News
Highlights of The 2012 Eden Prairie Foundation Ball
Click here to view and purchase reprints of the Ball photos taken by Steve Silverman – Steve Silverman Imaging and his team of volunteers.
Click here to view the Ball video or Bill Rasmussen’s rendition of “My Kind of Town” featuring custom lyrics he wrote that referenced Eden Prairie landmarks.

The Event
The Eden Prairie Foundation Ball is the Eden Prairie Foundation’s largest fundraiser of the year. This year, we acknowledge our “Best Small City in America” designation by Money magazine with the theme, “Eden Prairie – My kind of Town.” This theme celebrates how we feel about the great place we call home. So come join us in this special community celebration and help us continue to “give where we live/and or work.”
_________________________________For Good. For Eden Prairie. For Ever.
The Mission
The Foundation Ball is an annual event that brings together residents, commerce, and service organizations in an effort to raise the profile of the Eden Prairie Foundation and the community it serves. Monies raised at the Foundation Ball help build the Foundation’s endowment and benefit the organizations that help make Eden Prairie a special to live and work. Strengthening the bonds that connect us and lifting up the community at large is a mission we all support with our time, talent and resources. Your contributions make a significant, positive impact on the quality of life in our “Best Small City in America (2010).”
The Evening
Saturday, April 14, 2012
6:00 p.m.
Minnetonka Marriott Southwest
Attire: Black-Tie themed 50s Brat Pack era or early 60s Mad Men/Pan Am inspired attire encouraged
____• Cocktail hour and lounge music
____• Dinner
____• Live Auction
____• Dancing to the sounds of The R Factor (formerly The Rupert’s Orchestra)
Thanks to our 2012 Sponsors!
- Platinum Sponsors: $2500
- Gold Sponsors: $1000
Patrick Bernal and Marianne Cook
Fairview Southdale Hospital
Suburban Chevrolet
Washburn-McReavy Funeral Chapels
- Silver Sponsors: $500
Liberty Property Trust
Nancy Tyra-Lukens and Jeff Lukens
Southview Design
SUPERVALU
- Bronze Sponsors: $250
Associated Bank
Ann and Matt Hansen
Laura and Duane Hookom
Bruce and Terry Hutchins
JE Dunn Construction
Metropolitan Ford of Eden Prairie
Olsen Thielen CPAs
Scott and Mary Otis
RJM Construction
- Media Sponsor
Eden Prairie News
- In-kind Sponsors:
Barefoot Wine & Bubbly and The Naked Grape
Eden Prairie Sun Current
Southwest Metro Magazine
Steve Silverman Imaging
Fall 2011 Grant Recipients
___● New American Academy
_____$4,000 for 5 Desktop computers, 2 printers and software
- Friendship Ventures – Camp Eden Wood
$1,000 for 5 communication Notebooks, Prepaid cell phone and minutes, 10 water coolers and 50 communication bracelets for campers
- Prop Shop
$5,000 for new commercial tile flooring for their entry
- Eden Prairie String Academy
$900 for 3 beginner instruments for students who can’t afford to rent them

Accepting grants are: Asad Aliweyd - New American Academy, Cindy Eddy - PROP Shop, Mary Beth Schleif - Friendship Ventures, Michelle Persian, Director Eden Prairie String Academy
Spring 2011 Grant Recipients
___● The Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation Department
_____ $2,000 for tents to be provided during the “Great American Campout” at Lake Riley
_____ $10,745 grant for new mobile staging at Staring Lake Park, which will be used for community theater, musical performances as
_____ well as other events
- Eden Prairie Veterans Memorial
$2,500 to construct a field cross at the memorial site at Purgatory Creek.
$10,745 grant for new mobile staging at Staring Lake Park, which will be used for community theater, musical performances as well as other events
- PROP
$1,750 grant for a new scanner/printer and new computers
- Eden Prairie Senior Center
$1,600 for a new table saw and stop for the center’s free woodshop
- Chrestomathy
$1,516 four new rocking chairs
Fall 2010
The Eden Prairie Foundation awarded five grants to local non-profits at the Fall Distribution Breakfast at Olympic Hills Country Club on December 2nd. With these awards, the foundation is just shy of allocating $1 million in grants and scholarships during 30 years of community stewardship. Funds went to:
City of Eden Prairie – EP Art Center
$1060 for 10 easels and 10 spotlights for drawing and painting classes
Friendship Ventures
$2300 for 3 bicycles for children with disabilities at Eden Wood Center
Meals on Wheels of Eden Prairie
$850 for new computer, printer and MS Office Software for kitchen meal prep and drivers’ routes
Teens Alone
$3000 for 5 Dell laptops, Dell server and software for teen and family crisis center
The PROP Shop
$4000 for beds (25 mattresses and 25 box springs) for client services program

