2020 Charity Gingerbread Contest

2020 Charity Gingerbread Contest

Table of Contents

Al Duthie 4

Ann Wege 5

Brian Hamm 6

Gaven Meiners 7

Joe Gomez 8

John Mont 9

Laura Tewnion 10 Mark Johnson 11

Nate McKnight 12 Nathan Tippie 13 Pete Bullock 14

Phil Blythe 15

Ryan Crouch 16 Sarah Clemons 17 Steve Starke 18

The Contest

YOU’RE INVITED TO HELP US “BAKE” A DIFFERENCE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! For the past three years, Crest Foods has organized a charity gingerbread house competition among our customers. We have loved seeing your competed houses, hearing the team- building stories behind the designs and learning more about the charities that are meaningful to you! Not to mention helping make an impact in your local communities! With the current pandemic and its impact on both our collective office environments and overall demand in the industry, it wasn’t realistic to continue the contest in its existing format. So, we decided to reverse the roles. This year, our own Crest Foods Sales and Technical Service members are decorating houses and YOU get to vote for your favorites! This booklet contains all of the entries, along with photos of each team and information about each charity selected. All you have to do it pick your favorites and vote!

The Rules

The rules are simple: • A gingerbread kit was provided to all participants to be used for the structure. • Additional edible embellishments can be added.

The Prizes

Crest Foods will make a donation to each winner’s chosen charity to be used for the holidays. • FIRST PLACE: $1,000 donation to charity of choice • SECOND PLACE: $500 donation to charity of choice • THIRD PLACE: $250 donation to charity of choice

Click here to cast your vote! VOTING ENDS NOVEMBER 30.

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Al Duthie TECHNICAL SERVICE MANAGER CHARITY: Rochelle Christian Food Pantry

The town of Rochelle, for the most part, is a blue-collar, farming community. Under normal times many families struggle to have enough to eat. These are not normal times. The need for food is even greater. Monetary donations now help more than ever.

TEAM: Claire David (granddaughter), Al and Holli Duthie

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Ann Wege NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER CHARITY: St. Vincent de Paul Society in Kerrville, TX The Notre Dame St. Vincent de Paul Society operates a thrift store, food bank and financial aid office benefiting individuals in need.

TEAM: Ann Wege Sadly, Ann’s family could not travel to TX from WI to help with the house due to COVID.

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Brian Hamm TECHNICAL SERVICE MANAGER CHARITY: Together We Rise

Together We Rise is an organization that provides additional support for foster kids and foster families. They have helped reach over 430K+ individuals currently in the system. Every year in October alone – in what they call Socktober - they donate 45K new pairs of socks to foster children. One of the saddest parts of hearing about the foster kids is learning when they are removed from a home to be re-placed, they are typically given two trash bags to gather all of their belongings. TWR provides “Sweet Cases” which is a blue duffel bag that includes a teddy bear, a blanket, a hygiene kit, a coloring book, and crayons. These care cases are meant to help with their self-esteem so they feel like a human and are more than trash bags. We chose this charity because there was a time when Juliyanna was very close to being in the foster system and she has learned a lot about what it’s like for many kids currently living in the system. Although many children have been given much better lives through foster care, there are others that don’t seem to have the same luck. We just hope to make some lives a little brighter if we are to win.

TEAM: Brian Hamm and Juliyanna Basil

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Gaven Meiners CONSUMERPRODUCTSSALES&RESEARCHMANAGER CHARITY: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital As a father of two (soon to be three) children, there is nothing more important than the health of my family. I look up to organizations like St. Jude, who provide comprehensive treatment to children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases at no cost to their families.

TEAM: Tracy and Gaven Meiners

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Joe Gomez DISTRICT SALES MANAGER CHARITY: Joy Junction

Joy Junction is a ministry that operates shelter for the homeless here in Albuquerque. They are in dire need of help and supplies most of the time but even more so now during this time of COVID. With the holiday season approaching fast they are going to need a ton of supplies.

