This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

BLOG: Cheerful Givers Celebrates Half-A-Million Kids

Special guests assembled the 500,000th birthday bag at "The Great Minnesota Birthday Party" and Gov. Mark Dayton proclaimed it Cheerful Givers Day throughout the state.

Karen Kitchel, Neighbor
|
https://patch.com/img/cdn/users/925717/2012/04/raw/47f6d96d0a02fedc44bdfc20d780557f.jpg
https://patch.com/img/cdn/users/925717/2012/04/raw/2edac971ff3f3bc0f0af89841481872c.jpg
https://patch.com/img/cdn/users/925717/2012/04/raw/5d7b050275e86f7e5cb036def7eac3cb.jpg

It was a fun celebration at on Saturday, March 31, at the Mall of America, where Eagan-based nonprofit Cheerful Givers held a milestone event. And the day was proclaimed by Gov. Mark Dayton as 'Cheerful Givers Day' throughout the state.

The organization was founded in 1994 when 700 less-fortunate kids received toy-filled birthday gift bags from their parents. On Saturday, the 500,000th birthday bag was assembled by ten special guests. Included were members of groups who have supported the efforts such as the Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins, Eagan Resource Center, corporate groups, students and community members.

A big thank you to sponsors of the event which included Thomson Reuters and the Northern Dakota County chapter of Thrivent Financial among others.

Find out what's happening in Eaganwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Visit www.cheerfulgivers.org to learn more about getting involved or to make a donation.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Eagan