It’s not every day you get to rub shoulders with royalty. The 2016 Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Benefit provided that opportunity for those who attended.
And it was for a wonderful cause. Thirteen years ago, April 10, 2003, a great woman, Mrs. Carol Fitzgerald, loss her battle with breast cancer.
Carol was an incredible woman with her gifts of giving, sharing and compassion. She was born in New Orleans, moved to Chicago, and eventually met and married her high school sweet heart Larry Fitzgerald in 1979.
She worked for the Minnesota Department of Health as an STD investigator. She co founded the African American AIDS Task Force and helped the late Dwight McWilliams start Community Fitness Today. She also joined the African American Breast Cancer Alliance.
The 12th Annual benefit was staged before 200 people packed into the spectacular Minneapolis Event Center with the new U.S. Bank Stadium and the great Mississippi River in the background. The three times Grammy winning Sounds of Blackness were the musical headliners and put on a wonderful performance featuring their new release Royalty.
The master of ceremonies for the evening was ESPN’s Emmy Award winning Ms. Josina Anderson. The evening also featured a remarkable opportunity to secure priceless, hard to find sports collectables during the silent and live auctions and items like Bulova his and hers watches and tickets to Vikings home games at the new stadium.
The Cardinals actually play the Vikings again next season in the new stadium. Jerseys were signed by Larry Fitzgerald, Jr., Ben Roethlisberger, Teddy Bridgewater, Adrian Peterson, Stephen Curry and others just to name a few.
Nine-time Pro-Bowler Arizona Cardinals star Larry Fitzgerald, Jr. and his younger brother Marcus both shared private, emotional, heartfelt stories about lessons learned from their late mom. Larry Jr was a freshman star receiver at the University of Pittsburgh when his mom passed. Marcus was still in high school at Holy Angels.
The Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund has in 12 years raised over $600,000 for organizations across the country and locally.
A marvelous time was had by all. The event had Starkey Foundation Founder Bill Austin in attendance as well as New York Jets star Marcus Williams, KMOJ Radio Morning Show Co Host and Station General Manager Freddie Bell, ex Vikings stars Dr. Leo Lewis and Greg Coleman, prominent attorney Ann Viitala, and Natasha Borota, president of It Factor, with a group from Toronto, Canada.
It was again a wonderful event mixing sports and entertainment with the spirit for an important and worthy cause. If you would like to help the Carol Fitzgerald Memorial Fund help others, forward your contribution to CFMF, P.O. Box 19177, Minneapolis, MN, 55419.
Again, thank you.
CredIt Photos Lou Lampson