by Frank Lee
operations@thenewsleaders.com
The “Dreams to Reality” fundraiser for the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin Lakes and Pines was billed as “an evening filled with fun, food and friends.”
The March 17 benefit dinner at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud was expected to raise $36,000 through ticket sales and a silent auction.
“In Sartell, St. Joseph and Sauk Rapids, we have a real strong Girl Scouting program,” said Tauna Quimby, director of communications and marketing for the local Council of Girl Scouts.
Hors d’oeuvres and desserts made with Girl Scout cookies were served at the event, and beverages based on the cookies were also available for the adult volunteers, business people and community members in attendance.
For example, peanut butter sandwich smoked ham rolls and lemonade crab salad on toast points were available for snacking, with a cranberry citrus crisp chicken Florentine for dinner, followed by Girl Scout cookie mousse.
Jenna Berger, president and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Minnesota, was at the three-hour event with her daughter Alexandra, who is a second-year Girl Scout.
The 37-year-old wife and mother from Sauk Rapids praised the Girl Scouts for arranging opportunities for them to meet other role models, such as at a Minnesota Lynx basketball game.
“I do it so I can also sell Girl Scout cookies to people who really like them, and I get to see my friends, and I really like going to Girl Scout camp,” Alexandra said.
The Lakes and Pines council makes possible the Girl Scout Leadership Experience for girls in kindergarten through 12th grade with the support of adult volunteers.
Her friend, Heidi Beck of Sartell, also went to the women’s basketball game and met two of the players from the championship franchise who signed the girls’ lanyards.
“I like seeing my friends and I have a lot of fun,” said Beck, before she and her friend joined Harbor Drive Hookup, an acoustic duo performing classic country and contemporary tunes, on stage.
The 10th annual fundraiser included silent auction items, such as a Chanhassen dinner-theater package for Beauty and the Beast, to help support Girl Scouting in Central Minnesota
The benefit has raised more than $300,000 since its inception in support of “fun and experiential” Girl Scout leadership programming for the 2,400 members in the area.
Girl Scouts’ membership has grown from 18 members when it first started in 1912 in Savannah, Ga., to 2.7 million members in the United States and more than 90 countries, according to the organization’s website.
“We are building girls with courage, confidence and character who will make the world a better place,” Quimby said.
Jenna Berger, president and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy of Central Minnesota, looks at the silent-auction items along with her daughter Alexandra, a Girl Scout from Sauk Rapids, at the 10th annual “Dreams to Reality” fundraiser on March 17 at the River’s Edge Convention Center in St. Cloud.
