GIRLS' NIGHT OUT 2021

WAIT TILL YOU SEE WHAT WE ARE PLANNING FOR THE 2021 GNO!!

2020!! What a difference a year and a pandemic make!! This time last year the United Way board and I were making the final arrangements for our annual “Girls’ Night Out” event that we have been hosting for 12 years.

The first-ever Girls’ Night Out event began in December of 2008—it was a Christmas Open House at Twin Oaks Vineyard & Winery.  It cost $20 along with an unwrapped toy for Season of Hope.  During the hours of 5:00 - 7:00, the ladies feasted on an array of delicious foods and enjoyed a free wine tasting, water, or soda!  Wow!  Twelve years later, we are still charging just $20 and contributing the absolute best toys to Season of Hope while spending a delightful evening at Twin Oaks filled with food and friends!   Between the years of 2008-2019, there have been either one or two GNO events each year. Many times, this is the only event that our loyal ladies have in order to get together before the hustle and bustle of the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons — in 2020 we would have celebrated our 20th GNO!

This has become a major fundraiser not only for the United Way Board of St. Francois County; but, also, for Season of Hope which is one of over thirty agencies that our United Way provides funding for each year. Not only do the ladies donate their $20 entrance fee for an evening of fun and food, but they enjoy bidding on our silent auction items, and they donate a toy for Season of Hope. Our GNO officially kicks off Season of Hope’s amazing Christmas toy drive that usually serves over 1,400 deserving children each year.

Because GNO is such a Win! Win! Win! for our community, it is with great sadness that, in the best interest of everyone’s health and safety during COVID-19, we are cancelling our 2020 event. Our friends know how important it is to support this program and all that it does for our community so it is with renewed excitement and energy that we look forward to GNO in October 2021!!