When the leaders of Faribault Volleyball told Ruth’s House of Hope staff they’d bring some players by to volunteer, somewhere around half the team was expected. That made it all the more exciting when all 48 varsity volleyball players showed up to help out.
Ruth’s House of Hope, a Faribault-based shelter for women and children experiencing a lapse in housing for one reason or another, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a large gathering full of games, activities, community resources and live music at Apple Creek Orchard in rural Faribault Friday evening. The celebration was a hit, according to Ruth’s House outreach coordinator Sue Stout.
“In fact, a couple people came up to me toward the end and said, ‘I hope you’re going to do this next year,’” she said. “I said ‘Well, this was our 20th anniversary.’ But obviously they had a lot of fun and thought it would’ve been fun to do it again, so that’s good.”
Ruth’s House has had booths or various displays at community events like National Night Out celebrations, but they’ve never hosted a full-on celebration of their own like the one held Friday. Stout also mentioned the location, which is a little ways out of town, didn’t seem to stop folks from attending.
“When you think about it, they had to find it, because it’s out in the country,” Stout said. “I mean, this wasn’t that we didn’t have competition; it was the opening week of the State Fair. But people came out and had a lot of fun.”
The city of Faribault cemented the legacy of Ruth’s House with a proclamation marking it Ruth’s House of Hope Day. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz also made an official proclamation designating the day as such.
And it wasn’t just elected officials showing out for the local nonprofit.
“It was sort of a combination, but mostly [Apple Creek Orchard’s] decorations,” Stout said. “And all the food in the building was donated by Janna’s Market, which did just a beautiful job with the food … A big thank you to everyone, because folks really came out for us.”
A number of organizations were represented at the event, each with a booth or two for those seeking information about the different community resources.
“We asked the organizations that came with a display is they could bring something with them for the kids to do,” added Stout. “And I noticed they all had games, and they had some pretty fun games too. You know, it wasn’t just cornhole. There was all kinds of different things for kids to do.”
Some booths had homemade carnival games, like ring toss or a game where players try to knock over wooden clowns with a ball. There was a giant version of Jenga, and even a few bouncy castles and a jump pad.
Volunteer donation
The Faribault volleyball varsity team was among those volunteering, as part of a new fundraiser for the team. The idea, explained head coach Eryn Harman, is to get the players outside and donate their time in exchange for donations from other community members.
“Our girls go out to fundraise and ask for donations through a program called ‘Vertical Raise,’” she said. “They can donate to our fundraising goal, and then through that, we just tell people who are donating to our cause ‘Through your donations, we are giving back and saying thank you to our community by committing 150 team hours.’”
While the team previously sold cookie dough or cards for their annual fundraiser, they’re now essentially selling volunteer hours. The fundraiser raises money for the team’s equipment, transportation, jerseys and more.
Harman said, regardless of it they do the fundraising method again, she hopes to keep the volunteerism alive for the team.
“We just want to put ourselves out there as a positive light,” she said. “We’re proud of our community and proud of what we represent and what we’re doing, not only in our sports, but who we are as a whole.”
The 48 players helped set up for Ruth’s House, and were present throughout the event to help encourage children to play the games, and keep them safe as they played. They also helped with different areas of the event, like the popcorn and Dilly bars area or getting on and off the wagon ride.
Harman said she doesn’t have any personal ties to Ruth’s House, and just felt they deserved some help for the work they do.
“It’s just a good organization that we know within the community, and a community member reached out looking for volunteers,” she said. “I know that it does a lot of good for people in our community, and so we wanted to help.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0