Grand Forks Driving Force
June 2nd, 2009 | Volunteers
By James Kwee
The Cheerful Givers pilot program in Grand Forks, North Dakota – one of three – sprung up in early 2007 thanks to the benevolent efforts of Mary Glessner. After two years of searching for a non-profit organization to dedicate her time to, she came across Cheerful Givers with the help of a few mouse clicks and Google.
After getting in touch and talking with Cheerful Givers president Karen Kitchel, Glessner “was ready to jump on board full force.” To assist in her new mission, Glessner recruited her family and started the Glessner/Heskin Family team. Since then, she has been successful in establishing two more teams, the Hatton Jr. League and the Ecolab Grand Forks team. Together, the three teams produce and distribute birthday bags to four participating agencies.
But providing 350 children with birthday gifts on their special day and cementing a local charity pilot program is no easy feat. Glessner is not the type to sit idly by and let charities and contacts come to her; if she had, many of the Grand Fork program’s accomplishments may not have materialized at all. “When the opportunity presents itself in a conversation or at a meeting, I bring up Cheerful Givers and… usually do a follow-up with the people that are inquisitive and take a genuine interest,” Glessner reveals.
It is this driving force that enabled Cheerful Givers to be picked by UND Aerospace Women as their charity of choice. In December of 2008, Glessner caught wind that UND Aerospace Women were searching for a charity to support. Seizing the opportunity, she contacted a member of the organization and arranged for a meeting with the board. The women were thrilled with the concept and intrigued by the fact that no other non-profit organization is dedicated in this way to children’s birthdays. “After my visit, they contacted me to say they unanimously decided to donate to Cheerful Givers,” said Glessner. “I received a small monetary donation and two big boxes of toys that had been collected at their UND Aerospace Women’s Christmas Party.”
The biggest contributor in raising funds for the Grand Forks pilot program has been the Ecolab team. Twice a year since 2007, they hold a birthday bag event. Glessner was sure to mention Jessica Flores, who facilitates the events, and Becky Watson, who assisted her this past year, saying, “[both women have] contributed numerous hours on making the birthday bag functions go smoothly and strive to attain the goals they have set.”
Glessner has already accomplished one personal goal on this year’s To-Do list for the program: Meeting the founder and president of Cheerful Givers. “I attended the Mall of America Birthday Event and had the privilege of visiting with both Robin Steele- Maynard and Karen Kitchel,” recalls Glessner. Other items on her list include enlisting more participating charities and continuing to spread the word about Cheerful Givers. And also “connect[ing] with the Mayor of Grand Forks to proclaim a Cheerful Givers Day!”
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