Hats and Mittens

The 15^th Annual Hats & Mittens Winter Ball brings us back to the original venue – The Lafayette Club – Wayzata, MN.  The fifteen year marks the distribution of over 350,000 hat and mitten set, plus monetary awards of over $ .  With gratitude to our loyal attendee and generous donors we have made a difference for children in the local community, and we’ve had fun doing it.  In addition to supplying hat and mitten sets to community resource centers, monetary proceeds for this year’s event will be given to West 7^th Community Center – a local program serving families in the West 7^th Street, St. Paul community. 

Details:

Hats & Mittens 15th Anniversary Winter Ball

Thursday, December 30, 2010

6pm – Midnight!

Lafayette Club

2800 Northview Road, Minnetonka Beach, MN 55361
952 471 8943

(Special Room Pricing for Hats & Mittens guests)

Live & silent auction, dinner, entertainment & dancing

Music provided by: Metro Jam

Tickets $85 per person plus a child’s hat & mitten set

This year Hats & Mittens is celebrating its 15^th anniversary.  Hats & Mittens is a unique 501c because it has a dual purpose: not only does Hats & Mittens gather and raise thousands of dollars to purchase hats and mittens for local and outstate children it also awards a monetary contribution to smaller under the radar metro children’s organization. 

The annual winter gala includes a live and silent auction, dinner and dance.  Attendees are encouraged to bring a new child’s hat and mitten set as part of their admittance.  In addition, several thousand dollars are raised to purchase more hats and mittens during its Fund the Warmth segment of the event.  Additional monetary proceeds from the live and silent auction are distributed to a local organization chosen each year by a board of 12 professional people.      

Enjoy a fun video and learn more about Kaleidoscope Place.

http://www.kaleidoscope-kids.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11f_ZMlxVHk

Yippee! The snow is here and we’ve sent 3500 hats & mittens out the door! Thanks to a willing team of volunteers, Wear a Knit, Steiner Development Inc., FedEx Office, Liberty Carton, and Hermantown Lumber for all they do to make it possible for Hats & Mittens to keep kids in our community warm.

Our goal for collection this year is 50,000 hats & mittens. We know from The Greater Twin Cities United Way and other groups that the need is there and we intend to fill it. Can you help? Can you organize your Book Club, work team, family, church group, Dinner Club to collect for us? Make arrangements with us for a pickup. Can you donate? Go on-line and give generously through PayPal. We say THANKS in advance!

See you on December 30 at the Westin Hotel for the 14^th annual Hats & Mittens Winter Ball!

Cheers! Rebecca

One evening the founder of Hats & Mittens - Rebecca Sundquist - was out socializing with friends in downtown Minneapolis when she found a purse. Mindful to find the owner, Rebecca made a call using the cell phone located in the purse. Speaking with a husband Rebecca learned the owner of the purse was on a “girl’s night out”. To the gratitude of the owner -Cindy Horgan -Rebecca delivered the purse to her home. To show appreciation, Cindy wanted to give Rebecca a monetary reward. Rebecca responded with: “If you insist on doing something make a donation to Hats & Mittens.” Cindy went on the website and little did she know what was to follow.

Cindy is the mother of three little girls. Learning that Hats & Mittens is about children and warmth, she decided to use the experience as a learning tool on giving back. Here’s what happened! She and the girls started to collect hats and mittens at their schools. Then they put a box on the front step of their home, which neighbors generously filled. Proudly collecting three large black bags full of hats and mittens, the mother, three girls and Rebecca completed a circle of giving by making a special delivery to Perspectives, Inc. where a group of young children were in need of warmth. This is just one example Hats & Mittens mission.

Greetings!

I hope you and your loved ones have had a grand summer and are ready to launch into fall!  Our Hats & Mittens crew is hard at work planning our fourteenth annual December 30 Winter Ball and we have many surprises ahead for you!

New Location! Join us at the new uber cool Westin Edina Galleria! Centrally located at 3201 Galleria, Edina, MN at 69th & France, the Westin is in the center of town with ample parking and valet service.  You will appreciate the spacious accommodations for pre-dinner wine tasting, auction bidding, and dance lessons!  Dinner, prepared by McCormick & Schmick’s (yum!) will be served in the grand ballroom followed by an evening of high stakes bidding, comedy, and dancing!

You’ll want to spend the night and be rejuvenated for the new year in the well-appointed guest rooms—special rates for Hats & Mittens guests!

