By Jerry Wolffe, The Macomb
Daily
POSTED: 11/14/14, 2:39 PM EST |
The
Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry has reached out to
hundreds of businesses to make the National Day of Giving one that will help
nonprofits throughout Macomb and Oakland counties.
The
chamber sent emails to its 1,400 members, asking them to give gifts directly to
nonprofits in celebration of Dec. 2, the “National Day of Giving,” said William
Griffith, manager of the chamber’s Business Reliance Groups (BRAG).
Each
nonprofit gets to list “five of its greatest needs” they would like to be
fulfilled by chamber members, he said.
Nonprofits
are to put their needs in written form, or a wish list, and hopefully send them
to the chamber by Nov. 21, he said. Each nonprofit is to give contact
information such as a name of a person and a telephone number that a business
can contact to find out what a nonprofit desires.
“We
will then send the responses to the businesses,” Griffith said. The businesses
will buy what the nonprofits request and then arrange to deliver the gifts to
the nonprofits.
Some
of the nonprofits to be helped among the 70 include Kiwanis Clubs, MCREST, an
association of churches that open its doors to give shelter to the needy;
Shelby Community Foundation of Shelby Township which channels donations to
needy businesses and families; the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center, Inc., of Clinton
Township which provides services to those with disabilities and mental illness;
Trinity Community Care of Shelby Township, a human services organization, and
Families Against Narcotics of Macomb and Oakland counties, Griffith said in
naming a few of the nonprofits.
The
chamber met with a focus group of nonprofits in mid-November to figure out the
details of how the businesses could help the nonprofits on the National Day of
Giving, Griffith said.
“As
many local businesses are looking for ways to give back during the holidays,
this initiative will help to raise awareness of the many nonprofits in the area
and their most critical needs to make the giving process easier,” said Lindsay
Calcatera, MORC’s Manager, Development and Communication.
Griffith
said it was fine if there were duplicate requests from nonprofits for the same
item because “nonprofits have needs and we’re helping to fulfill them.”
“Companies
can donate whatever they want,” he added. “They can even go to their employees
and take up a collection for some of the requests so we really can make it a
day of giving.”
Jerry Wolffe is the writer-in-residence,
advocate-at-large at the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center. He can be reached at
586-263-8950.
