Saturday, February 12th, 2011 marked the 22nd Annual Sweetheart Ball! The evening was a hit! As attendees perused the silent auction items, the Holiday Inn prepared a delicious meal. Dana Mogck and Kerstin Kealy from WDAY6 TV were our emcees for the evening.  After a welcome from Katrina Turman Lang, RMHC Board of Directors President and Jill Christopher, RMHC Executive Director, attendees were encouraged to take part in a Heads or Tails game. Christopher Gabriel from WDAY Radio auctioned off six exciting live auction items.

Tracy and Ben Filipi were our guest speakers for the evening and shared their story. Tracy and Ben stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Fargo for 3 weeks while their twin boys were in the hospital.

Guests were encouraged to “Share A Night” with a family  who can not afford to donate $15.00 a night for their stay. Dakota Medical Foundation generously matched any Share a Night  contribution of $50.00 or more, up to a total of $10,000!

Our silent auction this year was our biggest ever thanks to the generosity of our community businesses and individuals! As the silent  auction wrapped up, there was  music and dancing with the Past Due Band. If you haven’t heard the band, check out when they’re playing next!! They are a LOT of fun!! (www.thepastdueband.com)

Special guest, Ronald McDonald joined us again this year and was able to bring sparkle to the eyes of  children currently staying at the Ronald McDonald House. The children also got to meet a “queen” as Shelle Moran, 2011 Mrs. North Dakota also joined us for the evening.

The Ronald McDonald House would like to extend a huge thank you to all the businesses & individuals who helped make this year a success especially our event sponsors—McDonald’s and BlueCross BlueShield of North Dakota  and our  Platinum sponsors—Financial Business Systems, Prairie St. John’s & Sanford Health.

Check out our upcoming events: www.rmhcfargo.org

As 2011 has already been put into full gear, the Ronald McDonald House looks forward to the adventures of the year. We wanted to start this blog to keep everyone updated on what is going on with us this year.

In the last few months of 2010 we welcomed on a new Executive Director, Jill Christopher and Resource Development Coordinator, Erica Johnsrud. Our first board meeting of 2011 was held last Tuesday and our 2011 Board of Directors is ready for the year ahead.

We look forward to sharing our mission and vision with you as the year progresses!

Coming soon: Giving Hearts Day (February 10th)- your donation will be matched by DMF

 22nd Annual Sweetheart Ball (February 12th)- We are hoping that this will be our best year yet! Lots of exciting auction items and a definite fun evening for you and your sweetheart. Get a sneak peak of auction items: www.rmhcfargo.org/newsandevents