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Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle

Caring, Community, Connections

Giving Hope Events

Giving Hope members and patrons are invited to attend our annual events. These include:

  • Winter Social
  • Spring Charity Event
  • Summer Social
  • Fall Annual Meeting

 

 

  Events

 

Christmas at Dixboro General Store

Christmas at Dixboro General Store

Christmas at Dixboro General Store

20% OFF
ONE NIGHT ONLY

Wednesday, December 4th, 7-9pm
5206 Plymouth Rd, Ann Arbor, MI 48105

Parking is limited, so you may want to carpool.

This is a FREE event, but we ask that you register.
Invite your friends and family.

REGISTER HERE

 

Slippers for Mom logo

Giving Hope's "Pass the Purse" will support Slippers for Mom, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to give comfort to those in need during the holiday season by providing a cozy pair of slippers. You can support by bringing a pair of new slippers or making a monetary donation using the link below.

DONATE HERE 

Giving Hope 2024 Annual Meeting

Giving Hope 2024 Annual Meeting

Join us for our Annual Business Meeting!

We will have a guest speaker, mocktails, and will raise funds for I Support the Girls. This night promises to be a fun way to reconnect with friends and provide support for a worthy cause. Details below.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

6 - 9 PM

Plymouth Historical Museum

155 S. Main St., Downtown Plymouth

Cost: $25 

REGISTER HERE

  

I Support the Girls

 

Giving Hope's "Pass the Purse" will support "I Support the Girls," an organization that collects new bras and personal hygiene products for girls and women experiencing homelessness.

You can DONATE to make a monetary donation or the AMAZON WISH LIST to purchase from their list.

 

Save the Dates for Giving Hope Events

Save the Dates for Giving Hope Events

Upcoming Events

Giving Hope members and patrons are invited to attend our annual events.

December 4, Dixboro Store Evening  The Dixboro Store will be closed to the public but open to our members and friends.  Shoppers will receive special discounts and treats.  

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Giving Hope Spring Social Update

Giving Hope Spring Social Update

The Giving Hope Board would like to wish all of our members a very Happy Spring!

Our Pizza Party and Game Night at Buddy's Pizza was a success!

Kyle and Laura from Growth Works talked to us about all of the progrmas they offer to area pre-teens and families. What started out as an intervention program to help kids who were getting in trouble in Kellog Park in Plymouth has grown into an organization that works with local schools, police departments and other municipalities to provide a variety of services. They have four locations - Plymouth, Canton, Livonia and Garden City and help with Substance Abuse Treatment, Juvenile Justice and other Family Services. 

Thank you to Raeann Neil and the Special Events Committee for planning such a fun night!

Welcome New Members!

Giving Hope has the honor of welcoming two new members!

Diane Galante & Julie Whipple

Welcome into our Circle of Giving, Ladies!

A big Thank You to Lisa Krahel who has agreed to become a "member at large" on the Giving Hope advisory board!

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Giving Hope - Dixboro Event

Giving Hope - Dixboro Event

Hello everyone! 

We had another successful Dixboro Shopping event on November 29!  The owner, Brenda, is always so welcoming to our group.   Members were given a 20% discount store-wide during the event and she will also be donating 10% back to Giving Hope in store gift cards that we can use as door prizes at our 2024 events.  We had 50 ladies register for the event, many who were members but we also had several guests in attendance.  It was a wonderful time for our ladies to socialize and shop for some unique items. 

This year we teamed up with Plymouth United Way’s “Hats for the Homeless” event.  Our generous members really stepped up to the task and donated over 270 new hats, scarves, gloves and socks!  All of these items stay in Plymouth/Canton/Northville and are distributed by Plymouth United Way on an “as needed” basis. 

A huge thank you to all of the people who made this event a success—Raeann and the Special Events Committee for getting the wine and cookies, Sharon and the membership committee for greeting everyone and all the attendees who shopped!

The Giving Hope, Women’s Giving Circle board would like to wish our members and their families a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.  We look forward to seeing you at our 2024 events!

Karen Hanchett
Chairwoman
Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle
 

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Giving Hope Fall Charity Event

Giving Hope Fall Charity Event

News & Updates

Hello Circle Members,

Thank you to everyone who made time to attend our annual meeting and fall charity event last Wednesday evening. Rocky's did not disappoint, and we enjoyed dinner and time together.

