Fridley Police Are Doing Their Best To Send Kids Out Of State

Every two years 7th and 8th grade Fridley Middle School students receive the opportunity to attend an east coast trip where they tour Washington DC, Gettysburg, and New York City. The students must apply and interview for a spot on the trip. Around 80 students are slated to take the trip in the spring of 2017, and all of them will need to fund up to $1,600. This high cost can seem very intimidating to some families, which is what motivated a group of parents to come together to form a fundraising committee, T.R.I.P (Tiger kids Reaching and Inquiring while Pursuing knowledge), which is focused on raising funds for their students.

T.R.I.P. developed a 12 month fundraising plan, which includes candy bar sales, car washes at Bob’s Produce, a taco feed at Tony Jaro’s, grocery bagging at Cub Foods, and a letter writing campaign to support a walkathon on September 18th from noon-2:00 at Fridley High School. The plan closes with a grand gala featuring elected politicians and local celebrities in March of 2017. “The key to a fundraiser is low cost out, with high dollar amounts in,” Avonna Starck, one of the T.R.I.P. co-founders said. Starck has a background in political campaign management and fundraising, making the transition to co-running such a committee seamless. The gala is being billed as a “nonpartisan political event” where the families of the kids attending the trip will meet the politicians they will learn about in Washington DC. “I was shocked to find out that there was no infrastructure to raise money to help offset the cost of the trip and I knew we had to develop something,” she said.

Mandy Meisner is a parent and a well known community volunteer who added that “the goal is to run the year long pilot and figure out what works and what doesn’t so that we can repeat the process each year and provide multiple partial scholarships for student who need help.” Solid community partnerships will be the key to success, she added.

First year Fridley School Board member and T.R.I.P. co-founder Donna Prewedo has two boys she needs to raise money for. She said the idea to partner with the police department grew out of a combination of wanting to diversify the gala invite list and build community partnerships that the kids would always be able to count on. Recently, T.R.I.P. invited Director of Public Safety and Police Chief Brian Weierke and Police Captain Mike Monsrud to join the kids at a fundraiser hosted by the Fridley Dairy Queen. The kids challenged the police department to become their first official community partner. As a community partner, the police department will serve as a support system for the kids through attending fundraisers and helping to sell gala tickets. Weierke and Monsrud were eager to jump into the fun on behalf of the department. “Any chance to support our local youth and build positive relationships is something our department is excited to participate in,” Weierke said.

The newly remodeled Springbrook Nature Center will serve as the venue for the gala. The VIP list is growing every day with leaders like House Minority Leader Erin Murphy, Representative Mary Franson, Mayor Scott Lund, Representative Carolyn Laine, Senator Barb Goodwin, Representative Connie Bernardy, and founder of VOICES of Conservative Women, Jennifer Dejournett. When asked about the appeal of attending such an event outside of her district, Republican Mary Franson, who represents Alexandria, said “it is an honor to be a part of doing something wonderful for a group of deserving kids. This event supports the future leaders of Minnesota and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to help give them a fun, political yet nonpartisan experience that will energize them to learn about our great country and political system.”

When asked about how she felt about embarking on such a trip, 8th grader Alayna Markuson smiled and said, “I can’t wait to see New York City and the thought of helping create a plan to help students attend future trips makes me feel proud.”

You can support T.R.I.P. by getting a car wash at Bob's Produce on Saturday the 20th 10:00-1:00 and Sunday the 21st from noon-3:00 ! Details HERE.

To learn more about T.R.I.P. and their calendar of events, or to become a community partner, visit the Public Fridley T.R.I.P Facebook Page.