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There was no Vikings game this past Sunday, but that didn’t stop the Purple from putting on a blitz and raising $43,000 for the Vikings Children’s Fund. The Vikings Blitz Celebrity Server Dinner was held by the organization this past Sunday at Wildfire restaurant in Eden Prairie, and all proceeds benefited the Vikings Children’s Fund.
The event was sponsored by the VCF, Wildfire, Miller Lite and Anderson’s Conn Valley Vineyards.
Guests of the event were placed at tables and waited on by three groups of celebrity servers, including several Vikings players, Vikings alumni, Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress and other local celebrities. The celebrity servers rotated after each course of the meal and competed with each other for tips. Servers earned those tips by providing excellent service, signing autographs and posing in photos with guests. All of the money collected for tips was donated to the VCF, and a bell was rung each time one of the celebrity servers received a $100 tip.
Paul Allen, voice of the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network, emceed the sold-out event, which was comprised of dinner, a short program and a live auction. During dinner, Allen interacted with and asked questions of the Vikings players while they served tables. He also introduced Mark Schleiss, M.D., Professor and Director of Infectious Diseases and Immunology at the University of Minnesota’s Department of Pediatrics.
Dr. Schleiss is an expert on cytomegalovirus (CMV), the condition Delilah Page was diagnosed with as a five-week old infant. Delilah was at the event with her parents, Joey and Rachel Page, and her siblings. Joey and Rachel spoke to the guests about the Vikings support of the U of M’s Department of Pediatrics and how the department’s research was able to help Delilah.
The evening ended with a live auction that featured several premium gifts, including a trip for two to Napa Valley, a trip to Nashville to watch the Vikings battle the Tennessee Titans and a Jared Allen framed autographed jersey. All proceeds from the auction benefitted the VCF.
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Vikings players who served at the event were: Jared Allen, Aundrae Allison, Bernard Berrian, Ray Edwards, Cedric Griffin, E.J. Henderson, Tarvaris Jackson, Tyrell Johnson, Ben Leber, Adrian Peterson, Sidney Rice, Brian Robison, Darren Sharper, Thomas Tapeh, Bobby Wade, Kevin Williams and Pat Williams. Vikings alumnus Ed McDaniel also participated in the event. Other celebrities who served included Brad Childress, Mike Max, Dawn Mitchell and Vineeta Sawkar.
The VCF was established in 1978 and has since raised over $8 million for family- and children-related causes. The VCF is a means for Vikings players, coaches, cheerleaders, staff, and their families to focus their community support to help those in need.