During the business portion of the evening, I shared brief highlights from our past year, including four events and the Living and Learning Enrichment Center tour.

Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle truly has made an important impact on our local community in need, and we can all be very proud of our efforts.

Treasurer Denise Murray shared the latest financial statement with those in attendance. Our fund and endowments are strong and will enable us to continue our mission of Giving Hope to women, children, and families in need. 

It is also time to submit your annual dues, so please do so at your earliest convenience. You may send a check to the CCF/LIA office or use the QR code to make payment online. Thank you in advance.

I would like take this moment to thank Denise Murray for her years of service as the Giving Hope Women's Giving Circle Treasurer. It was a big job and Denise always did it professionally and thoroughly. We have been truly fortunate to have her share her time and talent keeping track of all our expenses, funds, dues, and related information. Many thanks again for a job well done!

Next, I had the honor of introducing and welcoming our newest Giving Hope "Circle" members Jill Dean, Margaret Currie, Rachelle Vartarian. Both Jill and Margaret were presented with their Giving Hope; Women's Giving Circle pins.

I am very proud to let everyone know our current membership count is 64!! Thank you for joining us ladies - the more the merrier and more "Hope" we can "Give" together! Keep telling your friends about Giving Hope and let's keep growing!

Next, Grants Committee Chair Jane Kerjes gave us detailed information about the many grants our Circle has provided to organizations over the years and during our most recent grant cycle.Since the creation of Giving Hope, we have given out over $190,000.00! That is certainly an amazing amount of money that has gone back into helping our local community! Most reently, $13,000 was granted to worthy organzations that applied grants during our yearly spring granting cycle.

They included:

  • Fleece and Thank you
  • St. Vincent de Paul /Journey to Housing
  • Partnership for the Arts & Humanities / Adapive Creative Expression program
  • Plymouth Canton Literacy Council
  • P-CCS Clothing Bank
  • Salvation Army Summer Day Camp Scholarship program

Many thanks to Jane and her dedicated committee for reviewing the applications and making these decisions. We should be proud knowing how much assistance we are providing for these organizations; helping them reach their goals. Well done!

During dessert Katie Montes, the director of Mary's Mantle, gave us a presentation about the charity and what does it does for the community. Mary's Mantle provides housing for homeless, pregnant women in crisis. They currently operate a home where they can house four ladies at a time. The women stay during their pregnancy and receive support services during and after the birth of their children. Mary's Mantle is hoping to grow its facilities and is currently researching local property for their needs. I invite you to look them up on the website to find out more about this great place and its people.

Thank you everyone who supported Mary's Mantle through our Pass the Purse. We raised over $1000. Great job, Ladies!!

The last item of business for the evening was to introduce and welcome the new Giving Hope, Wome's Giving Circle Advisory Board members! Our new Chairwoman is Karen Hanchett, and new Treasurer is Jackie Josey. Thank you, ladies for stepping up to serve in these important positions to ensure the future success and legacy of our Circle. The Advisory Board is still in need of at least two additional members to join the board. The roles of Vice Chir and Membership need to be filled. Please consider joining the board and being a part of this great group dedicated to directing and doing the important work of Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle!

 

Thank you!

I would like to say thank you to the Advisory Board and all the members of Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle to honor and opportunity to work with you and over these past years. I was nervous about becoming Chairwoman but all of you made the experience a wonderful learning opportunity on so many unexpected levels - the one I will always treasure!

From our first and greatly productive board meetings, to the necessary online meetings and zoom event gatherings, to my silly event videos, to our back to in-person gatherings....and all those moments in between; it has been a blast!! Best of all, we made our Circle bigger and stonger together. And that is truly something to be proud of!

I also want to express my deep and sincere gratitude to our wonderful CCF/LIA support staff - Beth Meade, Darice Schubatis and Mili Tandon - for their support and assistance covering all our GH, WGC adminstrative needs. We really couldn't do any great work of Giving Hope without them!

In closing , I give my most sincere and heartfelt thanks to you all and my very best wishes for our amazing organization Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle! May it continue to succeed in its mission of assisting women, children and families in our local community and grow in its potential to gather and cultivate a strong circle of women philanthropists! Together we can reach these goals and Give Hope to all!

