After families cleared the Thanksgiving table and made room under the tree for Christmas gifts, many individuals chose to make a significant impact in their community with Giving Tuesday. Each year, the foundation has facilitated Copper Country’s largest day of giving, resulting in nearly 1.1 million dollars supporting Keweenaw Peninsula causes.
Wonderful and it will help the shelter out. It’s something that we don’t count on because you just never know and it’s great to know that there are so many people in our community that will continue to support us. We’ve been running the shelter and funded through the states and it will be 45 years in May. – Mary Niemala, Executive Director, BKG Shelter Home
It’s very exciting. It’s a bit emotional to know that there’s this much community support and people that believe in what we’re doing every day. So thank you to the community. And it’s very uplifting and gratifying that we’re able to reach as many seniors and the money helps us do that. – Kathleen Harter, Meals on Wheels Director, Copper Shores Meals on Wheels
When people are coming back during the holidays and seeing their family members, they’re noticing differences and that’s when we notice a spike in our calls. – Mackenzie Hart, Meals Coordinator, Copper Shores Meals on Wheels
We’re seeing 60 hospice residents a year, and they see that the wonderful care they’re receiving, they just want to give back in a way that, you know, is very helpful to our future. This money goes right back to the community in helping future hospice residents who wanna reside at Omega House but maybe can’t afford it. – Mike Lutz, Executive Director of Omega House
Omega House, the Barbara Kettle Gundlach shelter home, and Meals on Wheels were three of the largest beneficiaries of Giving Tuesday in 2024. Each year organizations feel overwhelmed by the compassion of the community.
And direct services, believe it or not, are paying our power bill and our water bill and all that because we’re 24-7, so we’re there all the time and we need to support that. One thing we don’t use this type of money for is salaries. We get that through our grants, so I want people to know that you know, they’re not donating to pay our employees. – Mary Niemala, Executive Director, BKG Shelter Home
Yes, and we’re not even reaching all the people that we could. We know there are far more people, one, that might not even know about Meals on Wheels yet, but who are just outside service areas. We don’t have delivery routes, too. This is what Mackenzie is addressing daily, so then having to refer them to other programs. – Kathleen Harter, Meals on Wheels Director, Copper Shores Meals on wheels
There is a lack of homes and beds in our community and we’re happy that we can provide beds to those that are in need. End-of-life care is specialized. We’ve been doing it now for, this is our 20th year and so we’ve been a staple in our community for quite a while. – Mike Lutz, Executive Director of Omega House
Individuals and groups donating to the 2024 Giving Tuesday campaign collected close to 875,000 dollars. Copper Shores’ match portion of 200,000 dollars brought the year’s total to 1,072,937.49 impacting the Keweenaw Peninsula. Giving Tuesday with Copper Shores Community Health Foundation 2017 has raised over 4.5 million dollars.
The donations work throughout the community to support various aspects of a healthy life. In that time the foundation has also grown the campaign impact by adding new organizations to the event each year. Learn more about the Copper Shores Community Health Foundation’s Giving Tuesday impact in 2024 here.
