Funeral home plays host to spaghetti dinner benefits

Local funeral home owners Bob and Karen Atkins are welcoming local residents to visit their facility for something other than a funeral … for dinner, once a month.

Starting Saturday, Oct. 13, Atkins-Northland Funeral Home of Cloquet will host a monthly spaghetti dinner – planned for the second Saturday of each month – to benefit local nonprofit organizations. The first benefit is for Friends of Animals Humane Society in Cloquet.

Bob Atkins said the idea started as a way to honor a friend who had recently died.

“We thought we could have a fundraiser for Friends of Animals in memory of a dear friend and in honor of her dog,” he said. “Then we thought, let’s do it every month to benefit local [Carlton County area] nonprofits. We have the perfect facility, ample parking and Saturday nights would work.”

Local nonprofit groups interested in having a spaghetti fundraiser at Atkins-Northland simply need to call Bob or Karen at 218-879-7184 or email northlandbob@aol.com. The meals will be catered by Chef’s Marketplace. Atkins said the caterer is doing the meals at cost, and all of the profit will go to the nonprofit group or organization.

In return, members of the group need to volunteer at the meal, sell tickets and do whatever they can to publicize the event and get their supporters to turn out in force.

The profit could be substantial.

“We’re hoping for 300 people a weekend, which means a group could walk away with between $1,500 and $2,000,” Atkins said. “The more we serve, the more they make.”

The Alano Society of Carlton County will be working the second dinner, set for Nov. 10. There won’t be a fundraiser in December, but they will resume in January, Atkins said, adding that participating nonprofits need to be based locally. National groups are discouraged from applying for now.

Tags: cloquet