What’s going on at CGC?
That’s a very good question, I’d love to answer that for you. First, I have to tell you that we are incredibly grateful to everyone that participated in and donated to our 2022 Frunge!
On March 5th, just before the last Frungers leapt into the icy waters of Lake Waconia, we were able to announce that we made our fundraising goal of $100,000! The continued support of our Frungers and donors sustains our programs as we bring hope and healing to grieving families in the United States. The Frunge is our largest fundraiser of the year, and to see our people continue to show up for it in ways big and small is truly heartwarming, and reminds us that there is good in the world.
At the Frunge, we announced something very special that we have been working on for over a year. Children’s Grief Connection will be changing our name to Healing Hearts Connection. Since the beginning of our organization over 20 years ago, we have adapted both our name and our programming. We started as Minnesota Foundation for Children offering a camp for grieving children only. We evolved into CGC and started offering programs for the entire family and communities.
The word ‘children’ in our old name is not fully representative of our services and future goals. As we have evolved and changed, we needed a name that was more inclusive of ALL those that we serve. We believe this new name better expresses all that we currently offer while allowing more room for growth as our organization continues to change and adapt to the needs of our grieving families.
Even though we are changing, we are still a family. We will still offer Hearts of Hope Family Grief Camps. We still have hope and plans to return to our 3-day programming. Our positioning statement stays the same:
Since 2001, we have been on a mission to provide hope and healing to families and individuals who have experienced the trauma of the death of a loved one.
Our approach is collaborative, dynamic, energetic, and relatable. Through engaging, innovative peer-based programming and community-building, we aim to help others manage the pain of loss while inspiring hope, joy, peace of mind, and a sense of belonging.
We’re not a therapy replacement or all-in-one solution; our goal is to serve as an energizing stepping stone and guiding force for those on the bereavement journey and to support them along the way.
We’d like to take this time to recognize the efforts of the team at Russell Herder, who gave us the invaluable gift of our new brand. They put together a team that not only walked us through the re-naming and redesign of our logo, but they truly got what we do, and who we are. A few of their team members have even started volunteering at camp!
In the coming months, you will see us changing from Children’s Grief Connection to Healing Hearts Connection. After Spring camp, look for a video explaining more about our new name, and new logo. You will see our social media and website changing as well.
We want to thank you for your support as we move forward and continue to be a community of seekers and providers of hope and healing.