Because every child deserves the chance to just be little.
As the founder of The Whimsy Place, one question has stayed with me since the very beginning:
What about the families who simply can’t afford a day like this?
I grew up right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and after years away, my family and I chose to come back home to Uniontown with a dream of creating something special. The Whimsy Place was built to be more than an indoor play café—it was created to become a place where families could slow down, connect, and let childhood be filled with imagination again.
But while building Whimsy, I couldn’t stop thinking about my own story.
I wasn’t raised in a family with extra money, and later, as a young, single mom, I experienced seasons when even reasonably priced outings simply weren’t possible. Looking back, I know that as a little girl, my family wouldn’t have been able to visit a place like Whimsy regularly. There were times as a young mother when I couldn’t have either.
That realization became my “why.”
I never wanted finances to be the reason a child missed out on laughter, imagination, or making memories with the people they love.
That’s how Let Them Be Little: Pass It On was born.
When families visit The Whimsy Place, they have the opportunity to purchase a Golden Ticket. That ticket is placed into our community fund and becomes a gifted day of play for another local family. Each Golden Ticket includes admission for one child, a snack, and a drink because we know that sometimes it’s about more than play—it’s about helping families feel seen, welcomed, and cared for.
We also know that food insecurity exists in every community. We wanted families receiving a Golden Ticket to have this time together without worrying about those things during what should be a day filled with joy.
Families who could benefit from the program can simply reach out to us, and community members are also welcome to nominate a family. Every request is handled privately, respectfully, and without judgment by our leadership team.
It is incredibly important to us that a family receiving a Golden Ticket never feels singled out or judged. We also use Golden Tickets for giveaways, so if someone happens to overhear that a family has one, there is no way of knowing why. Only my husband, myself, and our shift leader know when a ticket has been gifted through the program.
We want everyone who walks through our doors to see all of the children here as exactly that—just kids.
When Golden Tickets are available, we connect families with a day to come play, explore, imagine, and simply be kids. Through this program, we have already been able to give out multiple Golden Tickets. We were even able to award one family six months of free open play. That family is listed right alongside our regular memberships, and no one except the receiving family and our leadership team knows.
If you’d like to help, you can purchase a Golden Ticket during your visit to The Whimsy Place or contact us directly to sponsor one. Every ticket is an investment in a local child and a reminder that kindness has the power to ripple through a community.
I truly believe that children only get one childhood.
If we can make that childhood a little brighter for even one family, then we’ve built exactly what I hoped we would.
Because every child deserves the chance to play.
Because every family deserves to feel welcome.
And because sometimes the greatest gift we can give is simply to let them be little.
