For starters, Bill Lunn of KSTP joined us again as our emcee. He truly believes in our mission and it shows. Thank you Bill!
Thank you to all of our 2012 honorees. They have all made a huge impact in the lives of children. We were honored to spend the evening with them and to be able to thank them for their efforts.
The silent auction was a great success. We are so thankful to all who donated items this year. We had some really fun donations this year and are just now tallying up our final numbers. Bidders got some real deals on things like a hot air balloon ride, a signed X-box, jewelry, coffee, getaways and even a basket full of items that the Minnesota Twins wives prepared for us! What a fun way to get your Christmas shopping done and support our mission.
We were also blessed with some in-kind sponsors again this year. Len Busch Roses donated flowers again to our gala...they were absolutely gorgeous and we are so thankful for their continued support.
Merit printing donated services and printed off 150 gala programs...they turned out perfect. Thank you Merit, in-kind donations like this can make such a huge difference for a little non-profit like ours. And finally, Bernadette Pollard Photography...we are so excited to see the photos of the whole evening. Bernadette donated her time and even brought along an additional photographer to capture every moment. We can't thank her enough! You can check out the photos too...we will post a link as soon as they are ready!
Thank you to our sponsors. Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi, Winona State University, Winona State Foundation, The Center for Effective Discipline, The Block Family, Northwest Arkansas Community College, William Mitchell College of Law, CornerHouse, St. Joseph Chiropractic Services and the Wetterling Family.
Finally, thank you to our volunteers. We are blessed to have a core group of amazing and dedicated volunteers who go the extra mile.
Here's one of the highlights of the evening. We honored Patty Wetterling and shared this video before presenting her award. Tears were shed...hugs were had...kids have a way of doing that.
If you are interested in the work of the National Child Protection Training Center or any of it's programs: The Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, The Center for Effective Discipline and The National Association to Prevent Sexual Abuse of Children, please visit our website at www.ncptc.org
What a night!! Thank you!
