Community Chest

Before I came to Cokato, the only thing I knew about "Community Chest" was the spaces and yellow cards in the Monopoly board game. Now I know it's similar to (but independent from) what I've known before as the United Way.

Here's what I found on the organizations page of the Enterprise-Dispatch website:

The Cokato Community Chest was founded in 1954 to be a team of representatives of city organizations that conducts one city-wide fundraiser per year. The board of directors then divides the funds among the social agencies, local, state and national, who have requested funds. Because there is an organization such as the community chest, there is only one door-to-door campaign per year in October.

The organizers meet at the Cokato City Hall in the spring and fall. Officers include Butch Paulson, president; John Bergmann, vice president; Margaret Salo, Secretary; and Susie Keskey, treasurer. If anyone is interested in joining they are to contact any of the officers listed.

Many folks from our church help out with this fund drive. Last year it supported a long list of organizations. You can download a one page report (pdf) by clicking here.

Tonight I decided to help out. I went door to door, introducing myself and the Community Chest. Four of the 15 homes I visited were ready to give a donation. Young people came to the door of a few homes - I left information with them for their parents. Others seemed about as knowledgeable as I was when I came to town. Some seemed interested and wanted time to think. I gave them the P.O. Box number and some information so they could think about it.

Hats off to the many volunteers in our community who are ready, willing and able to do this work. If you want to help next year, they usually do the Community Chest fund drive on Columbus Day (the second Monday of October). If you don't know where else to call, just let us know at church.