Connect. Invest. Grow.
The organizations of the Local Impact Alliance are working hard for all of the communities of Western Wayne County. Below is just a sampling of the latest news from the nonprofits and groups under the LIA umbrella.
The Canton Cares Fund provides financial support for Canton Township-sponsored programs assisting seniors, veterans, youths and persons with disabilities. It also includes programs assisting Canton residents following natural disaster, mass casualty or significant personal loss, and programs recognizing heroic or "above-and-beyond the call of duty" acts of township employees.
Click here to donate to Canton Cares Fund and help your community.
Have an older vehicle that you are considering donating to a cause?
Now you can donate that vehicle to the Foundation and designate it for either the general operating fund or any of the funds managed by the Foundation.
We have partnered with CARS to make donating a vehicle easy.
CARS takes care of everything from the pick-up and sale to sending you the donation receipt and necessary tax documents. CARS is committed to treating every vehicle donor with gratitude and great service while delivering the highest possible returns to the Foundation. To date, CARS has returned more than $300 million to their nonprofit partners.
click here to learn more about how to donate.
Please call Beth Meade at 734-495-1200 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to get more details.
Have an older vehicle that you are considering donating to a cause?
Now you can donate that vehicle to the Foundation and designate it for either the general operating fund or any of the funds managed by the Foundation.
We have partnered with CARS to make donating a vehicle easy.
CARS takes care of everything from the pick-up and sale to sending you the donation receipt and necessary tax documents. CARS is committed to treating every vehicle donor with gratitude and great service while delivering the highest possible returns to the Foundation. To date, CARS has returned more than $300 million to their nonprofit partners.
click here to learn more about how to donate.
Please call Beth Meade at 734-495-1200 or email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to get more details.
Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle efforts are focused on helping in the local community, reaching and assisting women, children, and their families in need. For 15 years, Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle has been accomplishing that objective and continues to develop women's philanthropy and meet needs through fundraising and grant making.
Since 2006, the members and patrons have made it possible to grant more than $100,000 to local organizations that serve women and families in need.
The deadline to submit application is April 18, 2022 by 5 pm. Organizations submitting an application must be focused on providing assistance to women and families in Western Wayne County.
If you have questions with application process please contact Beth at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 734-495-1200.
If you have questions about Grants in general, please contact Jane Kersjes This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Grants will only be awarded to qualifying 501(c)3 organizations serving women and children in Western Wayne County.
Giving Hope Grant Making Principles:
- To benefit women and their families.
- To encourage programs which are collaborative, comprehensive and have the potential to be continuous.
- To encourage leveraging and matching grant opportunities from multiple funders.
- To support "seed" money opportunities for innovative projects.
- To encourage the self-sufficiency and well-being of women and their families.
Applicant Organization Criteria:
- Must be a nonprofit 501(c)3 with a current State of Michigan license to solicit, if applicable.
- Must meet the mission of Giving Hope.
- Must have a specific project or program for which the funding is being requested.
- Must have clear objectives.
What Giving Hope Will (Generally) Not Fund:
While Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle remains flexible in trying to meet community needs, the following are areas that will generally not be considered for funding at this time:
- Routine operating expenses
- Travel, tours or trips
- Endowment campaigns
- Special fundraising events and sponsorships
- Organizations that do not provide services to the greater Canton and Plymouth, Michigan area
- Religious organizations for religious purposes or political organizations
- Existing obligations or debts/liabilities
- Individuals
- Issues that divide us, not unite us
Please complete all sections before submitting application.
Please click here to fill the application.
Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle is proud to present the final tribute to inspirational women as we recognize and celebrate Women's History Month. This week we remember all the Giving and Hope accomplished by our own
It is my great pleasure and honor to acknowledge all the women of Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle for their commitment to growing the local community of women philanthropists and to thank them for their continued support of the organization's efforts to help women, children, and their families in our communities! Giving Hope has been accomplishing these goals since 2006 and we all can be proud of and share our very own history of Giving Hope! Thank you, Ladies, and let's continue our wonderful work of Giving Hope together!
Thank You Giving Green Business Donors
The advisory board of Giving Hope, Women’s Giving Circle is grateful to the following local business owners for their support of our endowment fundraising initiative Giving Green for Giving Hope!
The generosity of these businesses is an exceptional gift, considering the difficulties they faced during the 2020 Covid lockdowns.
We "Hope" our members will consider patronizing these donors and return the gift of “Giving Hope” to their businesses.
