Tuesday May 6 was Give Day and the Unity Foundation of La Porte County celebrated with their local nonprofits at the Blue Chip Casino Hotel and Spa.
"Give Local LPC is part of a national celebration of the centennial anniversary of the first community foundation which opened in Cleveland, Ohio. Unity is thrilled that more than 60 of our partner funds and agencies have been able to benefit from donations during the 24-hour event," Sandy Gleim, Vice President of the Unity Foundation said.
During the event, guests checked out the leader board of donations as the numbers climbed higher and higher in donated dollars. It changed in real time so everyone was able to stay up-to-date on it. Monetary prizes were awarded from the Unity Foundation to the top three earning nonprofits on Give Day; with f1st place went to the Salvation Army - La Porte raised $42,460 for a $2,000 prize; 2nd place went to ECD Global Alliance, they raised $28,475 for $1,500; 3rd place wen to Worthy Women Recovery Home who captured $28,373 to receive $1,000.. Five more prizes of $1,000 each were given away to nonprofits who had accomplished different things:
- Game On - given to the La Porte County FAmily YMCA. They received 25 gifts from 25 donors.
- Generous Neighbor - given to Worthy Women Recovery Home for receiving 20 gifts of $100 or more
- Give Local Lunch - given to the American Red Cross. They received the largest donation closest to 12pm
- Home Stretch - went to the Lindsey O'Brien Kesling) Wishing Tree Foundation as they had the most contributions between 9 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.
- Overachiever - given to the Humane Society of La Porte and Berrien Counties as they had the largest number of donors.
Another $500 went to the nonprofit that had the highest number of planned gifts by April 29, 2014, bringing the total amount of prizes given by the Unity Foundation to $10,000.
"It's been really exciting to watch the leader board grow in live time, which is a testament to the generosity of donors who have a fondness of La Porte County," Gleim said.
Delicious food and a cash bar were available to guest and they ate, drank, mingled and continued to donate on to foundations for Give Day as laptops were set up in the room for easy access to https://www.lpcountygiveday.org/. Throughout the night, sponsors were allowed to stand and give a "60 second commercial". They spoke about their organization and the services that they offered.
Rick Soria, Campus President of Ivy Tech Community College in Michigan City was one of the representatives.
"As we all know, it's all about the community," Soria said to the crowd. "Look at all the great communities that are involved. At Ivy Tech we are all about students and student success and each and every one of you here today and the organizations that you represent somehow play a part in what our students do. You each play a role at Ivy Tech."
"This is about what we've done collectively as a community," Cindy Hall, Regional Director of Resource Development at Ivy Tech said. "Sharing our stories, showing the community that we work together, raising more money and helping each other in a cost effective manner is really making this day great."
Sponsors for the event: Unity Foundation Ivy Tech United Way of La Porte County Dunebrook Independent Cat Society Lubeznik Center for the Arts La Porte County Family YMCA Michigan City Salvation Army