Fort Des Moines Little League – CDM 2025 Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction Participant
Fort Des Moines Little League (FDMLL)’s tree this year is Happy Birthday USA! The tree will be filled with red, white and blue patriotic decorations to celebrate the 250th birthday of the USA in 2026. Small flags, wooden ornaments with photos of historic people and places in the USA, various red, white and blue decorative ornaments.
Why did our organization choose to participate in the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction?
- FDMLL has chosen to participate in the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction to help raise funds for our youth baseball program and to spread the word about FDMLL to our local community.
How will the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction funds benefit our organization?
- Profits made through the various fundraising events FDMLL participate in has contributed to the purchase of new machines to maintain our ball fields at FDMLL. Running a ball field is a never ending cycle of expenses and we try to find and utilize as many local resources as possible to ease the cost on our families that participate in youth baseball. We use funds from fundraising events to pay for general expenses and in turn we are able to keep the cost low for families to sign up for a season of little league baseball.
Check out Fort Des Moines Little League’s tree at Christkindlmarket Des Moines December 4th – December 7th, 2025!
Friendship Force of Greater Des Moines – CDM 2025 Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction Participant
Friendship Force of Greater Des Moines’ tree will be themed Peace, Love, and Friendship. It will be decorated with Retro-60’s colors with peace symbols and peace doves.
Why did our organization choose to participate in the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction?
- We enjoy the festive festival and it serves our mission of promoting peace.
How will the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction funds benefit our organization?
- It will pay for the tree decorations we purchased or made for our tree.
Check out Friendship Force of Greater Des Moines‘ tree at Christkindlmarket Des Moines December 4th – December 7th, 2025!
Full Circle Recovery Community Centers – CDM 2025 Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction Participant
Full Circle Recovery Community Center’s tree theme is The Gift of Recovery. The tree decorations fit with the theme by including words of hope, well-being, and supports. It will be teal and gold with ornaments with our staff/volunteer/recoveree’s sobriety dates and messaging about hope/gifts of recovery. It will be sprinkled with recovery-inspired words as the tinsel.
Why did our organization choose to participate in the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction?
- The mission of Full Circle Recovery is to expand pathways of recovery that empower people to embrace their full potential. We envision a culture where self-directed recovery is visible, accessible to all, and embraced by the community.
- To achieve our mission and vision, it is important that we recover out loud and share our stories so people see that recovery is possible.
- This event is an opportunity for the recovery community to raise awareness about recovery and reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorder.
How will the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction funds benefit our organization?
- Funds will benefit the organization by going directly to support peer recovery support services which are provided by people in recovery, for people in recovery.
- Trained peer recovery coaches meet with people who are seeking to begin or sustain their recovery. Recovery coaches help recoverees create a recovery plan, access resources to support their recovery journey, and create safe and fun spaces for meetings, groups, community events, and educational opportunities.
- This helps build recovery capital (personal, family/social, community, and cultural capital) for people in recovery.
Check out Full Circle Recovery Community Center’s tree at Christkindlmarket Des Moines December 4th – December 7th, 2025!
Sons of Norway – CDM 2025 Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction Participant
Sons of Norway’s tree theme this year is Hygge Christmas. Hygge is a word in Norwegian that describes a cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality. The tree will be festooned with candles, cookies, candies, mittens, kind words and musical notes. Also winter evoking ornaments like snowflakes and icicles are to be displayed. Norwegian flag colors of red, white and blue will dominate on Rosemal decorated ornaments.
Why did our organization choose to participate in the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction?
- Sons of Norway participates because Christmas and the Holiday season are important both in Norway and in our own US communities. It is another way to celebrate and share the season.
How will the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction funds benefit our organization?
- In the past our auction proceeds were used to fund scholarships for grade and high schoolers to Language Camp. Another portion funded college student scholarships here and in Norway. We will again support these programs this year.
Check out Sons of Norway’s tree at Christkindlmarket Des Moines December 4th – December 7th, 2025!
Scottish Heritage Society of Iowa – CDM 2025 Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction Participant
Scottish Heritage Society of Iowa’s tree this year will be Scotties & Heelan Coos. It will feature Traditional colors with Scottie dogs and Highland cows.
Why did our organization choose to participate in the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction?
- It’s fun and we love to decorate a traditional tree with a Scottish theme.
How will the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction funds benefit our organization?
- It will pay for the tree decorations we purchased or made for our tree.
Check out Scottish Heritage Society of Iowa’s tree at Christkindlmarket Des Moines December 4th – December 7th, 2025!
Self-Help International – CDM 2025 Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction Participant
Self-Help International’s tree theme is a celebration of maize. Corn isn’t just a vital part of Iowa’s economy; it is an important crop around the world, feeding millions and people and animals every day. Quality Protein Maize (QPM), which has 90% of the nutritional value of skim milk, has been a cornerstone of Self-Help International’s programs since 1989, when we were invited by native Iowan and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug to introduce the grain to Ghana. Today, with the help of Self-Help International’s agricultural training and support, QPM grown by communities in Ghana and Nicaragua has both higher yield and more nutritional value, alleviating hunger and enabling families to meet their needs with dignity.
Why did our organization choose to participate in the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction?
- As an Iowa-based nonprofit with a global mission, Self-Help International is grateful to partner with Christkindlmarket Des Moines for the opportunity to engage with the Central Iowa community and bring attention to how we are helping people help themselves in Ghana and Nicaragua.
How will the CDM Nonprofit Tree Silent Auction funds benefit our organization?
