The foundation of the Rotary Club of Edina recently awarded a grant of $2,500 to Gilda’s Club Twin Cities.
Gilda’s Club is for those currently impacted by any type of cancer and those who care for and about them. Gilda’s Club Twin Cities offers more than 130 free programs each month, including support groups; workshops and classes; nutrition, exercise and mind-body practices, including yoga and expressive arts; social opportunities; children, teen and family programs; and resource library and referral services. Since opening in 2014, Gilda’s Club Twin Cities has served more than 3,000 members and hosted nearly 40,000 visits.
The organization’s “clubhouse” in Minnetonka has a designated space for programming. Gilda’s Club will use the Rotary grant to buy a storage solution for games, books and supplies for its teen program, a multifunctional coffee table for the teen room and a flexible table for Noogieland (a room for children).
“Our membership continues to grow and the need for additional programming to ensure that no one faces cancer alone is critical,” said Executive Director Libby Utter in her grant application. “As Gilda Radner, the late ‘Saturday Night Live’ comedienne and our namesake, famously said, ‘Cancer gave me membership into an elite club I would rather not belong to.’ No one wants to need Gilda’s Club Twin Cities, but our members are certainly glad we are here.”
Money for grants awarded by the Edina Rotary Foundation is raised at an annual fall fundraiser and gala and donations made throughout the year.