Lake Trust team donated over 1,500 volunteer hours.
The alarm clock blares on another Monday morning. You roll out of bed and grab a teal t-shirt with a bright neon yellow arrow on it. It’s not your typical work outfit, but this isn’t a typical Monday. Today is Moved By Good Day.
Moved By Good Day is our annual team member volunteer day where we focus on our passion for giving back and fulfilling basic human needs in our Michigan communities. For the second year in a row, we asked Team Lake Trust if they’d be willing to spend their day off (a federal holiday where we are closed) giving back to Michigan nonprofits and schools. And for the second year in a row, we were overwhelmed with the response.
Nearly 350 team members signed up to volunteer at 20 different sites across the state. Each nonprofit site was selected because of the focus the organization provides on a basic human need: Clothing, education, food, housing, or health and wellness.
Giving Essential Clothing
Last year during our inaugural Moved By Good Day, we learned that many young students in need do not own a winter coat. This simple article of clothing allows a child the freedom to play outside during recess and could help them miss fewer days of school. So we worked with Operation Warm1 to distribute coats to kids at two different schools. This year, however, we wanted to help even more students.
We once again worked with Operation Warm to coordinate the distribution of the winter coats. We visited three different schools this year: Dove Academy of Detroit, Gardner Magnet International School in Lansing, and Holland Heights Elementary in Holland. Our team helped each student pick out a new jacket, ensuring that it fit properly. Nearly 1,500 children in Michigan left school at the end of the day with a brand-new coat thanks to a generous contribution from the Lake Trust Foundation.
Focus On Education
In addition to donating winter coats, we identified six additional schools that we could help: Central Elementary in Hastings, REO Elementary and Willow Elementary in Lansing, Deckerville Elementary in Deckerville, Holmes Elementary in Ypsilanti, and Thurgood Marshall Elementary in Detroit. In the weeks leading up to Moved By Good Day, Team Lake Trust collected paper, pencils, glue, markers, crayons, and other supplies.
On Monday, we delivered over 95 boxes of school supplies between the six schools. Teachers at each school also received a small care package from us that was filled with goodies to explain the idea behind Moved By Good: That making small choices to help out and do good in the world can lead to an enormous impact.
Fresh Food Initiatives
Moved By Good Day also took us to four different community gardens in Howell, Brighton, and Lansing. We got our hands dirty in support of Gleaner’s Community Food Bank and the Greater Lansing Food Bank. Volunteers cleaned up the garden in preparation for winter. By spring, the gardens will once again be ready to provide nourishing food to those in need.
We also provided assistance to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan in Flint. Through their network of partner agencies, the food bank serves more than 331,000 people each year. To help with food distribution, we sorted and prepared donated food so it would be ready to be picked up by a partner agency.
Spotlight on Health and Wellness
Our team was excited to once again give back to Ele’s Place, a nonprofit in Lansing that helps children, teens, and their families find support in times of grief. Ele’s Place was the recipient of our 2018 Giving Tuesday donation and our team has stayed in close contact with the staff at the nonprofit. During Moved By Good Day, we did some heavy lifting and took gently used furniture to area donation centers. We also helped with some general office maintenance and organization.
In the southeast side of the state, a few more team members donated time to the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. We also helped with maintenance and organizational tasks at this location. The museum provides exhibits and activities to help children learn about the natural world.
Opportunities For Housing
At LACASA in Howell, our team helped inside the shelter, at the resale store, and around the property to beautify the landscaping. As part of fulfilling the basic human need of housing, we also gave back to Alpha House in Ann Arbor, Isabella County Restoration House in Mt. Pleasant, City Rescue Mission in Lansing, and the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Brighton. At these sites, we helped clean, organize supplies, and create a welcoming atmosphere for patrons.
A Day Of Impact
In total, we contributed over 1,500 volunteer hours back to our state in just one day. The Lake Trust Foundation also donated $10,000 between the ten nonprofits where we volunteered to help with additional expenses.
“Moved By Good Day has become an even more meaningful day as our team comes together to connect with our community to help address basic human needs,” said Brandalynn Winchester-Middlebrook, Senior Vice President of Culture and Engagement at Lake Trust. “We’ve seen our reach grow as our organization grows. We began with a volunteer engagement program in 2012 but this year our efforts have really blossomed. Team Lake Trust rose to this year’s challenge to make an even greater impact for good in Michigan, ranging from supporting domestic violence shelters, volunteering to help food banks, and providing more warm winter coats for children in need.”
Moved By Good Day may have only been one day, but the impact we made will last far longer.
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