by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
When 9-year-old Emily Dauw, a spunky go-getter, says she’s going to do something, you better believe she’s as good as her word.
Last week, Emily raised $1,440 for breast-cancer research. It was the third highest amount of the 533 walkers in the annual “Making Strides” breast-cancer 3.2-mile walk Oct. 19 on the St. Cloud State University campus.
Emily, the daughter of Ken Krebsbach and Brandy Smallbroch of Sartell, is a fourth-grader at Oak Ridge Elementary School. She is a very good student whose passion is competitive dancing in Just for Kix of Sartell. Her biological father is Tim Dauw. At “Making Strides,” Emily and her mother walked on the Midsota “Treasure Your Chest” team, organized by Midsota employee and Sartell dance instructor Shelly Teff. Teff is a co-chair of “Making Strides.”
Last year, Emily walked in the event, too, but she didn’t try to raise funds. She remembered thinking last year that next time she would raise as much money as possible. The cause of finding a cure for breast cancer is dear to her heart, largely because a grandfather (her mother’s dad) and a grandmother (her dad’s mom) suffered bouts of breast cancer.
To raise money, well before the day of the event, Emily went into a flurry of planning. She sent out email pitches via Facebook, she designed flyers and hung some in the teachers’ lounge and elsewhere and she solicited donations whenever and wherever she could. A big incentive was an offer from St. Cloud Auto Sales, where her stepfather is business manager. That company agreed to match any funds raised, up to $1,000.
When she first started fundraising, Emily’s goal was to raise $200. But as soon as she raised that much, she insisted on raising some more. After reaching $500, she kept going, more determined than ever. Finally, shortly before the event, her total was $720, an amount that St. Cloud Auto Sales matched.
Emily has already started raising funds for next year’s “Making Strides” walk.
At the “Making Strides” walk, organizer Teff announced to the assembled walkers that by no means does one have to be a grown-up to raise funds for the fight against breast cancer.
“A 9-year-old girl on my team, Emily Dauw, raised more than $1,400,” she said, to loud applause.
Emily turned to her mother,
“Oh, mom, I didn’t want her to say that,” she said. “Now I’m embarrassed.”
Emily, to be sure, is as modest as she is ambitious.
Award-winning fundraiser Emily Dauw of Sartell stands by the official vehicle for the “Making Strides” against breast cancer event, a hot-pink Chevrolet Corvette.
Nine-year-old Emily Dauw of Sartell raised $1,440 for walking in the “Making Strides” walk against breast cancer at St. Cloud State University. After the walk, she had this photo taken with her mother, Brandy Smallbroch.
