Soaring
Remembering a Made in the Shade Champion
by Darolyn Gray
Many of you will remember seeing Michelle from Sheridan House at our Made in the Shade events. I got a lump in my throat passing by her brick in our memorial garden this week, as this was always Michelle’s season to shine. Until her passing in 2022, she was a tireless advocate for Wingspan and spent the summer months leading up to our fall event gathering donations for her house. She carried the Made in the Shade brochure with her everywhere, along with a supply of donation envelopes. She had a short elevator speech about what was on the wish list for Sheridan house—a new refrigerator one year—and she reached out to neighbors, friends and family, her church, her regular customers at Arby’s and others. Michelle was a fearless fundraiser. She’d call me every morning, and as soon as I answered, she would exclaim, “Do you want good news?” She’d tell me about her recent success, I’d do a quick calculation and let her know how much money she had raised. Her self-affirmation in response was always, “I’m doing good!” and I would respond with, “Actually, you are doing GREAT!” I still miss those phone calls. Michelle’s goal was to raise more than the prior year, and she always achieved it. Donations came in all sizes, and she was grateful for each one. In 2021, her last full year of campaigning for Made in the Shade, Michelle raised nearly $2,000 from 52 donors.
Currently, one of our fearless fundraisers is Angela from Skycroft House. So far this summer, Angela has collected over $800 for Skycroft House from over 50 donors.
What Michelle and Angela affirm is that the number one reason people give is because they are asked. Today, on behalf of all those we serve at Wingspan, we’re asking YOU to give to this year’s event. If not today, we are grateful for any gift… any day of the year. Thank you so very much for your generosity!
Thank You Cultivate Co-op Youth Ministries!
On July 24th and 25th, we were fortunate to host four groups of middle school volunteers from Iowa and Nebraska. They were brought to us by Cultivate Co-op, a coalition of youth ministries that undertakes a service trip every two years, and Wingspan was this year’s first stop during each full day of volunteering around the Twin Cities. Our Groveland, Aurora, Woodbridge 17th and Skycroft group home yards were all transformed as 64 students and leaders spent a combined 186 hours weeding, cleaning, pruning, raking and laying over 200 bags of mulch.
It’s always fun to see the enthusiasm that the next generation has for doing good--and for the Girl Scout Cookies that Liz and Keller brought for their break time! During each team’s lunch break, Keller spoke about Wingspan’s history and the work we do, and students and leaders alike showed a deep interest in Wingspan’s mission and deep caring about the people who lived and worked in the homes they were helping at. All of this while many of them currently face uncertain futures at their own homes as Omaha fights terrible Missouri River flooding. We’re deeply grateful to Cultivate Co-op for the chance to share Wingspan’s impact with such an impressive group, to Liz for coordinating the teams at Woodbridge and Skycroft, and to the maintenance team for the hard work of hauling 200+ bags of mulch to the homes. We hope to do this again in 2026!
For more information about our volunteer opportunities for individuals, schools, service groups or corporate teams, contact Keller Karlstrom, Community Engagement Specialist, kkarlstrom@wingspanlife.org
Thank You to Our Made in the Shade Sponsors
So many sponsors and individual donors have already donated to our upcoming event. We thank our $5,000 event sponsor, Our House of Minnesota, Inc. At the $2,500 level we thank Associated Bank, Minnesota Bank & Trust, and UCare. Thank you to Mark & Tracy Mooney for sponsoring for $2,000. Our $1,000 level sponsors are Bruce & Debbie Homan, the Horberg family, the Larson family, Angela & Ryan O’Neill, John & Jan Thames and Wealth Enhancement Group. At the $500 level we thank Jim and Linda Benson, the Hamer family and the Widdifield family. At the $250 level we thank Curt Windingstad (pictured here with his daughter, Tina) and the Landreville family.
There is still plenty of time to donate to Made in the Shade 2024. Funds raised help in many ways. Some homes need new vans, furniture, appliances or patio sets. Other funds support our enrichment programs, our formal dance, our summer picnic and more.
EVENT SCHEDULE
9:30am Check in at Thomas Beach. 10:00am Greeting by Shayla Reaves
10:20am Warm up/stage area
10:20am Starting line with MN Roller Derby
11:00am Lunch & music by the Showstoppers 12:00pm Program ends
Announcing the Opening of Zen House
As mentioned at our Power of Love Gala, our Specialized Services Unit has expanded to offer crisis respite capabilities to serve youth ages 1217. We’re excited to help meet this critical need in our community; it represents an area of continued growth for Wingspan. On August 1, we officially opened Zen House in Bloomington.
Zen means “peaceful and calm,” and that is exactly the environment our staff endeavor to create. Program Director Sharron Aken gave a special shout-out, “Thanks again for everyone’s hard work to get the home open, licensed, and up and running.”
Board of Directors
Angela O’Neill, Chair
Joe Eickhoff, Vice Chair
Roz Allyson, Treasurer
Mary Anderson
Taree Leach-Junkersfeld
Mark Mooney
Bruce Smith
Kim Wolff
John Thames, Chair Emeritus
Executive Director
Therese Davis
Editor Pam Carlson
Story Contributors
Therese Davis
Darolyn Gray Keller Karlstrom
www.wingspanlife.org
Greetings from Therese Davis, Executive Director
How can it be August already? Though summer always seems to fade too quickly, we always have fun things to look forward to. Our summer picnic for our clients is coming up at the end of this month, and we are looking forward to having “Elvis” back again to sing. Glee Club starts its fall session on September 9th. On September 13th, we’ll gather at Dual Citizen Brewing for our third annual Beer Choir fundraiser for Wingspan. Our Made in the Shade event is coming up on September 21st, and I can’t wait to see everyone at the lake. In October we’ll host another one of our multicultural events—this time with our friends at Z Puppets Rosenschnoz with storytelling in Cherokee. True to our mission, we’re focused on helping people impacted by disabilities to live their best life.
Thank you to everyone who helped us raise more than $160,000 for our Power of Love Gala. Happy summer to all of you from all of us!
