Kiwanis Holiday Lights raises $81,000 for 60 non-profits

Kiwanis Holiday Lights will donate $81,000 to 60 non-profit organizations following the annual event at Sibley Park.

Just over 200,000 people attended the event – an average of nearly 5,556 per night, according to numbers released by the board of directors.

Twelve tons of food were also donated to 19 regional food shelves.

Organizers say foot and vehicle traffic was up this year after the 2020 pandemic hiatus.  “We’re so happy we could hold the event in 2021 after taking a year off in 2020 due to COVID-19,” said Scott Wojcik, Kiwanis Holiday Lights President.

Here are some other statistics from this year’s event:

  • 5,000 children visited Santa in his workshop on weekends
  • Winning non-profit decorated trees were: BENCHS, 1st place; Mankato Family YMCA, 2nd place, and Girl Scout Troops 34494 & 39738, 3rd place.
  • Mankato Figure Skating Club won $500 for the winning parade float on opening night.
  • Set-up was completed in 10 days.
  • Tear-down completed in four days.
  • 2,747 volunteers contributed 14,450 hours of set-up, tear-down, and evening volunteer help.

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