Copper Shores Community Health Foundation’s Giving Tuesday Already Off to a Great Start

November 21, 2023 Featured, Local News, News Comments Off on Copper Shores Community Health Foundation’s Giving Tuesday Already Off to a Great Start 185 Views

In one week giving Tuesday will take place across the nation. And right here in the copper country. Already excitement and buzz have been building, as the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation prepares for Giving Tuesday with 30 local non-profits.

“We’re at 462 donations processed already. That’s more than $130,000 that we’ve accounted for already. It’s an interesting challenge, it keeps all of our staff very busy. We’re really lucky to have some very detail-oriented people watching that money come in and making sure it gets directed in the right places and all quoted, right. And all of that good stuff. But it’s also just extremely rewarding to be part of because we know how much this money means to our non-profit community. So it makes it a lot easier to push through on a day-to-day basis of putting all those transactions together.” – Michael Babcock, Director of Communications and Donor Relations

Copper Shores Director of Donor Relations Michael Babcock says that the foundation hasn’t been able to increase the day’s match amount for a few years. But this year thanks to a one-time contribution from the Klugnis Family Foundation they will add another 50,000 dollars to the match sum.

“You know, if you want to make the most bang for your buck, you want this to go the furthest to motivate people within our community to make it a more helpful community. We think the best bet might be to, you know, have this be an addition to the match. And they were excited about that idea. You know, and so that’s how the match got to be $250,000 this year. And we’re excited since the first year in a while, we’ve been able to increase it. So we’re hoping the community will go out and, and respond in a, in a really, in a meaningful way knowing that their money will go a little bit further than it has in the past.” – Michael Babcock, Director of Communications and Donor Relations

In addition to the 30 non-profits benefiting from Giving Tuesday donations include four of Copper Shores’ own programs; Outreach and Education, Victim Support, Meals on Wheels, and Bridges.
While these programs are not subject to receiving match funds, Babcock says that each still holds great importance in the community.

“So Copper Shores has changed in the last year, especially, we’ve gone from being purely a foundation that grants and grants out the scholarships to being somebody that offers our programming. And with that comes the challenges that all the other nonprofits are seeing as well with trying to find proper funding to make, to do what they need to do.” – Michael Babcock, Director of Communications and Donor Relations

Copper Shores will also move Giving Tuesday to the Copper Country Mall, moving the event’s location for the first time. Babcock says that they wanted to have a change of venue in hopes of getting the community more involved in the day.

“And by doing this in the Copper Country Mall, we’re going to be able to have anybody who wants to come out and meet the non-profits or drop off their check and know that it got handed to the right person. We’re going to be able to have everybody come together and do that together. And I think it’s going to be an uplifting event for all of us to spend time celebrating these non-profit organizations in our community that you know, they don’t have to exist. All of these non-profits have different origin stories, but the bottom line is, all of them are trying to make our community a better place, a more helpful place and we’re lucky to have them. And so if we can all come together one time a year and celebrate that and make donations there, I think it’s just going to be a really powerful event.” – Michael Babcock, Director of Communications and Donor Relations

Giving Tuesday with the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation last year raised over 650,000 dollars from individuals in the community and from friends of the Keweenaw Peninsula. Adding up to over 2.7 million dollars spread throughout the copper country over the past six years. Go to Keweenaw report dot com to learn more about Giving Tuesday next week with Copper Shores. Also, check out our non-profit spotlights for Giving Tuesday with Copper Shores.