Cheerful Givers wins local Touchstone Energy Community Award

Karen Kitchel, President of Cheerful Givers was delighted when Dakota Electric Association recently named Cheerful Givers, the non-profit she operates, as the local 2008 Touchstone Energy Community Award winner.

Cheerful Givers, an organization that helps needy children living in homeless shelters, provides nurturing by honoring a child’s birthday via gift giving –where extenuating crisis circumstances would otherwise make it impossible. The organization has used the scripture verse “God loves a cheerful giver” as a catalyst for their special mission.

Founder of Cheerful Givers, Robin Maynard referred to Karen as “an incredible and dedicated woman who stayed with me every step of the organization’s development.”

The daughter of devout Catholics, outreach to the less fortunate was part of her family tradition. Even as a child, Karen was captivated by the literature her family received from overseas missions, and she often contributed her allowance to help support the work of the missionaries.

Kitchel, said the award is timely and meaningful. “The Touchstone Energy Award is a wonderful symbol of support from our community. During these challenging economic times, it’s reassuring to know that our efforts to increase the self-esteem of kids living in poverty, is continuing to be recognized as a much-needed and valued service,” she said.

Kitchel foresees the award will help build awareness about the organization, so that more attention will be paid to the special needs of children living in homeless shelters. “Receiving this recognition will help spread awareness of what Cheerful Givers is doing to address an unmet need and hopefully will bring additional much-needed donations. As organizations and individuals see the impact we are making locally, we hope they will see the need to grow our organization nationally as well,” she said.

After a rewarding career with Business Incentives based in Minnesota, Kitchel felt compelled to become more active in philanthropic pursuits. Through a business associate, she was introduced to founder of Cheerful Givers, Robin Maynard, and she was invited to join the non-profit’s Board of Directors soon after.

Today she continues to advocate for the needs of children living in poverty by speaking at schools and civic organizations to encourage the public to get involved.

Cheerful Givers has made an impact locally by providing birthday gift bags for children who may not otherwise receive a gift on their birthdays. The organization expects to donate more than 44,000 gift bags in 2008 and has provided more than 277,000 gift bags since its inception. The bags are made up by volunteers and distributed through food shelves, shelters and human service agencies around Minnesota.

The Touchstone Energy Community Award recognizes individuals and organizations for outstanding contributions to the local community.

Cheerful Givers award application will be submitted for consideration in the statewide Minnesota Touchstone Energy Community Award. The statewide award recipient will be selected from local award winners throughout Minnesota. The winner will receive $1,000 for their non-profit community project. The Minnesota Touchstone Energy Community Award will be announced in March, during the Minnesota Rural Electric Association’s annual meeting in St. Paul.

Jackie O’Neal has been a part of Women’s Online Magazine’s editorial department since June 2007. As the news editor of Women’s Online Magazine, she came in contact with entrepreneurs from a variety of industries that were eager to keep their profiles high in the marketplace. As a result, she launched O’Neal Media Group, a public relations consultancy that works with small business and non-profits. In addition, O’Neal operates Women’s Online Magazine™ San Francisco, featuring the best of the city and its people.

(0 votes, average: 0.00 out of 5)
You need to be a registered member to rate this post.

 Loading ...

Add a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.