BIO Girls 4th Annual Gala — A Night in Black & White
a night in black & white
BIO Girls 4th Annual Gala — a night to support the mission of BIO Girls. An organization that helps adolescent girls navigate issues that are far, far from black and white. Thank you to Crown Jewels for being our premiere sponsor for the fourth year in a row.
Crown Jewels was established in 1962 by Al Lundeen. John and Sue Stephens, Al's son-in-law and daughter, purchased the business in 1978. Greg Stephens, John and Sue’s son, became the owner of Crown Jewels in 2006.
Crown Jewels is proud to be a third-generation, local, family-owned business.
Specializing in bridal, custom, and fine jewelry you can stop by Crown Jewels located at 4487 Calico Dr. South Suite A Fargo, ND 58104, or visit their website at crownjewelsfargo.com.
Crown Jewels store owners, Greg and Jessica Stephens, and their three daughters are long-time supporters of the BIO Girls mission.
Thank you, Greg and Jessica, for your continued generosity.
This night would not have been possible without our other event sponsors:
CHAMPAGNE — Level 8 Steam Cleaning & Restoration
PHOTOBOOTH — Marathon Petroleum Corporation
SILENT AUCTION — Jordahl Custom Homes
RED CARPET — WE Ortho & Vanity Bar
PRINTED PROGRAM — Forum
GAMING SPONSORS —
Thank you for supporting BIO Girls!
Our evening kicked off when we rolled out the red carpet!
All glammed up, our guests posed for some red carpet photos. The outfits were magnificent. A giant thank you goes out to our wonderful volunteer photographer, Lexi Hovland. She captured our entire event in the most powerful, meaningful way.
Greeted with so many friendly volunteer faces, guests then strolled through a visual display of the 2021 North Dakota Youth Risk Behavior Survey data as well as some of our BIO Girls youth program stats, thanks to Sign Badgers.
Thanks to Joe and the Avalon, our event set-up was stellar.
Love Always Floral knocked our centerpieces and floral install out of the park.
We are so grateful for their time and talent! Wow!
Another big thank you goes out to all of our business table sponsors for supporting BIO Girls:
Bright Futures Learning Center
Dakota Medical Foundation
Beth's Place
Bachmeier Custom Homes/Allegro Group
Northwest Mutual
Boone Foundation
Choice Bank
Legacy Financial Partners
Sanford Health
The Title Company
The Greenhouse
Center for Plastic Surgery
Bank Forward
The social hour kicked off with 6th Street Revue jamming out with some rockin’ tunes!
There were apps, drinks, and games, oh my!
…and the absolute coolest 360 photobooths from Pix Squad!
Our program began with our board chair, Kristi Spindler, and vice chair, Sarah Nupdal, welcoming our guests with the game of chance and a prayer. Thank you Kristi & Sarah!
Then the show began! Thanks to Brian and Mobile Pro for making our production, lighting, and overall program a dream come true!
Reign Dance Company nailed the opening number. We are still in awe of the talent and choreography getting our audience on the edge of their seats! Thank you, Sasha!
Scott Holdman and Kelsey Buell took over from there! Scott and Kelsey have graciously volunteered their time two years in a row to emcee this impactful event.
Thank you both for your powerful illustration of the BIO Girls mission and why we exist, and of course, for sharing your why with us live, on stage! (RE: Super cute children below...)
Thank you to Threefold for producing the most impactful video that was shown during our program. The video will be premiered to the public in the coming months!
And of course, thank you to our live auctioneer, Katie Cashman Fitzsimmons, who lit up our crowd with some laughs and live auction fun.
Finally, BIO Girls Founder and Executive Director, Missy Heilman, took the stage to share an update on the BIO Girls strategic goal of reaching 1 in 6 ND Girls annually by 2025. Heilman announced:
In 2021, BIO Girls reached 1 in 25 ND Girls.
In 2022, BIO Girls increased its reach to 1 in 13 ND Girls.
That wasn’t the only exciting update. Heilman then announced the roll out of BIO Girls’ Teen program.
Heilman shared, “...Olivia, Jazlyn and Mila (Heilman’s three daughters pictured above). They are my why. Along with the thousands of other girls in our region. They fuel my purpose to keep growing and to keep innovating. In 2023, the BIO Girls youth program will reach 3,500 girls in our region. We will also fully launch all five modules of the teen program: Mental Wellness, Body Esteem, Relationships, Self-Confidence, and Faith Journey... with a goal of reaching 400 teen girls in its first year.”
The BIO Girls mission is to increase the self-esteem in adolescent girls — a mission that is too important to fail. BIO Girls has grown tremendously over the last few years.
BIO Girls has nearly quadrupled in participants in four years.
2018: 760 girls
2019: 1,280 girls
2020: 1,477 girls
2021: 1,657 girls
2022: 2,700 girls
BIO Girls also provides financial assistance to its participants.
Last year, BIO Girls provided $140,000 in financial assistance to participants.
This year, BIO Girls provided $220,000 in financial assistance to participants.
Next year, BIO Girls will impact over 4,000 youth and teen girls… the estimated financial assistance BIO Girls will provide? $375,000.
This growth isn’t stopping. BIO Girls is prepared to act boldly to reach North Dakota girls.
Our annual gala is an event that propels our mission forward in every way possible, supporting our growth and impact across the Midwest. Through this year’s gala, we are thrilled to announce we were able to raise $265,000.
These dollars will allow us to continue our mission across the Midwest next year:
Reaching girls right where they are at.
Breaking down financial barriers to participating in our program.
Empowering them to find confidence, kindness, and courage to shine their true colors in the world.
We are so grateful for the generosity of our community. We thank God for this incredible opportunity to share our mission, our bold goal, and the work He has set out for us. Thank you, thank you, thank you from everyone at BIO Girls.
Until next year.
