DANBURY, CONN. — The 11th annual Child Care Cabaret to raise funds to assist Western Connecticut State University students whose children attend the WCSU Child Care Center will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, in the Ballroom of the Westside Campus Center on the university’s Westside campus, Lake Avenue Extension in Danbury.

The cabaret program will present about a dozen acts featuring the musical talents of WestConn faculty, staff, alumni and students. Participants will include the WCSU Jazz Band, faculty and staff from the business and theatre departments, and the returning cabaret “house band” featuring communication department chairperson Bill Petkanas with Mike Minard and Dan Mustin. The WCSU Jazz Orchestra will perform jazz and big-band music for dancing after the show. A preshow dinner will be offered starting at 6 p.m., and light refreshments and a cash bar will be available throughout the evening.

The cabaret will offer guests the chance to participate in silent auction bidding and a raffle drawing for themed baskets. A recent raffle for two tickets to the Super Bowl champion New York Giants’ first 2008 preseason game at Giants Stadium raised more than $800 for the Child Care Center.

The public is invited; admission fees are $15 for the show and $10 for the preshow dinner. Students will be admitted to the show for a fee of $5 with a valid WestConn I.D. Advance tickets may be purchased at the Westside Campus Center Information Desk or by phone at (203) 837-8499; pre-paid table reservations may be arranged by calling Karen Walsh at (203) 837-8250.

The mission of the WCSU Child Care Center is to provide a safe and invigorating educational experience for preschool and school-age children. The annual cabaret fundraiser, which debuted in 1996, enables the center to disburse need-based child-care grants to assist students who depend on the center to care for their children while they pursue academic studies at WestConn. Cabaret proceeds also have financed purchase of educational and program enrichment tools for the center.

Maureen Casey Gernert, director of the WCSU Career Development Center and chair of the WCSU Child Care Board of Advisors, said she appreciates the university-wide effort. “There has been great success in mobilizing the generosity of the WestConn community in supporting the center,” Gernert said.

For more information, call Gernert at (203) 837-8266.