New Band! Dance the night away to the tunes of Charanga Tropical, a nine-piece orchestra featuring strings, flute, and a world class rhythm section.  Rich in harmony and melody, Charanga Tropical is fantastic for listening and superb for dancing.  Smooth strings, Cuban rhythms, “a musical delight and a visual spectacle” according to City Pages.  Cha cha cha!

The Hats & Mittens 2008 recipient is Kaleidescope Place! Join us in supporting the good work of Kaleidescope Place, a youth development program located at the new Lutheran Social Service Center for Changing Lives.  Kaleidescope Place provides a safe and nurturing environment for children as well as relief for financially strained families by offering a free and enriched environment for children after school and during the summer months.

50,000 Hats & Mittens! Yep, that’s our goal!  We’re working hard to collect 50,000 hats & mittens for children and youth in our community.  We know that’s the need and we know that together we can make it happen.  Special thanks to Wear a Knit in Cloquet , MN for their generous donations of knitwear and to The Greater Twin Cities United Way for their help in connecting Hats & Mittens to organizations with the need for warmth.  Be a part of the Warmth—give us a call if you know a group who needs warm hats & mitts, or if you can help collect, pack and deliver with us.  We know winter is coming!

Register for the 2009 Hats & Mittens Winter Ball today or make a donation on-line and fund the warmth for kids in our community—cheers!

This past year saw a record breaking number of hats & mittens distributed by our organization. In addition to the generosity of WEAR-A-KNIT and the many hat & mitten sets collected at the annual winter ball, 750 additional sets were purchased thanks to the fund the warmth segment of our live auction. In total over 35,000 sets of hats & mittens were distributed to the following recipient:

Anoka Hennepin School District
Breaking Free
Cass Lake-Bena Elementary School
Central Lutheran Clothes Closet
Catholic Charities
Common Bond
Community Corner
Community Action Partnership
for Suburban Hennepin County
Edina Resource Center
Gifts for Goodness
Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery
Here’s Life
Hopkins Minnetonka Family Resource Center
ICA Food Shelf
Interfaith Outreach & Community Partners
Jewish Family Services
Justice Squared
Keystone Community Services
Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
NEAR Food Shelf
People’s Exchange/Urban Ventures
Ponemah Elementary School
Resource & Welcome Center
Robinsdale District #281
Risen Christ Catholic School
SEED Community Emergency Center
Shriner’s Hospital
St. Josephs Home for Children
The Bridge
The Maxfield Learning Center
WAND
West Seventh Community Center
Boys & Girls Clubs of Duluth
Lutheran Social Services of Duluth
Prism
Perspectives, Inc.

Thank you to the many volunteers and board members for collecting, packaging and distributing the hats & mittens.

Many hands make light work. In addition to our 2008 guests and WEAR-A-KNIT for donating the many hat & mitten sets, special thanks to Hermantown Lumber for pick-up and delivery, Steiner Development, Inc. for donating the warehouse space, to Liberty Carton Company for the boxes and to FedEx Office for delivery of the hats & mittens. Your support helps our mission.

We encourage you to continue support for Girls in Action, the 2008 recipient of the Hats & Mittens award.

In contrast to the winter chill of our annual ball, an appreciation dinner hosted by the current board was held on a perfect summer night. Thank you to out-going board members and loyal attendees. Nothing would happen without each of you.

We are gearing up for the best ever winter ball so be ready to celebrate with friends and help children in need at the Westin Edina Galleria. In addition to a new locale, the evening includes wine tasting plus entertainment and dancing by Charanga Tropical. Monetary proceeds to benefit Kaleidoscope Place.

Kaleidoscope Place mission is to provide a creative, educational, and nurturing environment for children to learn and grow in character and community. Kaleidoscope Place is devoted to children and families in the Phillips neighborhood and provides a safe and nurturing environment for children to form caring and supportive relationships with their peers and adults. Kaleidoscope provides relief for financially strained families by offering a free and enriching environment for their children during their out of school time and seeks to improve academic achievement of the children. www.kaleidoscope-kids.org

Charanga Tropical is a nine-piece salsa ensemble that performs classic and modern salsa music.  Performing with the unique Cuban “charanga” instrumentation that includes violins and flute, the group presents a sound that is harmonically rich and infectiously rhythmic, inspiring visions mojitos and Caribbean sunsets.  Featuring musicians from throughout the Americas, this band knows how to fill a dance floor and start a party! www.charangatropical.com