Caring, Community, Connections
Giving Hope members and patrons are invited to attend our annual events. These include:
2025 Special Events
The board met in December and set some dates for events for 2025. Put them on your calendar and keep an eye out for emails to sign up.
Bring a friend!
March 12 - Spring Event at Genetti’s in Northville
June 4 - Summer Social (hoping for an outside event!)
October 15 - Annual Business Meeting
November 19 - Dixboro (a little earlier this time)
We had a great turnout for our annual Dixboro shopping event, despite the roads being icy. We provided "Slippers for Mom" with several pairs of slippers as well as a cash donation from our members.
Thank you to Brenda, the owner of Dixboro General Store, for always being so generous with our group.
Thanks also to all the volunteers who helped greet our guests, serve cookies and wine and stuck around to help clean up.
Thank you also Raeann and her special events committee. They did a great job once again supplying us with cookies, wine and water.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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!
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 HanchettChairwomanGiving Hope, Women's Giving Circle
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:
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
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 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".
