Someone commented on this site - "Whatever happen to Free Wednesday's at the Chaffee Zoo?" The spirit of the comment stems from positive things for children and their families to do that don't cost anything. Often in gang prevention the idea of giving young people something to do (other then joining gangs) is very important: and it is!

Long before the housing market dropped and we hit an economic crisis, businesses and agencies were facing shortfalls that led to the end of freebies and it is likely we'll see more of that in the future as things will get worse before they get better. That said I did a little research and found some freebies still out there. See the list below and I hope you find something enjoyable to do this Summer.

• Fresno Metropolitan Museum: Free admission every first Thursday and Friday of the month starting at 4:30PM. Special Stimulus Package offers free admission Wednesday - Friday to the first 25 visitors of the day!
• Fresno PARCS has a number of free events (like movie nights, arts and crafts, sports, etc)  taking place throughout City of Fresno facilities visit http://www.fresno.gov/Government/DepartmentDirectory/ParksandRecreation/PARCSCalendarEvents/default.htm for more information
• The Discovery Center in Fresno just asks for donations as admission (pay when you can) and they sometimes charge a small fee for special classes/events can be as low as $5 for the entire family
• Fresno County Libraries host a series of free activities and events. Check out the calendar for the Central Library here http://host7.evanced.info/fresno/lib/eventcalendar.asp?In=ALL and then navigate to see other libraries as well.
• 1000 Friends of Fresno lists a number of links/sites that have free activities and events - check it out here http://www.1000friendsoffresno.org/calendar.html

These are just a few I was able to find with a quick scan of the Internet. What 'freebies' can you share, especially outside of the metro area?