Our sincere appreciation and deepest thanks again!
Sincerely,
Linda J. Demmer
Chair of Giving Hope, Women’s Giving Circle
Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle is proud to present the fourth of five inspirational women as we recognize and celebrate Women's History Month. This week we remember the Giving and Hope done by Ms. Rhonda Walker.
Ms. Rhonda Walker
Rhonda Walker was born in 1968, in Detroit, Michigan. She grew up in Lansing and has been a lifelong Michigan resident. Ms. Walker graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Communications to pursue her career in television journalism. She is currently one of the morning news anchors for WDIV- Channel 4 in Detroit. In 2003, Rhonda started the philanthropic organization The Rhonda Walker Foundation. The foundation supports young women and teenagers in pursuit of better education and personal development overall. The Foundation's tag line is "Girls into Women" and it affords grants to a wide variety of programs which support and mentor local girls in need. Ms. Walker serves as President of the foundation and has been an integral part of several Detroit-based philanthropic events, making over 100 appearances since she launched the Foundation. Ms. Walker spoke at a Giving Hope event several years ago and described her foundation and its goal of helping young girls become strong, empowered, and independent women. Her drive and commitment to Giving was inspiring! We the ladies of Giving Hope, Women's' Giving Circle share that ambitious commitment and support Ms. Walker's desire of Giving Hope to girls in need.
Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle is proud to present the third of five inspirational women as we recognize and celebrate Women's History Month. This week we remember the Giving and Hope done by Ms. Margaret Dunning.
Ms. Margaret Isabel Dunning
Margaret Dunning was born in 1910 and spent the majority of her life as a resident of Plymouth, Michigan. She had various careers throughout her long life, all of them in the Plymouth community. Her first act of local philanthropy occurred in 1947 when Ms. Dunning and her mother purchased a property and building to house what would later grow and become the Plymouth District Library and now bears her name as the Dunning Hough Library. Later Ms. Dunning served on the board of Community Federal Credit Union in Plymouth from 1962-1984 and served as President for 19 of those years. During her tenure, the CFCU assets grew from $1 million and 1 office to $40 million and 6 offices. The credit union established the Margaret Dunning Scholarship Fund in 1989 in her honor. And when the Plymouth Historical Society was looking for donors in 1971 and again in 1998, to help them build a new museum building and make additions, Ms. Dunning stepped up not once but twice and donated over $1 million to assist with the multiple projects. Ms. Dunning established the Margaret Dunning Foundation in 1997 as a private grant making foundation. The Margaret Dunning foundation has assisted countless charities since its beginning many of which support our local community and women, children, and families! Ms. Dunning passed away in 2015, just before her 105th birthday. What a wonderful woman, life and legacy to honor.
Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle is proud to present the second of five inspirational women as we recognize and celebrate Women's History Month. This week we remember the Giving and Hope done by Ms. Oseola McCarty.
Ms. Oseola McCarty
Ms. Oseola McCarty was an amazingly inspirational and "Giving" woman! Oseola was born on March 7, 1908 in Mississippi. From her very humble beginnings, she followed in the footsteps of her grandmother and aunt who raised her and became a full-time laundress when she needed to drop out of school in the 6th grade. She worked hard throughout her entire life and took great joy and pride in that work. She once said " Everyone needs to work hard at somthin' to feel good about themselves. Every job can be done well and every day has its satisfactions…If you want to feel proud of yourself, you've got to do things you can be proud of." When Ms. McCarty retired in 1995 at the age of 86, she had saved $280,000.00! She immediately decided to give most of it away! Ms. McCarty set aside enough to live on and then gave $150,000.00 to the University of Southern Mississippi "to fund a scholarship for worthy but needy students seeking the education she never had." She, like those of us in Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle wanted the satisfaction of giving while living and seeing the benefits of that generosity. She also wanted to give locally knowing that there was need right there. Today, the University of Southern Mississippi continues to award several full tuition McCarty Scholarships every year! Ms. McCarty passed at the age of 91 in September of 1999.
We can be grateful for the example and legacy of philanthropy Ms. Oseola McCarty left for all of us to aspire to. From an amazingly simple beginning, working hard to fulfill her dream of Giving Hope to others, Ms. McCarty "knew she didn't have to save the whole world" but what she could do was "something to help somebody. And (she said) what I can do I will do"! May we all share Ms. McCarty's ambitious goals and be grateful that we too can Give Hope through our simple generosity to those in need in our local communities.
