gear here!
We even have a Google Map tracking how far Avy's Sunshine Tribe stickers and gear is making it around the world!
On June 22, 2024 we held our first Avy's Sunshine Kite Festival at Old City Park in the Cedars, Dallas, Texas. The wind came out and there were many kites in the sky with messages to lost loved ones. The idea for the event was inspired by the Sumpango Kite Festival in Gautemala. The free public family friendly event had kites to decorate, face painting, activities, water, ice cream, lemonade stand, community partners tables, and more! To see pictures and videos from our event check out @AvysSunshineTribe on Instagram and TikTok!
Should we do it again next year?!
Track how far Avy's Sunshine has made it and join the fun! Find the Avy stickers or stick your own and send us a picture to add to the map!
Get your Sunshine Tribe Gear and start conversations wherever you go while showing your support and rocking out your style!
Currently all Sunshine Tribe Gear is available on YourOutsideLife.com (All proceeds go to Avy's Sunshine Tribe)
Do you have some time to help us find a grant and apply for the grant?! We'd love your help to connect us with the thousands of dollars out there! Email us at AvysSunshineTribe@gmail.com to get started.
There are many ways to support our project!
From being an event sponsor to in the future being a playground build partner. Contact us at cedarsplayground@gmail.com for more
Share our story on your social media and in person. The more we chat about this, the more we can move mountains and get through the hurdles of building a playground!
Have a question or want to get in touch? We'd love to hear from you. Contact us at AvysSunshineTribe@gmail.com and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Choose your way to donate:
Please reach us at AvysSunshineTribe@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question. All emails go to our President Naima Hill and all Board Members.
The mission of Avy's Sunshine Tribe is to serve communities by constructing outdoor recreational playgrounds and playscapes that provide play spaces for children of all ages. We are dedicated to facilitating communities of support and social connection through meetups and public events in honor of our lost loved ones.
Our Goals:
1. To establish playgrounds and playscapes in needed neighborhoods
2. To promote and foster wellness through outdoor engagement within local communities
3. To facilitate communities of grief support through meetups and public events in honor of our lost loved ones.
4. To develop alliances with other nonprofits, community organizations, local businesses, and governmental agencies to enhance our communities.
Aveline Lucille Hill (Avy) was killed in a car crash on May 17, 2023. She was just 22 months old. Avy was full of sunshine and sass and is desperately missed by her momma, family, friends, and community. We are turning our anguish into action and working to build a playground in her honor and memory while also hosting communal grief events to lean into our lost loved ones.
In short, A long one! Here's a general breakdown and if you'd like to learn more or see a space you can help out in please reach out to us and our board at AvysSunshineTribe@gmail.com
1. Meet with city to see if it's a possibility and get general donation goal (done, Feb 2024)
2. Raise Funds! (currently doing and our goal is currently a moving target!)
3. Engage with the community and gather support (currently doing and Avy's Sunshine Kite Festival was a success!)
4. All the "paperwork" stuff. Put together an amazing women led board, build a website, design a logo, open a nonprofit bank account, etc. (Done!)
5. Form a nonprofit - DONE! We are a 501c3!
6. Find Partners and Sponsors to help us reach our goals! (currently looking - email us if you're interested!)
7. Work with playground companies to get more information on playground architecture, general budget, process, etc (currently "shopping" around)
7. Work with the city on partnership, paperwork, commitment, etc.
And then after all of that... Then we would choose playground/playscape companies and content and start the actual build process.
This would also be the time we design what the playscape will look like, how we will acknowledge sponsors and donors, name the space, etc.
*Remember this is all a general idea. This gives you an idea of the immensity of the project!
In the Cedars, Dallas, Texas. It's a growing neighborhood that does not have a public playground/playscape and it's ready for one! We would love to utilize the green space available at Old City Park or the city owned land across the street at the "Pocket Park" but have not gotten official approval for either.
In short, an awesome one. :)
Naïma's background is in environmental education and she has vast experience in understanding how children of all ages utilize outdoor play spaces for physical, social, and cognitive growth.
We also aim to build a playspace that "fits" into our arts filled community of the cedars.
On our board team are also strengths from child development, nonprofit fundraising, partnerships, and financials. We are working to get this project to the finish line!
YES! After many months of work, we got our official designation letter from the IRS in September of 2024.
IRS EIN# = 99-2744243
Contact us! There are lots of ways to connect with us, for example companies can sponsor our kite festival event, host a table at the event, donate to the raffle, or on the playground side, connect us with individuals who can help, help support our efforts with the city, and down the line provide meaningful sponsorships for the actual playground. As we work through the process we will provide more specific opportunities for this. For now, reach out to us and let us know where you can help out!
In short, we're not sure yet. But we do currently plan to have donor acknowledgement in the playground and are excited to create the opportunites for this. We will update when we have this put together!
First: We are so sorry to hear of your loss and know the impact this can have on you. We open arms welcome you into our Sunshine Tribe community. Please do join us at our communal grief events where you can honor your lost loved one. Another great way is to share our work on social media to help spread the leaning into grief message we portray. Others have helped fundraise, donated time, etc.
If you feel led to join us and become a volunteer reach out to us at AvysSunshineTribe@gmail.com
Your Outside Life Is the LLC Naïma started years ago but didn't utilize until Fall 2023. After Avy was killed Naïma started creating art turned into stickers with Avy's name in them. This grew into other products that celebrated Avy's sunshine with all profits going to raise money for the playground. The first round of stickers in Fall 2023 raised $700 and we were off!
For now, all the products still live on the YourOutsideLife.com site. As we work to tease these apart expect to see changes of where you find goodies!
See the FAQ above but in short at YourOutsideLife.com
There's so many ways - you choose what speaks to you and how you'd like to spread Avy Sunshine around the world. Here's some options to join the Sunshine Tribe:
Thank you Sunshine Tribe Community!
Everyone who wants to join is part of the Sunshine Tribe!
Thank you for sharing our story to help us reach our goals!
Sign up to hear updates and join the Sunshine Tribe!
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