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WILD ABOUT READING: More than 500 Minnesota classrooms and 15,000 students are participating in the “Wild About Reading” program, a partnership with Flint Hills Resources which encourages students to read more using Minnesota Wild-branded posters, reading logs, and bookmarks. Teachers set weekly reading goals and give certificates to students who complete the four-week program. Fun program incentives include classroom visits from the Wild’s mascot, Nordy – and the team dog, Rookie; a pair of tickets to a Wild home game, player signed pucks and photos; and a pizza party for a classroom. LEARN MORE: Wild About Reading SPONSORED: Flint Hills Resources
SCARVES: From Emily Haugen via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “One Good Deed, a Golden Valley nonprofit, is preparing to help hundreds in need warm up. Every late December, founder Michelle Christensen fills her Golden Valley garage with bags of winter warmth . . . Her garage only holds a fraction of the collection of warm items. All of those are poised to be sorted . . . All of this is for One Good Deed’s eighth annual ‘scarf bomb.’ In this annual event, she and a large group of volunteers collect and then distribute pounds upon pounds of warm winter clothing for people without consistent shelter.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/41YYapB
READING: From Derek James via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “For 15 years, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nicholas Kristof has turned the traditional ‘holiday gift guide’ into a philanthropic mission, highlighting organizations that champion health and education. He's helped raise more than $1 million for the nonprofit Reach Out and Read. For its Minnesota chapter, this additional funding comes at a crucial time.
According to the Minnesota Department of Education, only 46.5% of third graders in the state are reading proficiently.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4a6dl2C
YES! HOUSE: Via West Central Tribune, VERBATIM: “A five-year capital campaign has raised more than $1 million for a unique community gathering place known as The YES! House in Granite Falls. The Department of Public Transformation, the nonprofit rural arts and culture organization responsible for the effort, announced the successful completion of its capital campaign on Dec. 18.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4j3lA3i
WE WIN: From Raya Quttaineh via KARE-TV, VERBATIM: “Titilayo Bediako is an educator at heart. The founder of WE WIN Institute taught in the Minneapolis Public Schools district for eight years before creating her nonprofit organization in 1996. At WE WIN, Bediako's goal is to help children succeed partly through educational programs that emphasize the importance of Black history, culture and heritage.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4gEM6yj
KATIE’S ROAR: From Ryan McNamara via Forum, VERBATIM: “A Hawley nonprofit organization continues to find a way to give back during the holiday season. Katie's Roar held its second annual Christmas drive on Monday, Dec. 23, benefiting the Ronald McDonald House in Fargo. The drive honors Katie Bjorndahl, who died by suicide in 2018, and Cole Carlson, who was killed in a car crash in October.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/403QSOQ
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep.-Elect Kari Rehauer
Rep.-Elect Wayne Johnson
Rep. Elect Julie Greene
Rep. Elect Keith Allen
Rep. Elect Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
STAINED GLASS: From Baihly Warfield via WDIO-TV, VERBATIM: “Nineteen stained glass windows are telling a local story at the Ely Public Library. Sandy Brandley described them as ‘the things that draw people to Ely plus the things that Ely was built on.’ The project has taken about a decade, starting when a new library building was under construction.” QUOTE: “When we started building the library 10 years ago, they were also working on a project in City Hall to do some renovations there. And of course this meant shifting around a lot of stuff,” Library Director Rachel Heinrich said. “And in the process, they found all this stained glass.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4fOLKnE
FIRE TRUCK: From John Lauritsen via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “It's the season of giving, and a retired pastor has teamed up with Twin Cities firefighters for a special overseas delivery. A couple of years ago, Pastor Lee Scheumann started Hand in Hand Logistics near Isanti, a nonprofit that delivers a variety of supplies to people in Ukraine. Now, Lee and a group of Twin Cities fire chiefs are planning to personally deliver a fire truck to Ukraine.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/40ikM3n
COATS: From Kevin Miller via CCX Media, VERBATIM: “A pair of local baseball legends met with police on Friday, Dec. 20 to celebrate the spirit of giving. Justin Morneau hosted a winter coat drive, working with local police departments to collect new and used coats. Several departments in the northwest suburbs — including Maple Grove, Crystal, New Hope, Robbinsdale and Osseo — participated in the drive.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4jbU8AG
HUNGER: From Brett Hoffland via KSTP-TV, VERBATIM: “Every Meal serves about 375 schools across the state by providing meals to kids on weekends. For one Zimmerman family, they know first-hand the impact of this program. ‘You don’t know what a family is going through, a lot of people are scared to ask,’ said Nicole Heinz, who has been a part of the Every Meal program since 2021. Heinz has six kids and her husband works two jobs. She says feeding everyone can be a challenge. ‘It’s $500 a week just to do meal preps and it’s brutal,’ Heinz said. That’s where Rob Williams and Every Meal are helping out.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3WrNbll
MORE: From Kent Erdahl via KARE-TV, VERBATIM: “Minnesota nonprofit Every Meal had just begun working with local volunteers to provide bags of shelf-stable food to help ensure children, and their families, had enough food to make it through the weekend.” QUOTE: "It's a very smooth system and families can sign up anonymously," said Paul Gisselquist, a social worker at Zimmerman Elementary. "Kids, at this age, don't even know the story behind the bag, they just know somebody is dropping off something... for their family." WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3BSrnYR
FOOD CONNECT: From Frederick Melo via Pioneer Press, VERBATIM: “A restaurant, supermarket or food bank has a dozen pallets of bananas to give away, but it’s unclear which food shelf, senior center or Boys and Girls club has the capacity to store so many perishables on short notice. In comes Food Connect, a technology platform that serves as matchmaker of sorts between surplus food donors and charitable recipients, helping each one to screen the other’s needs and supplies in real-time before linking both sides with a delivery driver. The nonprofit, which might be likened to the E-Harmony or Match.com of surplus food and charitable giving, already uses online profiles to connect food donors to organizations in Kansas City, Philadelphia and the San Francisco Bay Area. Simone Hardeman-Jones, founding executive director of the GreenLight Fund Twin Cities, is ready to put $600,000 in seed money toward launching Food Connect in the Twin Cities metro, starting by hiring a director for the new-to-Minnesota nonprofit in early 2025.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3DGjK8n
WINTER WONDERLAND: Via Vikings, VERBATIM: “The Vikings and 3M partnered to host a Winter Wonderland event that welcomed youth and staff members from The Link, a local nonprofit established by Vikings Legends Jim Marshall and Oscar Reed, for a special evening of holiday festivities.” PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/4a9BQvO
ALS APP: From Beret Leone via WCCO-TV, VERBATIM: “A Minnetonka woman is helping connect the ALS community through an app. On Jan. 5, 2022, Faith's son, Scott, was diagnosed with ALS . . . Faith thrust herself into research and organizations supporting the cure for ALS. She started getting involved with Everything ALS. It's a nonprofit that's committed to bringing technology innovations and data science to support efforts from care to cure for people living with the disease. Everything ALS does that through patient-driven research, and most recently — an app.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3W534Oi
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