Golden Lake Elementary School student Sierra Taylor staged a Foodie Fundraiser in early June. This event was made possible by Sierra’s compassion, kindness and bold vision.
“My mom says I’ve always kind of been a caretaker,” Sierra said.
Sierra came up with the idea to stage an event at Golden Lake Park to raise money for the Centennial food shelf.
“A lot of people came together to make this happen,” said Sierra’s father Derrick Taylor. “We’re really proud of Sierra for kind of raising her hand and committing to doing something. It takes a village and we just have a really good one for this one. The city of Circle Pines has waived permitting fees to use Golden Lake Park.”
“I wanted to do this event because I saw kids going home from my school with a power pack,” Sierra said. “I wanted to help support them in a way that would affect so many more people.”
In 2024 Sierra created a GiveMN.org fundraising page for the food shelf. In nine months she has raised almost $5500 – including over $1200 at the foodie fundraiser where donations kept pouring in.
“Kind spirit, big heart”
Despite being just 11-years old, Sierra wants to make a positive impact.
“She’s got just a really kind spirit and a big heart,” Derrick said. “A really driven individual.”
“It doesn’t matter your age, you can still make a difference,” Sierra said. “You just need to have that fire to keep going and persevere.”
Derrick is an event planner for a production company – which made him the perfect person to take Sierra’s fundraiser to the next level. He recruited the Centennial Fire and Police Department along with a couple of mobile companies that catered to people’s appetites and their desire to have some fun.
“He just really helped me pull this whole thing together with the permit, the food truck,” Sierra said. “He contacted the video game truck.”
Giving back comes naturally for Sierra who had an epiphany about combating hunger on a family road trip to Illinois.
“It kind of started when I was in Chicago with my mom,” Sierra said. “I saw so many people on the street wanting money to buy food.”
Circle Pines salute
Circle Pines officials were impressed by the presentation Sierra made to the city council to pitch the event. Mayor Dave Bartholomay even gave her an award for community leadership.
“I’ve given out a few of these over the years when I see somebody doing something really special,” Bartholomay said. “We’re going to lift up Sierra and her friends and thank them for being part of this event, for putting it all together.”
Bartholomay believes that Sierra and her generation are doing some amazing things.
“I can’t tell you how many times old folks have come up to me and told me, you know young kids these days they’re worried about ’em,” Bartholomay said. “I always say, ‘don’t be worried about ’em. The kids are great.’ There’s some tremendous kids.”
The fundraiser was a smashing success, but Sierra knows that food needs will continue to grow in these trying times.
Said Sierra: “It’s just truly heartbreaking.”
“There’s people in need in all communities and across the state and across the country,” Derrick said. “That’s been one of the things that we’ve really realized.”
According to Derrick, if you want to make changes start small and local.
“We’ve got a lot of great causes here in Circle Pines in the general area,” Derrick said. “A lot of opportunity for people to get involved like Sierra is.”