- In 1989, at the request of native Iowan and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Norman Borlaug, Self-Help International introduced Quality Protein Maize (QPM) to our programs. QPM has 90% of the nutritional value of skim milk, and has been instrumental in alleviating hunger in Ghana and Nicaragua. Today, with the help of Self-Help International’s agricultural training and support, Quality Protein Maize (QPM) grown by communities in Ghana and Nicaragua has both higher yield and more nutritional value to better feed families. In Ghana, QPM is also a vital part of both our School Feeding Program, which feeds 1,500 school children a daily breakfast, and our Growing Healthy Food, Growing Healthy Children program, which is reducing stunting in young children who live in rural Ghana. Donations help us alleviate hunger by enabling families to meet their needs with dignity.
Check out Self-Help International’s tree at Christkindlmarket Des Moines December 4th – December 7th, 2025!
Prairie Meadows Donates $15,000 to the Iowa European Cultural Connection
Betterment Grant will help fund Christkindlmarket Des Moines – an annual holiday tradition
Prairie Meadows recently awarded the Iowa European Cultural Connection (IECC) a Betterment Grant totaling $15,000. The grant will help fund Christkindlmarket Des Moines (CDM). Prairie Meadows is a nonprofit organization dedicated to lessening the burden of government by promoting economic development, jobs, agriculture, and tourism in the state of Iowa.
“We’re pleased to welcome Prairie Meadows as our Yuletide Hall Sponsor and hope to continue this community partnership for many years to come”, Suzanne Hull, the Director of Christkindlmarket Des Moines, explains. “For the last nine years, CDM has brought so much joy to the attendees, the surrounding communities and volunteers and we’re pleased to have become an annual family tradition”.
Visit prairiemeadows.com/community to learn more about the causes they support.
About Prairie Meadows
Prairie Meadows began operations as a nonprofit organization in 1989, with the goal of promoting economic development, jobs, agriculture, and tourism in the state of Iowa. Through taxes, grants, and charitable donations, Prairie Meadows has given $2.3 billion to the state of Iowa. Prairie Meadows offers slot machines, table games, live and simulcast racing, sports wagering, hotel accommodations, entertainment, and more.
Chicago Teahouse | 2025 Annual Hut Sponsor
We’re pleased to have Chicago Teahouse as an Annual Hut Sponsor.
From our location in the heart of the Historic Gold Coast of Chicago we have been able to share our passion with even more people. Our Chicago location has continued to impress for the past fifteen years. Our woman-owned local business was named The Best Tea Shop in Chicago by Chicago Magazine. Customers can trust they are getting the best service from an incredibly knowledgeable staff as our store is managed by a Certified Tea Sommelier, Agnieszka Rapacz. We have been trusted by Top Chefs, Local Country Clubs, Navy Pier, Art Institute of Chicago, Drake Hotel, and the Chicago/Milwaukee/Carmel Christkindlmarkets to provide the perfect tea for any occasion.
Chicago Teahouse is an advocate to promote organic and fair trade tea production. Our tea producers actively encourage development of a caring and sustainable industry that generates income and improves the lives of millions of people. Our producers maintain the highest ethical standards with regard to health, education, nutrition and environmental sustainability with Fair Trade certifications. We cultivate personal relationships with our tea growers and share their commitment to improving the lives of the people who produce our tea products. Our commitment to providing you with exceptional tea is matched by our commitment to the planet and the people who grow our tea.
We are an organization with superior knowledge of, and experience in, the tea market, with a mission to bring truly superlative teas to a growing community of tea lovers around the world and in our own neighborhood. While our company continues to grow, some things do not change. At Chicago Teahouse, our Passion for Tea is at the core of everything we do.
We carry over 200 products including black, green, oolong, white, rooibush, herbal and fruit, and ranging in price from just a few cents per cup all the way up the rarest teas grown exclusively for us by some of the world’s finest estates.
Children Invited to Participate in Opening Ceremony Procession
Children are an integral component of any Christkindlmarket opening ceremony. Would your child (children) like to follow “Saint Nicholas” through Christkindlmarket Des Moines to participate in the opening ceremony?
Contact Dave Cox at dcox66@gmail.com with questions and interest. We would like at most 25 children to participate.
Children and parents are invited to gather at the Kinderkorner at 5:40pm on Friday, December 5, (please be on time) to receive a luminary and battery-operated candle. Please return the luminaries to a volunteer at the end of the opening ceremony if your child does not wish to take it home.
Community Hand Up | #CDM2025 Nonprofit Partner
Christkindlmarket Des Moines is pleased to partner with Community Hand Up as a Nonprofit Partner this year.
Community Hand Up and their team of volunteers will be serving Glühwein on Thursday, December 4 and Friday, December 5, 2025. In exchange for their participation Iowa European Cultural Connection, the nonprofit that produces Christkindlmarket Des Moines, will donate up to $1500 of electronic tips received at their point of sale to their organization.
Community Hand Up, a grassroots organization dedicated to uplifting underserved families, is expanding its programming to ensure individuals can continue working and supporting themselves—even in the face of unexpected challenges.
With a mission rooted in empowerment and dignity, Community Hand Up offers support to those experiencing economic hardship through access to essential resources, financial literacy workshops, and mentorship opportunities. The organization’s practical assistance is designed to help individuals overcome temporary setbacks—such as transportation issues, childcare gaps, or emergency expenses—that could otherwise jeopardize their employment.
“Our goal is to provide a hand up—not a handout—so people can keep working, keep growing, and keep providing for themselves,” said [Spokesperson Name], Director of Community Hand Up.