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BP Cancer Auction raises record $137K

Blooming Prairie cancer auction, fundraiser,
Ellendale Fire Chief Logan Busho, right, and Ellendale firefighter Rick Johnson, left, laugh while telling stories of their friend and fellow firefighter Rick Waknitz, who died of brain cancer 10 years ago. Their department donated $8,000 Friday night to the Blooming Prairie Cancer Group in memory of Waknitz, who served on the EFD for nearly 30 years. Cheri Krejci, center, who organized the group’s cancer fundraiser for the last 22 years, made sure his family was supported during his battle. Staff photo by Kay Fate
By
Kay Fate, Staff Writer

If a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies sell for $190, auction items are resold just seconds after the gavel falls, and a group of volunteer firefighters from a neighboring town shows up with $8,000 … chances are, you’re at the Blooming Prairie Cancer Auction.

Those are just a few examples of how the event, in its 23rd year, raised more than $137,000 last weekend.

The preliminary total “blew last year’s number out of the water,” said Connie Trom, one of the new organizers of the annual fundraiser hosted by the Blooming Prairie Cancer Group.

The money came from two nights of auctions, an afternoon and evening of Bingo, and hundreds of generous people.

“This has been a transition year,” said Trom, “because Cheri’s always done it.”

That’s Cheri Krejci, who has coordinated the activities for the last 22 years. Though she remains involved in the group, she stepped out of a leadership role this year.

Joining Trom on the auction team are Mandy Doocy, Lexi LaMontagne, and Tammy Busho.

“It went smooth,” Trom said of their first year at the helm. “We were worried … we didn’t want to lose (Krejci), but I understand. It was time. She did everything – she just did everything, and now having done just some of the stuff, I can’t imagine how she did it all.”

In addition to the auctions and Bingo events, raffle tickets were sold for a new 2022 CFMOTO 4-wheeler, donated by Al and Harriet Severson.

Steve Prihoda’s family and friends made their annual donation for a cash raffle in his memory.

The newly-named Sportsman’s Bingo – formerly known as Gun Bingo – brought in about $21,000.

“We had a good crowd,” Trom said, though they ran into trouble trying to publicize the event, which offered firearms and bows as prizes.

“A couple of us got blocked” by Facebook, she said, “and I was like, ‘I’m just trying to do something good!’”

Attendance that night was down, Trom said, but the money raised remained about the same as last year, thanks to a new offering: A 5-day African safari that went to the highest bidder.

The winner was the Bingo caller’s nephew, who accompanied her to Blooming Prairie from his home in the Twin Cities.

“She comes down to do this every year, because she loves it,” Trom said of their connection to the event.

The nephew’s wife, it turned out, works for a company that has an entity in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“She was going to have to travel there for work,” Trom said. “Now they’ve got this, so he’s going with her and they’re going to do a safari. They were absolutely thrilled to get it.”

Doocy, the Cancer Group’s treasurer, called the annual fundraiser “such a fun and meaningful event for all of us in Blooming Prairie and the surrounding communities. Cancer has affected us all in some way, and this is just a great opportunity to do what we can to help fight it.”

The group passed the $1 million mark in 2021, with much of that going toward cancer research, in addition to providing financial assistance for cancer patients and their families.

Last year’s fundraiser brought in about $100,000.

“We are just so thrilled and grateful,” Trom said Sunday. “What a great community we live in.”

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