FAMILY FUN AT FURBER FARM GEARED TO HELP TEENS IN NEED

By Bruce Karnick

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Communities are a magical place where people come together to help those that need it. Around the holidays, thousands upon thousands of folks donate toys and other needed items to all the wonderful charities around the area. Sadly, those donations are typically geared towards the younger kids, not teens.

Teens are largely overlooked when it comes to receiving donations, primarily because the thought is they have homes that can take care of them, but that is not always the case. According to mnhomeless.org, there are an estimated 5,800 minors, 17 and younger, on their own, an estimate that is considered conservative and likely much higher. Young people on their own are some of the least visible and most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness. From night to night, they may need to find a new place to stay (known as couch hopping), go to shelters, or sleep in their cars or on public transportation.

Cottage Grove is not immune to this problem. According to the Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, roughly 9% of area youth from 17-24 will experience a period of homelessness. In Washington County for 2019, there were 686 total homeless persons. Cottage Grove Chamber recognizes that homelessness exists in our community, and that those experiencing homelessness deserve access to services to assist them in becoming stable. Teenagers who are homeless often ran away from bad home situations or have aged out of foster care. Therefore, many of these young people are left without resources. Homelessness itself creates many barriers, but for teenagers it can be even worse.

That is why a group of businesses joined forces to host the Family Fun at Furber Farms event. Spearheaded by incoming Chamber President, Dan Myers of Myers Thrivent Financial, who was wanting to do a community service project. He spoke to Executive Chamber Director Laurie Levine who then sent feelers out to Friends in Need, Basic Needs, and the Youth Service Bureau to see what the needs of the community are. “They said, homeless and displaced teens are kind of a big need right now, which is shocking for us in our area,”

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That is when the ball got rolling and people jumped into action said Levine. “We just kept reaching out to people and we ended up with I believe, 27 business sponsors for this event so huge sponsorship. The chamber businesses just rallied it and the community, you know, have just come through and put this together.”

When Wayne and Angie Butts, owners of the Historic John P Furber Farm caught wind of the idea, they instantly offered up the farm space to host the event, in fact, they were one of the first sponsors of the event before they knew what the event was going to be.

“It’s a big win,” explained Wayne, “Angie and I both love giving back to the community, and with the chamber, I mean, you’re talking all your local businesses pitching in and giving back to the community and its hands down, you can’t beat it. It’s what we love doing and that’s what that’s why we’re in it.”

The event came together in about six weeks and they advertised heavily on social media. Tickets were sold ahead of time and at the door, families or individuals that could not afford the admission were taken care of and told to go have fun. There was a petting zoo, hot air balloon basket, photo booth, flower planting demos, beverages, ice cream, snacks, a DJ, a dunk tank, all sorts of stuff. Volunteers assembled bags of toiletries and gift cards for teens. All the proceeds will be split among the three charities, Friends in Need, Basic Needs and Youth Service Bureau.

A huge thank you needs to go out to the business that participated and sponsored the night. 3M, Adagio Djay Entertainment, Advanced Sportswear, BizRecycling, Cottage Grove Area Chamber of Commerce, Cottage Grove Lions, Culver’s, Dance by Kris, Edward Jones – Jeff Shoemaker, Heathy Kids Running Series, Historic Furber Farm, Home Federal Savings Bank, Hy-Vee, Mary Kay – Becky Fox, Merchants Bank, Mik Mart Ice Cream, RE/MAX Professionals, RE/MAX Professionals – Jessica Fisher, RE/MAX Professionals – Aundrea Paskett, Rustic Floral Boutique, Set it Up Party Rental, Sovran, Spangler and de Stefano, Spartan Promotional Group – Mary Slusser, Sweetly Simplified, The Healing Place of Cottage Grove, The Mobile Lens, the Myers – Thrivent.

Two young men learn the basics of flower arrangement from the folks at Rustic Floral Boutique. Photo by Bruce Karnick

The Remax Hot Air balloon team was on hand to give demonstrations on the power of the balloon burner and talk about hot air balloon flight. Photo by Bruce Karnick