With each room dedicated to different winter holidays, families and their children gathered at the Bellevue Kindering for their annual Family Holiday Party & Multi-Cultural Celebration last week.

Kindering is a nonprofit early intervention center serving children with disabilities, delays, and other risk factors in King and Snohomish counties.

Among the activities, were pictures with Santa and songs sang by Kindering staff.

Kindering serves more than 1/3 of King County children ages 0–3 with disabilities, as well as hundreds of families in Snohomish County. They have facilities in Bellevue, Bothell, and as of October 2017, one in Renton. The nonprofit also serves families speaking more than 90 languages.

In 2016, Kindering reported helping more than 4,000 families, which is up 14 percent from 2015. And, they’ve determined, 46 percent of their early intervention graduates do not require special education services after attending Kindering, which saves school districts $$51,399 over their K-12 years. This savings works out to an yearly savings of $14 million for local school districts, Kindering officials report.

Raechel Dawson/staff photo

Raechel Dawson/staff photo

Raechel Dawson/staff photo

Raechel Dawson/staff photo