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Tickets will be available to purchase and there will be opportunities for businesses to sponsor a great evening at various levels.

Hello Giving Hope Ladies,

The ladies of Giving Hope are so generous!  So proud of all our ladies who donated monetarily as well as donating the spring & summer PJ's and stuffed animals to the Michigan Foster Care Closet of Plymouth. Giving Hope was able to send MFCC a check for $1400 which will be used to purchase more PJ's. We were able to take over 4 large bags of donations!  About 40 more pairs of PJ's were donated through the Amazon wishlist and sent directly to MFC.

The Michigan Foster Care Closet is a 501(c)3 non-profit staffed by 100% volunteers. No one gets paid, so all of the monetary donations go directly to helping foster children & foster families. They service 65-75 individual children a month all free of charge. Clothing children with confidence and self-esteem, is what they strive for with every child that walks through their doors. They are very intentional with their help and support the whole foster family. If you are interested in volunteering at MFCC, please call Rachael Secord at (734) 664-4089. Rachael operates the MFCC in Plymouth out of the 2500 sq ft basement of her home, which is open 24/7!  Their website is michiganfostercarecloset.org. You can also follow them on Facebook-Michigan Foster Care Closet-Plymouth and click follow. There are many opportunities to donate & volunteer.

We had 17 ladies join us on Zoom for our March 9th "Pajama Party" supporting Michigan Foster Care Closet in Plymouth. Rachael Secord, the president of MFCC spoke to us about the stressful situations that children experience when they are removed from their home. We also had some fun listening to the Canton/Denton ghost story with Mad Libs & playing a Kahoot.com trivia game. A Big Thank you to Karen Hanchett. Thank you to Sharon Flips for being a porch collection drop off, drawing & delivering our spa bag winner. Thank you to Becky Hurst who helped deliver the porch collections to MFCC. Thank you to Denise for the wonderful Facebook post. Thankful to be part of helping foster children in our area by supporting Michigan Foster Care Closet.

Looking forward to our summer social event on June22 in-person!  Giving Hope will be supporting Seedlings, Braile Books for Children. 

Raeann Neil 

Special Events Chair

Hello, Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle member! Here is the next in our selection of significant philanthropic women for your reading and learning pleasure! What a wonderful legacy of Giving as women we share! Wishing you a wonderful week!  

Betty Ford was chosen for her strength and bravery. She was not afraid to speak out about issues many women faced yet were afraid to talk about. Betty was candid about women’s rights and health issues, speaking out about   her diagnosis with breast cancer and encouraging women to get yearly exams. Outspoken about drug and alcohol abuse and the importance seeking help and treatment.  Her voice helped so many women and families.

Betty Ford

A groundbreaking First Lady, Betty Ford is often remembered for her candor in addressing the controversial issues of her time.

Elizabeth Anne “Betty” Bloomer was born in Chicago and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. After graduating from Central High School, she went on to study modern dance at Bennington School of the Dance. 

Betty returned to Michigan in 1941 and became a fashion coordinator for a department store.  During this time, she continued to pursue her love of dance by starting her own performance group and teaching dance to handicapped children.

Betty became the First Lady when husband Gerald Ford became the 38th President of the United States. A few months later, Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a radical mastectomy. Rather than suppressing the diagnosis, she courageously shared her story and inspired countless women across the nation to get breast examinations. During her tenure as First Lady, Ford continued to be an outspoken advocate of women’s rights, addressing public issues like the Equal Rights Amendment and increasing the number of women appointed to senior government posts.

After the Presidency 1976 Betty moved her family to Rancho Mirage, California. In 1978, following a family intervention, Ford underwent successful treatment for addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. She again used her personal story to raise public awareness of addiction, and in 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center to treat victims of alcohol and chemical dependency.

Hello, Giving Hope, Women's Giving Circle member! Here is the next in our selection of significant philanthropic women for your reading and learning pleasure! What a wonderful legacy of Giving as women we share! Wishing you a wonderful week!  

Cora Reynolds Anderson (1882 -1950) was the first woman elected to the Michigan House of Representatives, serving one term from 1925 to 1926. She is also believed to be the only Native American woman elected to the Michigan House or Senate.

While in the House of Representatives, Anderson concentrated on public welfare issues and chaired the Industrial Home for Girls Committee. She was particularly interested in public health issues, especially the fight against alcoholism and tuberculosis. Prior to her term, she had organized the first public health service in Baraga County and was instrumental in securing the county’s first public health nurse. She also became actively involved in the Michigan Grange and served as the Upper Peninsula officer.

Anderson was educated as a teacher at the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, which is known today as the Haskell Indian Nations University. She taught school in the Upper Peninsula for several years. At a time when minorities, including Native Americans, were subjected to considerable economic and social discrimination, Anderson’s determination to attend college and return the benefits of her education to her community was notable. Her role as educator, legislator, public health reform leader aided the Native American community as well as the whole of society.

I find her amazing as not only as the first women elected to the legislator in 1925, but also a minority. I appreciate her bravery and voice for the people of Michigan on education and public health issues. She was an educator and organized the first public health service in the UP.