choice ink - CHOICE, Inc

Winter 2014
CHOICE INK
Communicating the activities of CHOICE, Inc.-an agency supporting people with intellectual disabilities to reach their full potential
The Cheetah Crew Takes Center Stage at Most Successful Fundraiser to Date!
By: Betsy Ingalsbe
The Cheetah Crew brought down the house with an original choreographed dance performance at the Third Annual CHOICE, Inc. Family & Friends Fundraiser!
The Third Annual CHOICE, Inc. Family
and Friends Fundraiser that took place
this past November exceeded expectations on so many levels. This event was
our biggest ever with over 370 guests in
attendance! CHOICE participants, staff,
employers, family members, residences,
friends and supporters all gathered for
an afternoon filled with food, fun and an
outpouring of positive, creative energy.
As part of the festivities, guests enjoyed
our annual silent auction and wine pull,
bidding on over 100 fabulous prizes and
pulling nearly 100 bottles of wine. As a
new addition to this year’s event, a Story
Booth was open to help us capture the
spirit of the day as clients, families,
staff, and community members shared
their story about how CHOICE has
made a positive impact in their life.
As another treat, our event program featured videos highlighting the partnerships and the achievements of
CHOICE, Inc. participants. The biggest thrill of all though was the performance of The Cheetah CrewCHOICE, Inc.’s resident dance crew made possible through our partnership with The Cowles Center for
Dance and the Performing Arts. The Cheetah Crew members, Mallory, Patty, Jessica, Craig, Shelby, Adam, Kelly, Caroline, Emma, Vance, Ken, Gary, Shelly, and Zac brought down the house and left us all
energized and feeling good with their original choreographed performance.
Next to the Cheetah Crew, the other element that wowed us all was the extraordinary number of supporters who came out to join us. We were filled to the brim with a record number of guests, and we are already making plans to move to a bigger space for next year’s event. Mark your calendars for Sunday,
November 2nd, 2013 when the fun continues at the Marriott Minneapolis Southwest. We look forward
to moving to this space and building on the success of this year with plenty of room to grow in the future.
With a remarkable number of guests and sponsors in the audience, we are thrilled to announce that this
year’s fundraiser exceeded our fundraising goal. Because of the generosity of our donors and all those in
attendance, we raised over 20,000! These funds are essential in helping CHOICE, Inc. to remain a vibrant, healthy organization dedicated to providing quality programs, employment, and enriching life experiences for our participants. Thank you all for your continued support of our programming and for
making this year’s Family & Friends Fundraiser one for the record books!
CHOICE, Inc.: Creating programs and partnerships that enrich the lives of the people we serve.
CHOICE Ink is a quarterly
publication of CHOICE, Inc., a
private nonprofit agency
(501C3 tax exempt status.)
www.choicejobs.org
Three Sites:
 7654 Executive Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
(952) 474-9510
 8801 Wildwood Avenue
St. Bonifacius, MN 55375
(952) 446-1475
 9850 51st Avenue North
Plymouth, MN 55442
(763) 417-9030
Board of Directors:
Barb Branham
Ralph Fuhrmann
Frank Fuller
Bob Harvey
Ray Schenk
Michelle Veith
Executive Director
Michael Kraines
Contributors
Betsy Ingalsbe
Corrie Merten
Holly Pounds
Michael Kraines
Shelli Sjostrom
Stephanie Gilbertson
The Mission of CHOICE, Inc. is to
provide adults with intellectual
disabilities the opportunities and
support they desire to reach their
full potential in employment and
personal pursuits.
CHOICE, Inc. is an equal
opportunity employer.
Our Silent Auction and Wine Pull were Great Fundraising
Draws! Special Thanks to Our Donors Who Made it Possible!
Auction Donors:
Adogo Pet Hotel
AirMaxx Trampoline Park
Anonymous
Bayside Grill
Brunswick Zone
Caribou Coffee
Chanhassen Byerly's
Chaska Community Center
Cheers Wine & Spirits
Crumb Gourmet Deli
Cub Foods-Nathan Lane
Cub Foods-Plymouth Vicksburg
Curtis Pearson
Dale Studios
Davanni's
Deb Benny
Emily Lawrence
Emma Muelners
Erica Danielson
Excelsior Fire Station
Gerring's Car Wash
Great Lakes Aquarium
Great River Dental
Hour Glass Cleaners
Hyatt Place
Janice Meuwissen
Jerry & Bonnie Behme
Jill Stapleton
Jimmy's Food and Cocktails
Joelle Paschke
Judy Syring
Julie Kraines
Katie Maurer
Keith Williams
Photo below: Our annual silent auction held over 100
fabulous prizes. Thank you to the many donors listed here.
Photo above: With nearly 100 bottles pulled well
before the evening’s end, the Wine Pull was a great
Fundraising hit!
