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A heartfelt gift is available for Valentine’s Day through a community organization focused on ending poverty in the Luverne area.
Luv1LuvAll is offering a heart-shaped, decorated sugar cookie for $5. The Valentine’s Day offering replaces the poinsettia sales the group conducted during the Christmas holiday.
New chairperson Holly Anderson-Wessels said the timeline change is a better fit for the organization whose focus is to fill gaps in services for area residents.
“Christmas is such a busy time so we decided to try something different,” she said. “It’s our only fundraiser … Valentine’s Day seemed like a natural fit.”
The group is working with local dessert baker Victoria Stearns of Luverne, whose business “Cakes & Bakes” focuses on dessert creations.
After taste testing various cookie recipes, Anderson-Wessels said they settled on a traditional cookie recipe with white and pink frosting.
“We didn’t want to go too crazy,” she said. “We wanted something everybody would like.”
The 5-by-6-inch cookies will be baked by Stearns and packaged with a ribbon and a gift card by the Luv1LuvAll committee.
Orders are currently being taking through the Luverne Area Chamber.
Pickup of the cookies is from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11, in the community room at the Southwest Health and Human Services building on Roundwind Road in Luverne.
The Cookies for a Cause event is also being organized at Luverne Public Schools.
According to Luv1LuvAll committee member and elementary counselor Marie Atkinson-Smeins, flyers were sent home to families and the elementary student council will educate students and staff to the cookie fundraiser’s purpose.
The student councils at the middle-high school are planning to offer the cookie sale to students and staff next week.
High school council president Griffen Jarchow said Cookies for a Cause reprises Valentine’s Day gift-giving at the school plus allows the students to serve outside of the school’s walls.
Profits from the cookie sale will be used to further the focuses of the organization’s various task forces.
Anderson-Wessels said the group’s funding is primarily through grants, with the local fundraising effort used to fill any gaps in fulfilling any of the various activities.
Luv1LuvAll has five task forces involved in narrowing the gap for anyone facing poverty situations in various identified areas. The focus groups include dental care access, brain health, one-stop resource guide, housing and opioid use.
The group welcomes new members to join the task forces. More information about the group can be found on its social media site, Luv1LuvAll.
The $5 Valentine’s Day cookies can be ordered through the Luverne Area Chamber through Saturday, Feb. 5. Call 283-4061 or stop by the Chamber office located in the county’s veterans museum building. Payment by cash, check or credit card is due at the time of the order.
As an added incentive, anyone placing an order will be placed in a drawing for a Golden Ticket Date Night: a $50 gift card to Sterling’s Bar and Grille in Luverne and two movie tickets.