Birthday charity gets $10,000 grant

Cheerful Givers, an Eagan-based nonprofit that provides birthday gift bags to metro-area children who are homeless or living in poverty, was recently selected to receive a $10,000 grant from General Mills.

The money was donated as part of General Mills' Celebrating Communities of Color grants program, which seeks to support organizations that serve people of color.

Money raised by Cheerful Givers helps purchase toys and other gift items, which are then given to children.

Karen Kitchel, president of Cheerful Givers, said the nonprofit group works as an invisible force that provides parents with a way to recognize their children. Last year, more than 26,000 children received the gift bags.

The nonprofit was one of 50 organizations in the greater Twin Cities area to receive the grant and one of more than 260 applicants.

Adrienne Jordan, a General Mills Community Action program manager, said Cheerful Givers "are filling a very important need in a community that is a majority of people of color."

For more information about Cheerful Givers, visit www.cheerfulgivers.org.

— Andy Rathbun