A four-stop crawl through the Las Vegas Arts District on Saturday will pair wine, beer and hands-on vision-awareness challenges with a cause: raising money for a local nonprofit that lost half a million dollars in annual funding last year. The Ladybugs & Libations fundraiser runs from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and sends participants to four venues, where $40 tickets buy access to six-ounce pours, interactive challenges and a 50/50 raffle.
Money raised during the event goes to support the Nevada Blind Children's Foundation, according to news3lv.com. The outlet reports that participants will be guided through four stops — Garagiste Wine Room & Merchant, Voodoo Brewing Company, Jammyland and CraftHaus Arts District — with each space offering its own hands-on challenge alongside the pours.
The goal, per the same report, is to give attendees a taste of what daily life looks like for people with vision impairments, translating an afternoon of socializing into a firsthand lesson on accessibility. Tickets and additional event details are available through nvblindchildren.org, the station notes.
A Foundation Serving Kids From Birth to Age 22
The Nevada Blind Children's Foundation works with visually impaired people ages 0 to 22 across Southern Nevada, the station's report states. Its programs span advocacy, family support, employment and life-skills training, education, adaptive recreation and health services — a broad mandate for an organization now navigating a serious funding shortfall. Maribel Garcia serves as the foundation's executive director, according to the same account.
That shortfall traces back to the 2025 legislative session, when a roughly $500,000 annual state appropriation the foundation had received for about a decade ended without explanation, as reported by the Las Vegas Sun. That funding had represented 40% of the foundation's operating budget that year, the newspaper reported.
Preschool Program Placed on Hold
The foundation says on its own website that losing the state funding created a $500,000 gap in its annual budget, forcing it to place its preschool program on hold, per nvblindchildren.org. The organization says its after-school programs will continue despite the cuts. The Las Vegas Sun's earlier reporting noted the foundation was also weighing whether to raise its weekly preschool enrollment fee from $100 to $500 because of the lost funding, and that enrollment in the preschool program was already limited to about six to eight children.
The foundation operates with a staff of eight and relies on donations, grants and volunteers to keep its programs running, the Las Vegas Sun reported last year. Events like Saturday's crawl offer one avenue for closing that gap while also putting the foundation's mission directly in front of new supporters through activities designed to simulate vision loss.
How to Take Part Saturday
The event kicks off Saturday afternoon in the Arts District, running from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. with the four participating venues each offering their own hands-on challenge and a six-ounce pour, according to news3lv.com's reporting. Admission is $40, and ticket holders can also enter a 50/50 raffle during the crawl. Those interested in attending or learning more about the foundation's work can find tickets and information at nvblindchildren.org.
