Polar Plunge Fundraising Event

Take the plunge yourself, or make a pledge for the brave souls who do, either way you will be supporting grieving children and families.

The 2010 Polar Plunge will take place during our January camp on Sunday, January 24th at 2:00 p.m.

Click here to make a pledge for the brave souls who take the plunge! If you would like your pledge to go to a specific person plunging, you can find their pledge page by clicking the appropriate link under the red "Fundraise" button in the lower right on the page that's linked above.

If you are interested in taking the plunge, please contact us and we will set you up with your very own Polar Plunge pledge page.

GiveMN.org

Today's THE day. If you ever considered donating to a children's charity today's the day to give to the max. GiveMN.org will match your donation to Children's Grief Connection. We need your help today. Give to the Max -no matter how much, $10, $25 or $100 you'll be helping Minnesota's grieving children. Thanks for considering us.

Totally Awesome 80's Party

Head to NBA City on November 12, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. for the Totally Awesome 80's Party - a fundraiser benefiting Children's Grief Connection. The evening will be filled with great 80's tunes, video games and a fun game night of totally tubular games and big prizes.

Teams of 4 players and a coach can enter to play wicked games like Battleship, Operation, Trouble, Twister and Rock 'em, Socked 'em to name a few. The team who wins the most rounds of retro games will win an amazing grand prize packet that includes a suite at a Target Center concert or Timberwolves game. Cost is $20.00 per player and includes a packet full of incredible give-always and gifts.

Dress to impress in your jellies, zubaz and big hair! We're going to relive the 80's and raise money to bring hope to grieving children!

Camp Postponed

We have decided to postpone our October camp session due to a large number of campers being diagnosed with H1N1 influenza the week prior to camp.

This was a difficult decision as we are dedicated to providing positive camping experiences for our campers and their families. Our first concern however is the health and safety of our campers. We have invited all those scheduled for the October session to attend our January 23-24 camp session in Little Falls, MN.

2nd Annual Draw Your Heart Out - Cancelled

We are sorry to announce this, however, the organizers of the event are going to postpone this event until sometime this winter. Things just weren’t working out as planned. The event will be planed for sometime this winter. Thank you for understanding and we are very sorry for any inconveniences this may have caused.

???? HOW CAN WE HELP YOU ????

By Coral Popowitz, Executive Director – Children’s Grief Connection

Whenever we answer the phone at Children’s Grief Connection we say, as so many ‘helpful’ organizations and companies do, “Children’s Grief Connection – How can I help you?” And you may have heard me say recently in these articles and in speaking with folks about our ‘new’ organization, that I envision Children’s Grief Connection as the leading resource in Minnesota for grieving children. So what does this all mean? What kind of resource? What kind(s) of help are we talking about?

To address that I’d like to introduce you to the staff at Children’s Grief Connection, tell you what we do, and how we can help – when you call, when you e-mail, when you’re talking with families or community organizations.

Jill Richards is our Office Manager and the coordinator of the Memorial Program. As office manager, Jill answers the phones and listens to requests, sometimes listening to grieving moms, dads, or grandparents’ stories of what happened in their life, how it’s affecting their children and wondering how/if we can help. Jill’s gentle voice relays information about Hearts of Hope Camp and Teen Retreat or the Family Grief Connection program and assures them their families will find some hope and healing from our programs. Jill is the primary contact for funeral directors involved or interested in the Memorial Program. If Memorial Program participants need help tracking their accounts, need a Hearts of Hope display, brochures or memorial donation envelopes for their funeral homes Jill is there to help. She helps funeral directors navigate the easy five-step process of the program - sending out letters to families served, telling them of the donation made in their loved ones memory from their funeral director and letting them know Hearts of Hope is available to children and teens in their family. Jill also does all of our organizational accounting work so she can help track any donations, receivables or payables. Jill works fifteen hours a week and is generally in the office on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Her e-mail address is: jill@childrensgriefconnection.com.

Our newest employee, Stephanie Lee, better known as Sal, is our Development Associate. Sal will be working specifically with our individual donors, writing small grants and promoting Children’s Grief Connection through special events. Sal will be working on our Change for A Camper campaign throughout the year (more info to come on this) and at least two very exciting awareness and fundraising events coming this fall (stay tuned). With over 26 years in the wholesale and retail gift business, Sal has acquired a depth of experience in developing and implementing a variety of projects both large and small. From extensive experience coordinating large events to designing our shadow box funeral home displays Sal can help in promoting Children’s Grief Connection. Sal will soon launch the Change campaign, organize the upcoming fundraising events and is always looking for potential granting sources if your community or company has a charitable foundation. Any questions you have on ways to support our organization she can help. If you are interested in helping Children’s Grief Connection attain the funds needed to continue to provide ALL our programs and services FREE OF CHARGE to grieving children and their families, Sal’s the person to contact. She will be working ten hours a week; will be at all organizational fundraising events and in the office generally on Mondays and Wednesdays. Her e-mail address is: sal@childrensgriefconnection.com.

