Below is the story of how Chloe Fest came to be.
The seeds for this event were planted back in 2012 when a few of us attended the second annual 5K to raise money for Chloe's Fight. We missed it the year before because of a prior commitment but were able to attend in 2012. It was a brisk fall day and you could choose to run the 5K or take the 5K "Coffee Stroll" which involved a nice walk around the lake with several stops at coffee stands set up by Dunn Brothers.
Because I was in a crabby mood I was (semi-seriously) complaining about having to get up early on a chilly day and then walk for 5 kilometers to raise money for a good cause. I joked that I was going to start an event that let you sleep in on a nice day and then do something easy. The more we walked the joking became increasingly serious. As I pondered, it became not only something that could be done but something I needed to do. The planning for Chloe Fest began that morning.
As promised, an event was designed to make sure everybody who wanted to could raise money for a good cause in the easiest possible way. It started at noon. It was in the summer. It was a .09 mile walk. That’s not a typo. 475 feet. AKA, the distance around the cul de sac on Elm Grove Circle where we live. We even had two rest stops and a medical tent set up just to add to the fun.
A modest registration fee of $25 got you all the food you could eat and all of Brett Glenna’s award winning home brewed beer you could drink. Raffle and auction tables were arranged with all kinds of great stuff that was generously donated from people in our circle of friends and those connected to that circle.
Roughly 50 people raised about $2300 on that day. While we were very happy with the inaugural event and were blown away by the amount that people donated, we had no idea that it was only the beginning of something that would grow rapidly.
The event in 2014 followed the same plan of attack and the RSVPs came in indicating that we’d have a similar number of people as the first year so we figured we’d come in at around the same dollar amount as 2013.
The one big difference was that we found out ahead of time that we’d have a couple fairly large donations and those donations would equal almost the total raised the year before.
The event went off as planned with the biggest difference being that we switched the song played to pump up everybody from one Rocky movie to another Rocky movie. Well, the other pretty significant difference was the amount of money. It went from about $2300 to just over $6400 donated by 57 generous people. Thus the motto was born - “Some people run 5K, we raise it.”
Our good friend Gina Purcell also showed some love for the cause in the Sun Post (our local newspaper). You can read her article by clicking here.
The time between these events just seems to fly by, and the 2015 event was here before we knew it. A money-raised thermometer and runner bibs made it even more official. We had 34 people attend (29 adults and 5 kids) which seemed to indicate a down year but shocking results were yet to come.
Josh Reed donated a keg of his FIGJAM Mango Berliner Weisse which was perfect for a nice spring day while 612 Brew and Badger Hill Brewery donated beer to keep us hydrated at both pit-stops around the circle on the long, .09 mile walk. Caribou also donated coffee which kept everybody caffeinated.
The raffle and live auction prizes were popular and helped us be successful with another year of fundraising for an amazing cause by raising $6891!
We continue to be amazed at the generosity of friends and family to help in our fundraising for such a worthy cause to help find a cure for rare childhood diseases. 62 people attended (46 adults and 16 kids) to help us raise $4880 which means we passed $21,000 raised in the history of the event.
Josh once again donated a keg of FIGJAM, this time it was a well received Witbier. J Wynia also brewed a “Chloe Saison” specifically for this event that also went over very well. It was very cool to have a beer for the cause, named after such a loved little girl!
There was also plenty of delicious food including pulled pork, brats and a few racks of ribs. Everybody was well fed and well hydrated before, during and after the .09 mile.
Our signature salsa verde was a hot ticket item on the raffle table, which got us thinking that we could use that as a separate way to fundraise for Chloe’s Fight. And so began “Salsa Verde for a Cause”, with all proceeds donated going back to the foundation. So far to date, we have raised over $700 by filling everybody’s Green Fix.
J also generously donated 7 bottles of mead in return for people donating to Chloe’s Fight and that has brought in a total of $275.
We kicked off our 5th year of Chloe Fest on Saturday May 6, 2017, this year combining it with our annual Cinco de Mayo and Kentucky Derby party for a day full of fun! 49 adults and 10 kids gathered on this beautiful May morning and afternoon to help us raise over $5300 for Chloe’s Fight.
Because we were also celebrating Cinco de Mayo, food options this year included lots of chips and salsa, quesadillas, and of course our pulled pork and brat options. We branched out and sold mint juleps and margaritas as a fundraiser too, making sure that everyone was well hydrated. We’ve had some amazing homebrewed beer in the history of this event and and this year was no exception.
Erica spoke to us this year about how the researchers at the U of M are getting closer to finding a cure for rare childhood diseases, and every penny that we raise during Chloe Fest is going toward that research. To think about a world without some of these awful diseases is so hopeful! Will you join us in 2018 to help continue to move this research forward?
After raising over $25,000 for Chloe’s Fight Rare Childhood Disease Foundation, there’s no way we’re going to stop there. Come join us this year to be part of the cure for rare childhood diseases!