The Progressive North

EveryTown said it best when they said “This isn’t a moment, it’s a movement. Today we , in a few months we march to the polls.“ Action must be taken to put in place common-sense gun control and the time is now.

We have some heartwarming news to share with you all. We have just received word that the $3,000 raised at the Raise the Bar fundraiser for American Refugee Committee that so many of you generously participated in last summer at Lakes & Legends Brewing Company contributed to helping nearly 1,000 adolescent girls and women in South Sudan. We are blown away at the amount of people benefiting from the generosity of a group of Minnesotans! THANK YOU for choosing to help improve the lives of women and girls across the globe. Read more about your contributions below:

Access to education is scarce in South Sudan, especially if you are an adolescent girl. Young women often miss school for several days or drop out completely because they don't have the amenities to control their menstrual cycles. They are stripped of their dignity and humiliated as they experience moving through womanhood. With the generous support of the Raise the Bar fundraiser, American Refugee Committee was able to distribute "dignity kits" to approximately 1,000 women and adolescent girls in the southern region of South Sudan. Each dignity kit includes re-useable sanitary pads, underwear, solar flashlight, pair of slippers and a bar of soap. The distribution led to immediate success. ARC met a girl named Betty who had been embarrassed at school. "Prior to the distribution of the dignity kit, I almost dropped out of school. It was really a nightmare. Boys at my school made fun of me on several occasions and these experiences still haunt me today." When ARC distributed the dignity kits it brought such relief to me and my friends. Now I attend school daily and I am doing my best to study so that my grades can improve and I can grow up to have a life different than the one I am living now."

We are so excited we are able to share the direct affect of your time, donations and energy. Thank you!

Hope to see you all at Lakes & Legends tomorrow for some conversation around civic engagement! First 15 people to show up get a free beer!

Change begins at a local level. Come learn how to be a change maker like Meggie Wittorf for MN House 61B on Thursday, November 30th at Lakes & Legends Brewing Company - see you soon!