Rain or Shine: Izzi Fun Fest 2026 Celebrates 5 Years of Community and Heart!
What happens when you mix a little bit of unexpected springtime rain with a whole lot of community spirit? You get the a wonderful Izzi Fun Fest to date!
On Saturday, April 11, nearly 500 guests—including over 350 children and families and our 80 dedicated staff and volunteers—gathered at Sequoia High School for our 5th annual family fun day. While the clouds couldn’t quite decide whether to rain or shine, the energy inside the Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) was nothing short of electric.
A New Home for a Growing Tradition
For the first time in our family fun day history, we moved the celebration to Sequoia High School to better accommodate all our families at once. While the weekend’s local sporting events made parking a bit of a puzzle, the move to the high school’s multi-purpose room (MPR) was still a huge win. The new venue offered the open space we needed to house our families together, providing a much-needed upgrade from past years when we split our families to join us by region.
Celebrating a Community Hub
This year also marked several exciting milestones for Izzi. For the first time, we welcomed corporate sponsors from Genentech, Sequoia, and Monterra Credit Union whose support helped make this day possible. We expanded our Community Resource Fair alongside our carnival, connecting families with vital local organizations.
A special thank you to our partners who joined us:
Recology San Mateo County
El Concilio of San Mateo County
Family Connections
Build Up San Mateo County
San Mateo County Library
San Mateo 4Cs
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
Sustainable San Mateo County
One Life Counseling
In addition to resources, we focused on holistic well-being with a Mental Health Corner in partnership with Bank of America making sensory pillows and Sequoia making thoughtful wellness cards for children in hospitals. We also hosted a successful first event clothing drive to share donations with our families.
The Main Event: Carnival Magic!
The heart of the fest was, of course, the games! Each of our Izzi sites hosted a unique station that kept the children (and the young at heart) smiling all afternoon:
Izzi at Menlo Park: Vibrant Face Painting
Izzi at Lakewood: Creative Picture Frame Collages
Izzi at Serramonte: Custom Crown Making
Izzi at Home Based & Magnolia: Duck Pond matching
Izzi at Magnolia: Bottle flipping game
Izzi at City Center: Precision Ring Toss
Izzi at South San Francisco & Baden: Shoot the Hoop challenges
Izzi at Half Moon Bay: Beautiful Bead Bracelet making
Izzi at East Palo Alto: The hilarious "Granny Pants" yard game
Izzi at Fair Oaks: High-stakes Tower Toss
Izzi at Moonridge: The thrilling Spin-a-Prize
Between games, families were treated to the musical stylings of Lori & RJ, magic and puppet shows, and a play session led by Mike & Mike. And of course, no carnival is complete without snacks of nachos, popcorn, and—the paletero (ice cream man) was a massive hit!
Here is what our staff had to say:
"I loved it all; the music, the games, the puppet shows, the ice cream, the snacks. This is the kind of activity that I looked for when my kids were young."
"Loved the variety of booths and activities for the children (the sites did an excellent job!!) and I like the community vendors—I saw families talking with the representatives throughout the day."
Thank You!
To the families who braved the weather, the staff who worked tirelessly behind the scenes, and the community partners who brought their resources to our doorstep: Thank you. You proved that our Izzi spirit is strong in our community. We can't wait to host another one for Year 6!