As Executive Director, one important area of focus for me is furthering the awareness of Children’s Grief Connection. Spreading the word, informing, presenting what we do, the programs and services we provide and who and how they benefit families and children is an honor and one of the best parts of my job. If you want people to know more about any aspect of our organization, I can help. Another equally important focus is sustaining the organization. That means, among other things, raising funds, keeping the organization on budget with a healthy cash flow and reserve fund. If you have any questions on our financial situation or support, I can help. I would add that sustaining the organization also includes a vision and plan for growth and continued thriving. This is an area that is particularly exciting and I can help articulate those strategies to assure our programs and services will be around for years and decades to come because we provide a necessary and important role in the grief process for children. As the administrator of the organization, I can help with all the things both Jill and Sal do if they’re not available. As a grief professional, my education, training and experience in counseling and in teaching about grief, specifically children’s grief allows me to help with any aspect or question about the grieving process and in particular how it affects children still developing – cognitively and emotionally. I am currently receiving training for national certification as a children’s trauma specialist. This will help me help you, help the children and families you serve who have had a particularly traumatic death occur – I would argue that any time a child has a sibling or parent/primary caregiver die, it traumatizes them. This will also help as Children’s Grief Connection grows our Community Grief Connection program reaching out to schools, day care centers and other children’s organizations to train, program or generally assist following a traumatic grief event. If your community of children experiences traumatic death(s), through Community Grief Connections I can help facilitate the grief needs of those involved in the months or years after the crisis has passed. This program was initiated when funeral directors, called for help in their community after the tragic death of four students in a school bus accident. We were able to provide a “Journey of Hope” day for the school and community on the anniversary of the tragedy as well as on-going grief resources in their area. Continuing to collect children’s grief resources throughout the state and collaborating with other similar organizations is how we are helping lead the way in bringing hope and healing to Minnesota’s grieving children. By far the most rewarding aspect of my work as Executive Director is when I slip on my jeans and sneakers awaiting the cheers of welcome, the hugs and tears, the laugher and silly songs at one of our three Hearts of Hope camp and teen retreat weekends, working alongside rock-star volunteers to help extremely grateful families through the most difficult times in their lives. That is why I can and will help you. All staff at Children’s Grief Connection are part-time; however, I am in the office Monday through Friday and will return any correspondence within 48 hours. My e-mail address is: coral@childrensgriefconnection.com.


These are but a few ways we at Children’s Grief Connection can help funeral service providers, school staff, community organizations, counselors and families with grieving children. You can reach us by phone at 218-372-8420 or 877-226-7632, by e-mail at info@childrensgriefconnection.com or through our website at www.childrensgriefconnection.com. We are here to help you.

Draw Your Heart Out!

It is time to SAVE THE DATE for the 2nd Annual Hearts of Hope Camp Fundraiser "Draw Your Heart Out!"

Draw your Heart Out which can be closely tied to the hit game show "Win, Lose, or Draw," will put teams of 4 against each other as they race against the clock to figure out images drawn by their teammates. A round-robin style tournament will be used to determine the winning team.

The entry fee is $40 a team which equals out to $10 per person. Teams are also encouraged to raise money from other friends & family members for camp. The team that raises the most money will be awarded a prize after the event.

Location: The Mermaid, 2200 Highway 10, Mounds View, MN

When: Sunday, September 20, 1:00 PM

Click here for more information.

Sleve's Seven Year Success

On a balmy Friday afternoon in June golfers of all ages gathered together at Little Crow Country Club in Spicer, Minnesota to remember three great men, Steve and Dick Johnson and Bob Staples, all to benefit Minnesota's grieving children.

I had the honor of teaming up with the 'winning' (smiles anyway) team of Art and Marlene Dingmann, Jerry Brown and Jack Rehkamp (who's still got it even after three years off the greens). On the first swing of my second time ever playing golf (excluding a few rounds of mini with my kids) I got a hole-in-one, thanks to the "Heart Strands" 20 foot extension we got at registration. It was all downhill from there for me (too many years of a softball swing)but the team pulled it off anyway. We didn't win but weren't in last place either. Another gracious thanks to my patient foursome.


Following the golf was a cruise around the crowded silent auction with more items than ever before to bid on, a delicious dinner and door prizes to boot. As the sun started to set and folks began to gather by the fountain for the memorial tributes, a better day could not have been spent...except maybe for the day we learned the Sleve and Robert Staples Memorial Golf Tournament raised over $5,000!


Over the past seven years the Sleve has raised more than $17,000 to bring hope and healing to Minnesota's grieving children. To all who have planned and organized, golfed and bid, sponsored a hole or donated an item for the auction - a genuine and heartfelt THANK YOU.