TEAM: Joe and Cathy Gomez

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John Mont DISTRICT SALES MANAGER CHARITY: Abundant Living For All Foundation My Charity of Choice is ALFA. I have a friend that is very passionate about this organization and has shown me how important their work is and how much it means to people. ALFA is an all-volunteer non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to supporting art, horticulture, culinary, and social programs for adults with intellectual disabilities so that they can have meaningful opportunities to achieve full and abundant lives. ALFA founders joined together in 2006 to meet to a critical need: Improving services for adults with special needs in SW IL. ALFA has created a partnership with Trinity Services of Southwest IL to assist Trinity in their day and residential programming. With ALFA’s help, Trinity continues to offer and expand life-enhancing programs not afforded by state funding. The result continues to be exceptional opportunities for learning and personal growth and happiness for people with disabilities

TEAM: Riley, Rhonda and John Mont

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Laura Tewnion NEW BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER CHARITY: Boy Scouts of America Troop 78 My son has been a Troop 78 scout for the last 6 years. Like all organizations, Scouting has felt the effects of COVID. Fund raising has been really difficult this year. Normally the troop can sell anywhere from $5000 to $10000 worth of popcorn during the fall fund raising drive. The troop will sell $2000 if they are lucky this year. That will make it almost impossible to meet our obligations to the district to help them keep the camps and district offices open in our area. The $ will go to supporting all of the Scouts advancement in the general fund.

TEAM: Laura, Jordan and Angus Tewnion

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Mark Johnson SENIOR DISTRICT SALES MANAGER CHARITY: Gift of Life Transplant House in Rochester MN We selected this charity as we lived in this house in 2018 when my wife had a stem cell transplant at Mayo in Rochester MN.

TEAM: Leslie and Mark Johnson, Carl Johnson, Rhett Johnson, Emma Dorgan and Zach Dorgan

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Nate McKnight DIRECTOR - TECHNICAL SERVICE CHARITY: Make-A-Wish Foundation of Idaho The theme reflects our Idaho lifestyle and the looming winter around the corner. Our kids and grandkids, two of whom are pictured (Brynlee, 4 and Brooklyn, 1) are instrumental in our farm operation. Tena and I are also pictured and round out the team. We feel it is highly important to invest in our children. This comes in the form of spending time to teach them life-skills on the farm. They learn responsibility, accountability, work ethic, integrity, and many other lessons. Tena and I love helping kids and hope for the brightest future through instilling positive values and experiences. As such, our charity of choice is Make-A-Wish Foundation of Idaho. We hope that all kids can enjoy positivity and fulfilled dreams, regardless of their circumstance. The Make-A-Wish Foundation helps kids suffering with critical illness experience the positivity of a wish that may otherwise be intangible.

TEAM: Nate and Teena McKnight and grandchildren (Brynlee, 4 and Brooklyn, 1)

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Nathan Tippie TECHNICAL SERVICE MANAGER CHARITY: Life Care Alliance I have volunteered at Life Care Alliance, delivering meals on wheels once a month, for around 6-7 years. It’s a great organization that helps people in Central Ohio.

TEAM: Margaret, Nathan and Ned Tippie

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Pete Bullock SENIOR DISTRICT SALES MANAGER CHARITY: Roswell Park Cancer Institute All three of us have had involvement with Roswell Park Cancer Institute. My wife Jan and many friends of our family have received treatment at Roswell, which is ranked among the best in the country. Last year a number of good friends and I took part in the 11 Day Power Play, a Hockey event lasting 11 days with 140 teams that raised over $1.5-M for Cancer research at Roswell. This organization is near and dear to our hearts.

TEAM: Heidi Cornell (daughter in law), Pete and Jan Bullock

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Phil Blythe SPECIAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER CHARITY: Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

TEAM: Phil Blythe’s granddaughter Presley (9), grandson Knox (7) and grandson Smith (5)

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Ryan Crouch CONSUMER PRODUCTS SALES REPRESENTATIVE CHARITY: Zearing Child Enrichment Center We chose Zearing Child Enrichment Center as our charity because we have seen the difference they make for many families in our community. Many people view ZCEC as simply a day care center, but they are much more than that. They have licensed educators on staff, so kids are able to learn in a fun and safe environment. Like many places, COVID has put quite a strain on their ability to fund raise. Any money we are able to raise for them will certainly be put to good use in a variety of areas needed.

TEAM: Hope, Amy and Ryan Crouch

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Sarah Clemons DISTRICT SALES MANAGER CHARITY: One Roof Outreach

This charity helps the less fortunate people of Coweta County, Georgia with food, clothing and financial assistance. We donate to the food pantry often and they are always in need of food and paper goods for individuals in our county.

TEAM: Sarah Clemons and her best friends

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Steve Starke TECHNICAL SERVICE MANAGER CHARITY: Boone County Animal Shelter Kayleigh selected Boone County Animal Shelter. She would like to be a veterinarian when she grows up and feels that some animals are not taken care of and need a home.

TEAM: Kristy and Steve Starke and niece Kayleigh Rouse

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You’ve seen the competition! Now click here to cast your vote! VOTING ENDS NOVEMBER 30.