Fair Start celebrates mothers and caregivers

EDMONTON, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - May 6, 2016) - This Mother's Day, Alberta's Fair Start Campaign is celebrating mothers and caregivers with a free family barbecue.

The free family barbecue events in support of Fair Start will take place from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, May 8, in Laurier Park in Edmonton, and in Bowness Park in Calgary. There will be face painting, family crafts, a bouncy castle, and free barbecue hotdogs.

"It takes a community working together to nurture a child. Sunday, we're celebrating mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles, grandparents and other caregivers - and we're also letting them know we understand the burden that lack of access to early childhood education and care has on families and on kids," Alberta Federation of Labour Secretary Treasurer Siobhán Vipond said. "Today is about fun. But this campaign is about pushing for a system that gives kids a fair start and families the support they need."

The campaign is urging government to take moderate, measured steps toward a universal system of child care by re-instating child-care monitoring programs eliminated under a previous government, conducting a full-scale review of the system as it stands, and leading by example by creating regulated child-care centres at government offices.

For more information on the Fair Start Campaign, visit www.fairstartalberta.ca.