Accepting grants are: Tom Meehan, Interim Director, EP Meals on Wheels Mary Beth Schleif, Grants Coordinator, Friendship Ventures Lindsey Danhauser, Art Center Coordinator, EP Art Center Vicki Bomben, Operations Manager, The PROP Shop Deb Karulf, President of Board of Directors, The PROP Shop Lydia Kihm, Executive Director, Teens Alone. Photo courtesy of Karla Wennerstrom, Eden Prairie News
Spring 2010
The Eden Prairie Foundation awarded grants to seven local organizations at the Distribution Breakfast held at Olympic Hills Golf Club on May 19th. The recipients are:
Eden Prairie Senior Center – cushioned arm chairs – $3240
Office of Housing and Community Services – computer and software for Employment Support Center – $1500
PROP – parking lot seal coat – $7000
Relay For Life – reusable signage for annual cancer fundraiser – $877
Friends of the Eden Prairie Library – book bins for the children’s area of the EP Library – $3000
Southdale YMCA – chairs, rugs, cabinet, books for after school programs at Forest Hills and Eagle Heights – $2000
PROP Shop – furnace/AC replacement – $4000

Accepting grants are: Margaret Winkelman, Southdale YMCA, Maura Steblay, Friends of the EP Library, Jody Russell, Relay for Life, Sue Bohnsack, EP Senior Center, Molly Koivumaki, Office of Housing and Community Services, Cindy Eddy, PROPShop. Not pictured: Anne Harnack, PROP

Eden Prairie residents are enjoying the 24 new cushioned arm chairs purchased with a grant from the Eden Prairie Foundation.
Scholarships Awarded
On May 20, six deserving EPHS seniors were each awarded $1000 scholarships.

Scholarship recipients are: Tiffany DeVito, Abas Mohamed, Michael Welf, Gary Steven - Eden Prairie Foundation Board member, Pisey Sam, and Nicole Fogarty. Not pictured: Abby Hansen
| Fall 2009 The Eden Prairie Foundation awarded grants to six local organizations at the Distribution Breakfast held at Olympic Hills Golf Club on December 16. The recipients are:
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Spring 2009 Grants Awarded in Eden Prairie
- Chrestomathy, Inc. – Outdoor Benches – $2236
- EP Family Science Night – Curriculum Materials and Supplies – $1500
- EP Parks & Recreation Dept. – Gymnastics Equipment – $2740
- Junior Achievement, Inc. – Curriculum Materials for JA BizTown at Cedar Ridge – $2500
- The Prop Shop – Cargo Van for Hauling Donated Furniture – $4000

The Eden Prairie Foundation awarded a $4000 grant to the PROP Shop to help purchase the cargo van pictured above. The PROP Shop sells donated clothing, housewares, and furniture to the public; proceeds go to emergency services organizations and to PROP, the local food shelf. ”I cannot tell you how helpful the van has already proven to be,” said Cindy Eddy, Executive Director of the PROP Shop. “It has provided us with so much more flexibility for furniture transportation. Thank you to the Eden Prairie Foundation for helping the PROP Shop and Eden Prairie families in need.”


