Women’s Fund ‘Dancing With Our Stars’ Raises $259K

St. Cloud, Minn. – The Women’s Fund ‘Dancing with Our Stars, Live!’ event has raised $259,323 to support girls, women experiencing adversity and elder women in our community. The event was held in the Escher Auditorium on the campus of the College of Saint Benedict, and it gathered a crowd of more than 600 people. Funds raised by dancers and nonprofits ($129,473) combined with event sponsorships ($129,850) raising $259,323 for local organizations that benefit women and girls within a 30-mile radius of St. Cloud.
 
This year’s 10^th annual event featured a dance competition among five local “community stars” who were paired with a professional dancer for a chance to win up to a $15,000 grant for the nonprofit program of their choice. The Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation donated a total of $39,000 in grant money to participants based on their rankings in the competition. A total of 10% of donations raised by dancers will go to support future Women’s Fund programming and Women’s Fund Presents events.
 
Dancers showcased their skills to raise funds for their supported nonprofits through the Women’s Fund event. Final scoring for the competition was based 60% on the dollars raised for the associated nonprofit and 40% on judges’ scores.
 
The Women’s Fund Presents is proud to announce the results from the 2026 event:
 
Community Star Dr. Paul Wirth with the Wirth Center danced with Kathy Kampa to benefit the Wirth Center for the Performing Arts. They raised $44,025 and took home 1^st place prize of $15,000 and were honored with the Judge’s Choice award of an additional $3,000 for a grand total of $62,025 awarded.
 
Community Star Katie White Schad with the Sauk Rapids-Rice school danced with Dan Triplett to benefit the Paramount Center for the Arts. They raised $33,940 and took home 2^nd place prize of $10,000 for a total of $43,940 awarded.
 
Community Star Jennifer Lamb Randolph, a local professional singer, danced with Tuan (David) Le benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota. They raised $29,660 and took home 3^rd place prize of $5,000 for a grand total of $34,660 awarded.
 
Community Star Jon Noyes with Great River Children’s Museum danced with Janell Missler to benefit the Great River Children’s Museum. They raised $13,703 and took home 4^th place prize of $3,000 for a grand total of $16,703 awarded.
 
Community Star Mattea Voss with St. Cloud State University danced with Jeff Ringer to benefit SCSU Women’s Basketball Youth Partnership Programs. They raised $8,144 and took home 5^th place prize of $3,000 for a grand total of $11,144 awarded.
 
These results are unaudited, and dollars are continuing to come in for the nonprofits. These numbers reflect the total amount raised as of June 8, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. The Women’s Fund is an initiative of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation which is supported by CommunityGiving.
 
Since 2002, the Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation has been dedicated to strengthening the community by improving the lives of women and girls. The Women’s Fund has granted nearly $1.6 million to support local programs in three core focus areas: girls ages 10-18, women experiencing adversity and elder women.
 
The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) attracts and administers charitable funds for the benefit of the local community. Since 1985, CMCF has grown to $177.7 million in assets and awarded $178.6 million in grants to non-profits. The CMCF is governed by a local board of directors and is a partner of CommunityGiving, which is a network of community foundations united under a single framework to create efficiencies that maximize the impact of our donors. Collectively, CommunityGiving administers over 1,300 funds totaling over $283 million in assets. Learn more at communitygiving.org/cmcf