Which team will have the skills to put candy to gingerbread and win it all? The public will be voting, with proceeds benefiting youth in the Fort Collins area.

Candy canes, gumdrops, icing. Those items are a good start when it comes to being proclaimed 'winner' in the Fort Collins Eyeopeners Kiwanis Club's 4th Annual 'Gingerbread Home For the Holidays' Event for 2021.

You can't imagine all the empty calories that have been put to great use with this fun contest. Teams from local businesses and community groups will be coming together to use the tools that they are given, namely an undecorated gingerbread house and candy, to create masterpieces.

"It's really a fun event. It really just adds to that holiday spirit. Some of the [houses] decorated are just out of this world," said Jim O'Neill, Co-Chair of the event, in our "Tuned In to NoCo" interview. "It's pretty neat to see what businesses have come up with and it's kind of become a tradition for a lot of these businesses."

The decorated houses will be on display at the Foothills Mall from December 4 through December 20, 2021. The public will be encouraged to cast their votes on which 'masterpiece' has what it takes to be heralded as the '2021 Champion.'

The event has raised over $30,000 over the last three years to help the Fort Collins Eyeopeners Kiwanis Club to fund numerous programs, such as:

  • Annual Kids Fishing Derby – inviting over 200 primarily youth of limited means ages 7 - 14, the opportunity to experience fishing, often for the first time. The club provides fishing poles, bait and instruction, and dinner.
  • Colorado Feeding Kids Meal Packing Event – gathering 200+ volunteers to pack over 30,000 meals to be distributed through the Larimer and Weld food banks.
  • The Swimsuit Lesson book presentation – working with Voices Carry Child Advocacy Center in their education in the schools on preventing sexual abuse, provide children books and an assembly to 1st and 2nd grade students. For many children, this is the first book they can call their own.

Want to be a part of the event? Want to decorate a Gingerbread House? Learn more by listening to the full "Tuned In to NoCo" interview with Jim O'Neill below. 

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