Sharing and Caring Hands
How did you choose this charity or cause?
Our event Co-Chair Valerie Geiger called the state and requested a list of locally registered charities. Upon receipt of that list, she conducted telephone interviews with each prospective organization.Many of these charities received state and federal funding and were amply supported by large corporations.
In our search, we identified a local charity, Sharing and Caring Hands, founded by Mary Jo Copeland, which received no state or federal funding. This name was very recognizable to our community members. Valerie made contact with Mark Copeland, one of Mary Jo’s 12 children who is involved with the organization in a full-time capacity, and was invited in to tour the facility. Valerie was very moved by what she witnessed at the shelter. She collected information and purchased the acclaimed video "Homeless Home Movie", which told the story of Mary Jo Copeland’s efforts to provide a haven to the poor and destitute, and featured many of the individuals whose lives had been changed by Mary Jo’s help and support.
I hosted a fundraising/brainstorming cocktail party for our committee members. At that gathering, we played the video - not a dry eye in the house - ideas flowed and our commitment to this cause was forged.
Describe in detail your philanthropic program.
We decided to host a fashion show, silent auction, luncheon, complete with entertainment. Tickets for FASHION WITH COMPASSION were $25 and also included a complimentary gift of beauty products ($20 value) which were generously donated by two of our partnering distributors. Fashions were provided by local retailers and independent outfitters. The hair and makeup for all the models was provided by our team members prior to the event.
Our silent auction featured over 80 items totaling a value of nearly $7,000
(including a large, framed, contemporary original art painted by one of
our clients who is an artist!). For lunch, members of our team served
cashew chicken salad served on a bed of leaf lettuce, accompanied by a
croissant, fruit garnishes and a dessert brownie (all prepared by The
Lookout Supper Club, a favorite haunt of Mary Jo Copeland and her husband).
Piano music was performed free of charge by two local musicians, and the
emcee of our event was a well-known radio personality who has a great
fondness (and an association with one of our team members) for this charity.
Mark Copeland gave an impassioned speech about the need for his mother’s
work and chronicled many of her accomplishments and hopes for the future.The community center event room, which accommodates a maximum of 250 guests, was filled to capacity and beautifully decorated by our decorating committee in a theme that coordinated with the printed materials. Floating candle table center pieces were underwritten by a benefactor and were gifted to the lucky winner at each table who had the colored marble in their gift bag.
To maximize the success of FASHION WITH COMPASSION by utilizing the 2,000+ guests Simonson’s Salon & Day Spas service each week, $2 raffle tickets with Simonson’s gift certificates as the prizes were sold two months in advance of the event and at the door of the event.You did not need to be present to win, but as fate would have it, the winners were indeed present!
How did you motivate you staff to become involved?
At the monthly team meeting in March, team members were shown the video that inspired the fund raising committee. Members of the committee gave each individual a folder containing the Get Involved, We Need You tri-fold complete with team incentives, a Fashion With Compassion information and donation request tri-fold, raffle tickets, event tickets, and a donation log. Their compelling oratory as to why and how they could help made everyone want to join the cause.
How did you involve your clients and/or your community?
In addition to our team members solicitation for donations, I composed a letter which was mailed to 100 larger, hand-picked companies and organizations in an effort to tap into the deepest pockets. To everyone else’s amazement, we garnered about a 10% participation response.
Using the event posters, volunteers hung the posters at grocery stores,
coffee houses, book stores, libraries, hospitals, health clinics, apartments,
churches and wherever else we could. Using the press release we created,
a massive effort to notify local television and radio stations, newspapers,
many regional Chamber of Commerce organizations, clubs and groups was
undertaken. As a result, I appeared on local cable channels and one Minneapolis’
top rated radio station programs to promote the event. To further the
involvement and commitment of our community, all the models in the fashion
show were guests of Simonson’s and members of the community.How would you characterize the result of your efforts?
Simply amazing! It was a fantastic and rewarding experience. FASHION WITH COMPASSION raised an astounding $11,000 with the generous help of our team, our guests, our community businesses - all in the spirit of "When we open our hearts and offer our hands, we all blossom".