Photo courtesy At Alpena on Saturday, attendees toss colored powder into the air at the start of color runs and walks sponsored by the Wolverine State Credit Union and benefiting Alpena’s Boys and Girls Club.
ALPENA — About 60 participants painted, ran, walked, and trotted through downtown Alpena on Saturday, raising over $5,000 for Alpena’s boys and girls club.
The event’s organizer, Wolverine State Credit Union employees, wanted to provide a fun event for their community while also doing something good for someone else.
Calleran fit the bill, and the employees — who were already heavily involved in volunteering and donating to other events — saw boys and girls clubs as a good reason to support fundraising efforts.The company’s community. participation in.
Supporting the community is as easy as showing up and lending a hand. Alpena is full of businesses that do their part to care for those around them, Jackson said.
She said everyone can help create and maintain the places people want to raise their children and put down roots.
“Make it a nice place to live,” Jackson urged. “The more we support, the more prosperous our community will be.”
On Saturday’s Color Run, participants in the 5K Run and 1-Mile Walk gleefully tossed color packets into the air at the start of each event, and their shirts, faces, and hair changed as they passed color stations along the route. Got more colors. Drive through part of downtown.
Volunteers for the run included several who had completed a busy few weeks preparing and working at the Alpena County Fair.
The people at the county fair were more than happy to help, especially since Wolverine volunteers were in charge of most of the ticket booths at the fair. said Jackson.
She checked out a long list of organizations and events influenced by Wolverine volunteers, from banquets and auctions to carnivals and family fun days.
The company’s 45 employees stay out of trouble by bowling fundraising, buying and wrapping Christmas gifts for children, cleaning up roadside trash, and jumping into ice water at the Special Olympics’ annual Polar Plunge. I am helping people in my neighborhood.
Not long ago, an employee wanted to buy and box up some for someone in need of a Thanksgiving meal.
They started making phone calls, which eventually led to a partnership that allowed them to feed survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.
During that time, Jackson said, he learned about other groups that could use their hands to make their communities better by picking up the phone and asking people who needed help.
It’s not the only organization in town where employees are happy to donate their own money, solicit donations from others, attend events and “then volunteer to help clean up,” Jackson said. I know
“I am overwhelmed by all the companies offering in this community,” she said. “It’s just amazing.”
She said it takes a lot of ideas and a lot of willing hands to bring those ideas to life in order to create the best community possible.
Companies that haven’t yet connected with their communities through volunteerism need only look to their employees for ideas. For starters, she suggested having employees vote on where to donate the money raised by simple internal fundraising efforts such as Jeans Friday.
According to Jackson, getting companies involved in any way they can, wherever they can, fosters an outward focus that helps everyone involved.
“I think it makes us all better people,” she said. “And it feels good.”
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com, or on Twitter @jriddleX.
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