Coral Popowitz

7th Annual Sleve Open Golf Tournament

Welcome to the 7th Annual Sleve Open Golf Tournament

A Celebration of the Life of Steve Johnson.

This year’s event will be held on:

Friday, June 12th *(please note the date change) at the Little Crow Country Club located on Highway 23 between New London and Spicer.

The tournament is a four person scramble and interested players can sign up as a team or individually. Cost for the tournament is $80.00 for non-members, $60.00 for LCCC members and NEW this year: 18 Hole Junior rate (anyone entering grades 9-12) $40.00. The 9-hole kid’s tourney continues to be a big hit and is a bargain at $25.00. Those wishing to attend only the dinner and Memorial Fountain gathering can purchase tickets at $15.00 each.

New option for Donating! This year we will also be offering Hole Sponsorships:

• Blue Sponsor $400 – Includes 4 golf packages (value of $320), hole sponsorship with hole sign

• Silver Sponsor $250 – Includes 2 golf packages (value of $160), hole sponsorship with hole sign

• Hole Sponsor $100 – Includes hole sponsorship with hole sign

This year the Sleve Open will continue to support Hearts of Hope Camp (formally known as Camp Amanda-Minnesota), a free camp for children and teens who have experienced the death of a parent, sibling, close relative or significant person in their life. Please see our web site for more information, www.childrensgriefconnection.com.

To sign up, please complete and return the Registration/Donation Form found on our homepage. Registration will be accepted until the day of the event; however your response by June 9th is appreciated. Donations can be mailed in advance if you are unable to attend. All donations are tax deductible.

The Sleve Open is not an invitation only event – we appreciate your help in spreading the word. Please feel free to call or email if you have any questions regarding the event.

Event Schedule – Friday, June 12, 2009

Noon: Tournament Registration
1:00 PM: Golf Begins
3:00 PM: Kids Award Ceremony & Lunch
6:00 PM: Meal and Silent Auction
7:30 PM: Memorial Fountain Gathering

Grief Shared is Grief Diminished

by Jerry Brown

The Children’s Grief Connection (formerly Camp Amanda) was born in the Fall of 2000 and the first Camp Amanda Grief Resolution Gathering was held at Camp Friendship in Annandale, Minnesota in January 2003.

I was fortunate to attend the first camp…rode horseback with Art Dingmann into Camp Courage as part of our 2007 Horseback for Hope Odyssey…and was drafted for “KITCHEN K-P (pots and pans) during last month’s conclave.

The eloquent and comprehensive prose of Coral Popowitz apprises us monthly of the plans, programs, visions and activities of the children’s program so my comments will simply describe what I have seen, heard, experienced and absorbed since camp #1.


THE KIDS:

From the innocence, love, honesty and unbridled candor of the children came a rush of emotions within me that belied the myth, “grown men should never cry.”

Yes, I cried.

I cried when seven year old Matthew showed me his photo wallet that was replete with snapshots of his dad whom had died in a construction accident two months earlier.

When the adorable Matthew learned of my Montana buffalo ranch he spent the next three hours telling his newly-found friends that “he was moving to Jerry Brown’s ‘farm’ to ride horses like he and his dad had done the week before he was killed.”

On the last day of camp, Matthew gave me one of the pictures in his ‘dad-wallet.’

I cried when I overheard two 8 year old girls sharing their feelings about how breast cancer had caused the death of their mothers and why couldn’t doctors find a cure?”

I cried when a young girl wrote on ‘the anger wall,’ “Mommy, why didn’t you quit smoking like you promised us?”

I cried when a 9 year old boy, between gut-wrenching sobs and barely audible words, revealed that his little brother had drowned in the Snake River while the family was vacationing in Wyoming.

And I wept when a brother and sister asked a counselor, “Why God had allowed their mother to die and make them feel so sad?”


THE KIDS AND THE WONDERFUL STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS:

I cried and silently cheered as I watched the bittersweet events of each gathering unfold and I shall always believe that CAMP AMANDA (a.k.a. HEARTS OF HOPE) is the quintessential achievement of Minnesota Funeral Service

A thousand accolades and 10,000 thanks to Coral, Steve, the staff, the directors, the volunteers, our omnipresent photographer KEN PETERSON and above all…to the parents and young people who have discovered HOPE and HEALING through the shining epiphanies of each journey.

So, emanating from the essence and eloquence of the verse – GOD GAVE US MEMORY SO WE WOULD HAVE ROSES IN DECEMBER – may the memories of each and every child be tender, loving and filled with happiness and hope.

Ergo, let us never forget that “grief shared is indeed grief diminished” and upon this moving and resonant truism, the CHILDRENS GRIEF CONNECTION was born and lives as a gift from those who truly care…or, as the kids would say, “GOOD GRIEF, CHARLIE BROWN!”