December 2025 Holiday Gathering

What a wonderful time everyone had at our December Holiday Gathering! It was attended by more than 350 people who all came together for our “Winter Wonderland”. Everything winter illuminated brightly throughout the banquet room!

Everyone came together for a beautiful candlelight dinner, which featured not one, but two buffet options. Once again we added a children’s buffet featuring homemade macaroni & cheese, chicken tenders, and french fries. It was a hit!

As dinner was wrapping up, there was the sound of eight tiny reindeer landing softly on the roof of the Event Center. And much to everyone’s surprise, Santa, Mrs. Claus, and seven of Santa’s favorite elves made a grand entrance! Children’s laughter and excited squeals echoed throughout the room. All 185 children/teens had a chance to visit with Santa and receive 3 gifts each!

And don’t think we forgot about the parents! Each couple received a lighted holiday wreath, a beautiful homemade Christmas candle, with a generous Amazon gift card tucked in. This most generous donation was made by the Caleb Eide Memorial Foundation in memory of Caleb, one of our Childhood Cancer Community children who passed away after a very courageous battle with cancer.

In addition, each attendee received a Christmas morning quilt to wrap up in as they enjoy their time opening gifts around the tree.

And to round out the fun for the evening, there were countless arts and crafts that children, teens, and the young at heart, all participated in!

Childhood Cancer Community would like to thank the following businesses and individuals who donated gifts, quilts, financial donations, their time, and deep discounts to make our evening such a huge success! We are truly grateful for all of our generous donors. Thank you.

Powers Ventures (Joe Powers)
Baird Foundation - Rochester (Primary Event Sponsor)
Santa and Mrs. Claus (aka: Julie and Jim Galkowski)
Alexandria Slocum
Bethel Friendly Quilters
Caleb Eide Memorial Foundation
Camille Walters and Friends
Caring Hearts of SE Minnesota
Custom Alarm
Deb and Wayne Nisbit
Edney Distributing Company
Colleen Wiginton & Marcia Cormack
FFA Lanesboro
FFA Plainview-Elgin-Millville
Greenfield Lutheran Church Quilters
Haley Comfort Systems
Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics of Rochester
Homestead at Rochester
Immanuel Lutheran Church Youth Group (Plainview, MN)
Joshua’s Camp
Knudsen Family
Koenigs Family & Friends
Merchants Bank of Rochester
Mighty Maddy’s Missions
Our Saviors Lutheran Church - Eyota
PEM 9-12 High School
Plainview Lions Club
Rochester International Event Center
Shelly Wingert Family
Sherry Sathrum
Wobig Family
Donna Richardson
Project Linus of SE MN
River Valley Arts Guild
Mayo Clinic Proton Beam Radiation Therapists
Brendan Bush/Benazir Kerezoudis (Photographers)
All of our Volunteers