Charity Event To Support Young Readers In Central Minnesota

(KNSI) – An annual charity event will support a program that helps put books in the hands of children.

The United Way of Central Minnesota’s Progressive Dinner has a handful of tickets available for April 15th in St. Cloud and April 22nd in Sartell. United Way Director of Marketing and Communications Sam Switzer says each meal is an adventure. “They’re all different themes. So you get to dress the theme, your food will all be based on whatever the theme is. And that could range anywhere from a different country or a movie or a song, whatever the chef decides inspires them is what the meal will be based around.”

Around 200 dinners will be served during the event.

All proceeds go to support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program. Switzer says Imagination Library allows any child living in the United Ways district to get a free book every month, from birth to age five, at no cost to the family. “And just to put it into perspective, in 2022, we were able to send over 58,000 books out to about 4,800 children. And that’s just central Minnesota. So that’s just this local area here.”

She says the program costs around $145,000 a year. Tickets for the four-course meal are $150.

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