MSPF’s Kid-Powered Friendship Dinner: How It Began

In October, the My Super Powers! Foundation will host its first ever Friendship Dinner!  The Friendship Dinner will be our annual signature fundraiser. While this year will be the first year that the MSPF holds this event, the seeds for it were planted a couple of years ago in the fall of 2019.

In 2019, before I founded the MSPF, I wanted to raise money to help address childhood hunger.  I decided to organize a No Kid Hungry Friendsgiving Fundraiser. In addition to using the event to support No Kid Hungry’s efforts to fund school lunch programs and provide nutrition education to low-income families, I wanted kids to be hands-on involved in the event.  I came up with a creative way to do this.

For the 2019 event, kids were heavily involved in every aspect of the event. They helped plan the event and set it up.  However, the biggest way that they were involved was in the auction. Yes, we had a live auction at the dinner!  Kids made desserts, and we auctioned them off!  Nearly 20 kids from ages 7 to 16 baked a wide variety of deliciousness including cakes, cookie bars, cookies, and pies. We had gluten-free desserts as well as dairy-free.  A 13-year-old even made a cake in the shape of a pumpkin! Did I mention that the auctioneer was also a kid?

The event was a success!  Yes, we raised money for No Kid Hungry.  It was also successful because of the empowerment experienced by the kids who worked hard to contribute to the event.  It was successful because of the joy on the faces of parents as they witnessed guests compete to win their children’s baked goods.  It was successful because of the sense of community in the room.

In a few months the MSPF will host a similar event.  We decided to call it a Friendship Dinner and to hold it in October—Anti-Bullying Month. We are expecting over 3x as many guests as the 2019 event and we are adding some exciting features. One thing will be the same:  the involvement of kids.

We are again having a live auction of baked goods made by kids and a 15-year-old will be the auctioneer.  The event will also feature musical performances by kids. In addition, kids will get to show off their artwork and writing on the subject of friendship.  Upon giving it more thought, it made sense to rename the event the “Kid-Powered Friendship Dinner.”

Join us on October 16, 2021 at our Kid-Powered Friendship Dinner.  It will be held at the Alive Center in Naperville from 6:00pm-8:00pm. The funds raised will support our ongoing efforts including:

• Kid-Led Service-Learning Projects
• Social Emotional Learning Resources for schools and youth groups
• Community Events that unite children from different cultures

To purchase tickets and for information about sponsoring the event, Friendship Dinner Tickets.  If your child would like to donate a dessert, contact us at mysuperpowersfoundation@gmail.com.

 

Stacey Montgomery
Founder and Director, MSPF