A lot of generous people pulled together to raise more than $15,000 for the Foundation’s Youth Initiative at the 2017 EP Gives event held April 29 at Oak Ridge Conference Center in Chaska.

Thank you, Eden Prairie!

The funds will go to three programs that are important to the Foundation and to Eden Prairie:

• PROP after-school activity scholarships, given to local families-in-need so they can afford to enroll a child or children in swimming lessons, driver’ education, summer camp, sports, theater, or other activities.
• CounterAct, a Hazelden-designed curriculum presented to Eden Prairie fifth-graders by the Police Department to help them make better decisions when facing issues such as chemical use and bullying.
• The Dr. Jean L. Harris Scholarship, awarded annually by the Foundation to an Eden Prairie high school senior who has demonstrated outstanding achievement in diversity and human rights, which are among the ideals emphasized in the Eden Prairie Manifesto adopted while Harris was Eden Prairie’s mayor.

The Youth Initiative was launched by the Foundation in early 2015 after community leaders and volunteers said high priority should be given to outside-the-classroom help for Eden Prairie youth in order to make them better citizens and future workplace stars.

Ever since, a special appeal for Youth Initiative contributions has been made at the annual EP Gives event so there are funds to support these important programs. Altogether, more than $40,000 has been raised.

Special thanks go to Denny and Jeanne Lind and the Carl & Aune Lind Family Foundation, as well as the Eden Prairie Women of Today, for providing a total of $4,500 in “seed money” that got the contributions rolling at 2017 EP Gives. Dozens of attendees followed suit, with pledges to one or more of these select programs.

Thanks to this support, hundreds more Eden Prairie youth will helped. Thank you!