Tom & Michele Mingo Give $150,000
To FORTify Our Future Capital Campaign

The Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center is pleased to announce that Board member Michele Mingo and her husband, Tom, of Mendota Heights, Minn., have provided a lead gift of $150,000 towards the $1.7 million FORTify Our Future Capital Campaign. The Fort will name its new Court 1 in the front dome after the Mingos upon completion of the project. The Mingos join Rick Rinkoff and Julia Ferguson of St. Paul, Minn., as lead donors to the project which has raised almost $500,000 thus far.

The FORTify Our Future Campaign is financing the required capital improvements necessary for the Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center to renew its lease with the City of Minneapolis, including replacing its two tennis domes, resurfacing and adding a ninth court, installing air conditioning and new lighting in both domes, expanding the parking facilities and constructing a new walkway between the front and back domes. These improvements will “FORTify Our Future” for years to come and support The Fort’s ever-growing TennisWorks program – its youth tennis & life skills continuum for under-resourced students in grades 3-12 in the Twin Cities.

“Our family believes The Fort is a key asset to the Twin Cities community and deserves our donations and support,” Michele Mingo, who is also serving as a Capital Campaign co-chair with Rinkoff, said. “As we learned more about The Fort’s mission, we realized it was so much more than just tennis, and wanted to be involved.”

 “The staff assembled at The Fort is a highly-skilled team of tennis and education professionals who cater daily to the wide range of people that use the facility. All are very committed to serving those who pass through the revolving door, but especially the youth who come after school to learn the game of tennis and the life skills that accompany the game like teamwork, sportsmanship, dedication and hard work.”

“We are so grateful for the Mingo’s incredible gift to The Fort so we can FORTify Our Future,” Esther Tsai, Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center Executive Director, said. “It is wonderful to know that people believe in what we are doing and want to give back to ensure the future of The Fort.”

 For more information about the Fred Wells Tennis & Education Center’s FORTify Our Future Capital Campaign, including renderings of the front dome, or to make a donation, please visit www.fwtec.org/capital-campaign.