Roughly 400 proponents of early childhood education packed the Quail Valley River Club dining room last Monday and Tuesday to attend the eighth annual Starfest Luncheon to benefit Childcare Resources and its mission to elevate and promote high-quality education in Indian River County.

Janet Gefaell and Suzi McCoy Shriner stepped up as co-chairs of the popular event, taking the reins from event founders Judy Munn and Karla Spooner.

Shriner elicited laughter as she described one flamboyant 4-year-old who stood out on a visit to a board of directors meeting – outfitted with a unicorn headband, sequined vest, tutu, rainbow leggings and gold platform shoes.

After the other children shared their future dreams, Shriner said of the little girl, “She stood forward in all of her zest and she said, ‘My name is Zoe, and when I grow up, I’m going to be a fashion designer and live in Paris.’ You all are allowing them to dream that big.”

A brief video described the growth of the nonprofit, founded by Sherry Waddell, Cathy Marshall and Sandy Kahle, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary.

Childcare Resources provides quality early childhood education to lower-income working families who earn too much to be eligible for state or federal subsidies, yet not enough to afford quality childcare. They now also reach thousands more children through partnerships with childcare contracting centers and through innovative programs and services such as their Credentialing Program for Early Educators.

“The human brain is built over time, and from the bottom up. This process begins before birth and goes well into adulthood,” said Shannon McGuire Bowman, executive director, on the video.

Later she told guests, “Many of you have heard me say that we are not in the business of daycare. The short answer of what we do every day is we are building brains. Early childcare education is a game changer. What happens with early childhood stays with someone not only through kindergarten but through their whole life.”

Nancy Easton, this year’s guest speaker, is executive director and co-founder of Wellness in the Schools, which is addressing the national childhood obesity crisis by promoting healthy eating and fitness. Founded in 2005 in New York City, the now national organization utilizes top chefs and athletes to promote healthy food choices and active recess programs to 100,000 students in more than 140 public schools.

“We stare at a very serious obesity epidemic,” said Easton, noting that obesity rates among children have tripled since the 1970s, with 17 percent of children and 30 percent of adults now overweight or obese. Frighteningly, one in three children is on track to develop diabetes, heart disease and/or cancer.

“This generation of children, the ones that we are raising now, will be the first generation that will not outlive their parents, if we continue to feed children the way we are, and if we continue to take away opportunities for play,” said Easton.

“We must continue to prove that healthy children, active children, will do much better on all the city tests and state tests and all the big exams that they take.”

She applauded the efforts of Childcare Resources, where children are growing and enjoying the fruits of their labor in the facility’s vegetable garden..

For more information, visit childcareresourcesir.org or wellnessintheschools.org.