December 2023 Holiday Gathering

What a wonderful time everyone had at our December Holiday Gathering! It was attended by more than 250 people who all came together for our “Merry & Bright” celebration. Silver and gold, our color theme, shined brightly throughout the banquet room!

Everyone came together for a beautiful candlelight dinner, which featured not one, but two buffet options. This year we added a children’s buffet featuring homemade macaroni & cheese, chicken stripes, and french fries. It was a hit!

As dinner was wrapping up, there was the sound of eight tiny reindeer landing softly on the roof of the Event Center. And much to everyone’s surprise, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and six of Santa’s favorite elves made a grand entrance! Children’s laughter and excited squeals echoed throughout the room. All 165 children/teens had a chance to visit with Santa and receive 3 gifts each!

And don’t think we forgot about the parents! Each couple received a lighted holiday tree with gift cards hanging from each of it’s branches, and decorated with silver and gold ornaments. This most generous donation was made by the Caleb Eide Memorial Foundation in memory of Caleb, one of our Childhood Cancer Community children who passed away after a very courageous battle with cancer.

In addition, each attendee received a Christmas morning quilt to wrap up in as they enjoyed their time opening gifts around the tree.

And to round out the fun for the evening, there were countless arts and crafts that children, teens, and the young at heart, all participated in!

Childhood Cancer Community would like to thank the following businesses and individuals who donated gifts, quilts, financial donations, their time, and deep discounts to make our evening such a huge success! We are truly grateful for all of our generous donors. Thank you.

Powers Ventures (Joe Powers)
Santa and Mrs. Claus (aka: Jim and Julie Galkowski)
Alexandria Slocum
Caleb Eide Memorial Foundation
Caring Hearts of SE Minnesota
Custom Alarm
Deb and Wayne Nisbit
FFA Glenville
FFA Lanesboro
FFA Plainview-Elgin-Millville
Helena S.
The Homestead at Rochester
Immanuel Lutheran Church Youth Group (Plainview, MN)
Kris Erickson
Merchants Bank of Rochester
PEM 9-12 High School
Plainview Lions Club
Regency Multifamily of Rochester
Ron and Lynn Wightman
Shellby Molby
Shelly Wingert Family
Sherry Sathrum
Think Mutual Bank
Donna Richardson
Project Linus
River Valley Arts Guild
Caleb Eide Memorial Foundation
Mayo Clinic Proton Beam Radiation Therapists
Northwestern Mutual
Brendan Bush/Benazir Kerezoudis (Photographers)
All of our Volunteers