SAINT PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Wild Foundation's annual gala, "Wild About Children" presented by West Bend raised over $245,000 this year. Proceeds from the gala will benefit Children's Minnesota's Critical Care Transport Service and the Wild Foundation.

The entire Wild roster traded in their jerseys for aprons to serve the nearly 400 guests in attendance an elegant three-course meal. The annual event was held Tuesday, Jan. 23 at Saint Paul RiverCentre, where the evening began with wine and hors d'oeuvres passed by Wild celebrity waiters, and the opportunity for guests to get autographs and take photos with the team. The evening also included silent and live auction items and the opportunity to mix and mingle with the team.

Since the event first began in 2003, the "Wild About Children" gala has raised more than $2.1 million to benefit Children's Minnesota and the Minnesota Wild Foundation. Children's new service, which transports critically ill patients from health care facilities across Minnesota to its hospitals in Minneapolis and St. Paul, is the first and only mobile pediatric intensive care service in the state.

The Minnesota Wild Foundation exists to support the game of hockey and improve the lives of families in the State of Hockey. With help from Wild players, the Minnesota Wild Foundation supports pediatric medical causes, serves as the largest non-member funding source for Minnesota Hockey, and provides fundraising opportunities for youth hockey associations across the state. Since its inception in 2009, the Wild Foundation has distributed more than $3.2 million in grants to hockey programs and children's medical related charities and has dispersed more than $1.5 million to local charities through its Split the Pot Raffle program to help create a Greater State of Hockey. Since its inception in 2000, the Minnesota Wild has invested more than $16 million dollars back into the community through donations and service. For more, visit wild.com/foundation.

About Children's Minnesota

Children's Minnesota is the seventh largest pediatric health system in the United States and the only health system in Minnesota to provide care exclusively to children, from before birth through young adulthood. An independent and not-for-profit system since 1924, Children's serves kids throughout the Upper Midwest at two free-standing hospitals, 12 primary and specialty care clinics and six rehabilitation sites. Additionally, Children's is Minnesota's only Level I pediatric trauma center inside a hospital dedicated solely to children.Children's maintains its longstanding commitment to the community to improve children's health by providing high-quality, family-centered pediatric services and advancing those efforts through research and education. This work is made possible in large part by generous philanthropic and volunteer support from individuals and organizations throughout the state and region. An award-winning health system, Children's is regularly ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a top children's hospital. Please visit childrensMN.org.