Take Our Kids to Work Day turns 30, hopes donations rebound

NEW YORK — At Michigan State University, children of employees can spend Thursday seeing what it’s like to staff a dairy farm, work in sports or plant a tree at the school’s first in-person Take Our Kids to Work Day since the pandemic began.

Some 1,500 employees and kids have registered and the university has invited staff to bring any child in their life to explore the campus.

“This is a way that people can see each other and meet their families, show off MSU, which is designated a family friendly university,” said Jaimie Hutchison, director of the university’s WorkLife Office. “It also allows people to see what others do across campus and have more pride in the institution that they work for.”

MSU’s plans recall the roots of Take Our Kids to Work Day, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on Thursday. However, much has changed since then.

The idea of Take Our Kids to Work Day seemed like part of a bygone era in recent years because, due to the pandemic, there weren’t a lot of workplaces to take them.

Many parents were always taking their kids to work — or taking their work to wherever the kids were — in the dawn of the work-from-home era caused by COVID-19. And for parents who needed to head to a workplace, precautions over limiting the spread of the disease generally kept their kids away.

This year, though, The Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Foundation, the nonprofit that promotes the day, hopes to remind people of the importance of showing kids where their parents work. The foundation also hopes to get some help to ensure its survival.

The foundation, which marks the day annually on the third Thursday in April, was led for years by Carolyn McKecuen, an entrepreneur, artist and MacArthur Fellow, who Dave Oliveria, the foundation’s interim executive director, called the linchpin of the organization. She died in November.

“The board is trying to pick up the pieces to just keep it going,” Oliveria said. The foundation lost money last year and currently has no employees.

This year, it is partnering with Junior Achievement USA to host a virtual event that will include a gameshow format where panelists will answer questions about their careers.

In the costal town of Brigantine, New Jersey, school superintendent Glenn Robbins is encouraging his staff to bring their children to school and for students to accompany their parents to their workplaces Thursday. He estimates that around 30% of students will participate.

“It makes them appreciate…