Linda Demmer

Former Chairwoman of Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle

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A Red, White, Blue and YOU  Summer Social

A Red, White, Blue and YOU Summer Social

We invite you to save the date for our next big event:

A Red, White, Blue and YOU inside Summer Social picnic – June 14th at Spoons in Canton!

Our event special guest speaker will be Retired Brigadier General Carol Ann Fausone 

Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle will be accepting Pass the Purse donations to support a Women’s Veterans program.

Register Here to attend the event

Pass the Purse link to donate to Women's Veteran program.

 

Giving Hope - Bubbly Bingo and Bling event update

Giving Hope - Bubbly Bingo and Bling event update

Giving Hope; Women’s Giving Circle

Vol.17 3rd edition

Hello Members and Friends! I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I write to you today! I want to express my most sincere thanks to everyone who attended our Bubbly, Bingo and Bling event supporting MOD Market on March 22!

We had 72 ladies register to attend and join us in our efforts to continue to “Give Hope” to this wondeful organization! The night was filled with fun: shopping, sipping and socializing! And what a treat for all of us to see our Giving Hope; Women’s Giving Circle Grant funds put into action in the soap making shop!! The MOD Market shop made almost $2,000 in sales that evening and there were additional donations made through Pass the Purse! If you missed the opportunity to donate during all the fun, the link to make a donation through Pass the Purse will remain active until Friday, March 31st.

We were also honored to welcome 3 new members to the Circle: Carole Allard, Jackie Jossey and Janet Brady. We are so glad you are part of our community of women philantropists!! If any other of you are interested in joining Giving Hope; Women’s Giving Circle or would just like more information, you may use the second code below to become a member or get better acquainted with our organization and mission!!

Planning ahead- we invite you to save the date for our next big event: A Red, White, Blue and YOU inside Summer Social picnic – June 14th at Spoons in Canton! Our event special guest speaker will be Retired Brigadier General Carol Ann Fausone and GH;WGC will be accepting Pass the Purse donations to support a Women’s Veterans program. Please watch for additional details coming by invitation in May!

Lastly, many Thanks to our Special Events Committee- Raeann Neil Chairwoman, for their tremendous efforts in coordinating our Bubbly, Bingo and Bling event- Red, White, Blue and You is sure to be as much fun!!

My sincere thanks again and very best wishes for warmer and many happy days this Spring!!

Linda Demmer

Giving Hope; Women’s Giving Circle Advisory Board Chairwoman

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Winter Social Update

Winter Social Update

 

Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle

Winter Social Update

On November 30th, 41 Giving Hope ladies came out for the long-awaited return of our Dixboro General Store Christmas shopping event. Brenda, owner of Dixboro General Store, and her crew did an amazing job making the store look like a Christmas wonderland! They were very generous with their time in assisting our guests with their shopping ... and our ladies know how to shop! We spent $4000 (and that's after the 20% off Brenda gave our guests).

As we shopped, sipped and socialized, we supported The Rainbow Connection through our Pass the Purse. Our in-person collection totaled $550 and another $1100 was collected through on-line donations. The Rainbow Collection's mission is to make wishes come true for Michigan children with life-threatening medical conditions. They also provide support services to eligible "wish" families in need.

As always, thank you to all of our volunteers - Karen Hanchett, Jackie Jossey, Becky Hurst, Dianne Neihengen, Dian Slavens and Debbie Maloni - for helping with set up, clean up and serving cookies and wine. Also, thank you to Sharon Filips, Denise Murray and Maureen Visser for greeting our guests at the sign-in table.




     

Next Special Event

Our next special event is tentatively set for Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at the Village Arts Factory. We are planning to support MOD Market. They may even set up a pop-up shop for our guests to purchase handmade items.

Merry Christmas Wishes and Happy 2023 New Year!

Raeann Neil

Special Events Chair

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Giving Hope uses the beautiful blue velvet purse pictured here for our "Pass the Purse" charity collections. Our "Purse" is set out at each event and guests are invited to place donations into the purse to support the organization or cause designated for the event. Donors like you have contributed more than $20,000 to deserving organizations and causes through "Pass the Purse".


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