Kim Chong
MacPhail Center for Music
Maggie Grosshuesch
Mary Jo Wolf
Maynard's
McGarry's Pub
Megan Jahnke
Megan Perry
Melanie Haney
Michael Kraines
Michelle Vieth
MyWhiteGiraffe.com
Patty Berg
Jenni Fink
Quiznos-Nathan Lane
Jockey Person to Person- Rae Lynn
Zuehlke
Santorini Taverna
Shannon Turek
Shelli Sjostrom
Sheraton Minneapolis West
Edina Skin Rejuvenation Clinic
Spear Envelope Company
Summit Brewing
Tammy Dahl
The Mustard Seed
Three Rivers Parks
Thurks
Lawrence Framing
Trader Joes
WildFire Eden Prairie
Woodland Wonders Nature
Photography
Youngstedts
“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.” Barbara de Angelis
2013 Family & Friends Sponsor Recognition
From The Executive
Director
By Michael Kraines
“If you don’t know where you are going
any road will do” Lewis Carrol wrote in
“Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.
Though it seems unlikely Carrol had business in mind he did point to a question key
toany business strategy—where are you
going? With the close of 2013 CHOICE,
Inc. came to the close of our 3 year strategic plan. This was the first such plan during my tenure as Executive Director. It has
been a fun and challenging road to travel
leaving us blessed with quite a list of accomplishments and many new initiatives.
Thanks for our successes abound to
CHOICE employees and our partners in
the community who have all contributed in
so many varied ways.
Presenting Sponsor:
Title Sponsors:
Jergenson Family
Dance Floor Sponsors:
Carlson Family
Schmalz Family
Golden Family Sponsors:
Bialick Family
Eden Prairie Family
Eden Prairie Family
Barnabus House
Schenk Family
Table Sponsors:
Kraines Family (2)
Donnay Family
Hometown Pizza & Tacos
Schenk Family
Flagship Bank
Pounds Family
CCS
Pounds Family
Neddermeyer Family
Cowles Center for Dance
Clarity Solutions Group
Wine Pull Sponsor:
Wine Pull Donors:
Haskell's Plymouth
Cheers Wine & Spirits Chanhassen
John Kronstedt
Alicia Chong
Anne Newmann
Donnay Family
Brenda Reichert
Julie Tuck
Anna Gingerich
Angie Kiefer
Katie Tengesdal
Alice Johnson
Erin Sommer
Marcia Haney
Carol Holland
Hannah Lane
Corrie Merten
Gina Gafford
Melanie Becker
Our Family and Friends Fundraiser was
born of this strategic plan. The idea was
conceived in the last quarter of 2010. Today the Family and Friends Fundraiser is a
wonderful gathering of the people we
serve, CHOICE employees, our families,
and our partners in service, employment,
and business. Looking back it appears
that this event came to serve as a showcase
for our strategic plan. At this year’s fundraiser for example, we featured two of our
partnerships: The MacPhail Center for
Music and The Cowles Center for Dance
and Performing Arts. These are a kind of
service partnership that we had mapped
out in our plan. Many of the videos shown
during the Family and Friends program
over the past years were identified in that
plan as well, with intended use beyond the
event. Also at this year’s fundraiser I noted
that we work with over 85 business partners in the employment of the people we
serve. That number “85” is just a notch
above the number we set as a target three
short years ago.
(continued on page 4)
“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities” -J.K. Rowling
The Annual appeal raised nearly $10,000 in funds that will support opportunities
offered by Community Partnerships and Employment Training in the STEP program.
When June rolled around, we took part in the first annual Chanhassen Charity Car
Show. This was a brand new event and what a hit it was! With $5,000 in funds raised
for CHOICE we look forward to having this as one of our fundraising and community
building traditions for several years to come. Mark your calendar for Saturday, June
7th, 2014 to take part in this great event!
Made in the Shade, the walk, run and roll fundraising event where we partner with nine
other agencies, was also successful. This is simply a fun time for everyone to come out
to walk around Lake Calhoun, enjoy lunch, and listen to live music. We had by far our
biggest turnout and we hope to continue to increase the number of participants at this
fun filled event. Join the fun again on Saturday, September 20th, 2014!
The 3rd annual Family and Friends Fundraiser once again exceeded all expectations.
With over 370 guests, 100+ silent auction prizes and 100 bottles of wine pulled; we
raised over $20,000! Mark your calendars for Sunday November 2nd, 2014 when the
fun continues at our new spot: The Marriot Minneapolis Southwest in Minnetonka
CHOICE, Inc. would not be able to succeed without the support from all of you. It is
together that we accomplish so much. Thank you!
Every CHOICE Matters
Looking back at the past three
years I see that many of the roads
we traveled were ones of our
choosing.
Abraham Lincoln said, “The best
way to predict your future is to
create it”. Strategic planning is
about thinking of the possibilities
and then choosing which ones to
pursue. Today it is time for
CHOICE to create a new strategic plan. I find the process exciting. It’s a time to talk about new
programs, partnerships and improving the services for our clientele. It’s our opportunity to create
a shared vision as we set our
sights on predicting our future.
Once our future is envisioned
mapping out a course is the next
step on the road. It is always a
step made easier if you know
where you are going.

As we embark on a new year we want to sincerely thank our CHOICE, Inc. supporters
who helped to make the past year such a huge success. We have not only met but we
have exceeded our fundraising goals for 2013. Thank you-you’re the best!
Editorial, Continued from Page 3
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Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Breaking records at 2013
Family & Friends Fundraiser
Sponsor Recognition
From the Executive Director
More!
Inside:
Address Service Requested
CHOICE, Inc.
7654 Executive Drive
Eden Prairie, MN 55344
Every CHOICE Matters
Non-Profit
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Excelsior, MN
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