The Women’s Fund of Central Minnesota put on the fundraising event of the year, “Dancing with Our Stars” on Monday June 18th at the College of St. Benedict. The dance competition was between six couples-local celebrities paired with a professional partner to compete for $15,000 to donate to the non-profit/organization of their choice.
More than 600 people attended, and it was a fun evening filled with philanthropy, good food and of course dancing!
The winner was based 40% on the judge’s scores as well as 60% of how much they raised for the charity of their choice.
Steve Windfeldt and Lisa Saari participated in “Dancing with Our Stars” and chose to donate money to the Boys & Girls Club’s Youth Art Initiative program. They raised $23,718 and took home the second place prize of $10,000 for a grand total of 33,718!
The dancers raised over $110,000 for their charities of choice with an additional $39,000 given to organizations from the Women’s Fund for a grand total of $151,949 going to the community to support women and girls!
About the Boys & Girls Club’s Youth Art Initiative
In 2014, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota embarked on an exciting arts learning journey in partnership with the Wallace Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Our organization was one of only three Boys & Girls Clubs in the nation to be selected to participate in the Youth Arts Initiative pilot program and implement the 10 Success Principles for High Quality Arts Programming, based on the Something to Say report. We selected four art forms based on youth feedback, including dance and fashion design at the Eastside Club, and visual arts and digital music and video production at the Southside Club. Professional artists with experience in youth development were hired to launch these programs, using only the 10 Success Principles as a framework for curriculum.