The holiday season looks a little different this year.
It seems like that phrase can be applied to everything about 2020. Work looks a little different. School looks a little different. Family life, social life and recreation all look a little different. The COVID-19 pandemic has touched all of our lives in countless ways, making everything look a little – or a lot – different.
Even giving back looks a little different this year.
We at Martin Waymire launched MW Gives about a decade ago as a way to help celebrate the real meaning of the holidays by recognizing people and organizations working to make our communities and state a better place. MW Gives is now our holiday tradition. Instead of gifts, we identify businesses and nonprofits in Michigan that we can support as a “thank you” for the services they provide to our community.
In past years, we’ve supported organizations that strengthen and beautify our community through creativity, feed the hungry, provide shelter to families in need and the homeless, and deliver services to our military veterans. As a way to protect the First Amendment, a free press and real news, we’ve gifted hundreds of subscriptions to Michigan newspapers to residents across the state. We’ve also given to organizations helping survivors of sexual violence, children in need of health care, and women seeking economic self-sufficiency, among many others.
For MW Gives 2020, we’re supporting four different organizations in our own backyard, the greater Lansing area, who are doing truly amazing things in our community and taking care of those in need. These organizations are:
- Cristo Rey Community Center, which provides essential services to Lansing community members in need,
- Salus Center, which is Lansing’s only LGBTQIA+ community center,
- The Turning Point of Lansing, which provides African American males in grades 7 through 12 with an Afrocentric group mentoring experience, and the
- Michigan Prisoner Release Campaign, an arm of the Last Prisoner Project, which works to release Michigan cannabis prisoners as well as support their reentry.
We are making financial donations to each organization and will be highlighting how you can also help them continue their vital work. After a year that looks so different, saying “thank you” to these organizations for continuing to step up is the least we can do.
At Martin Waymire, we work hard every day to make Michigan a better place to live, work and play. The organizations we are supporting this year are doing vital work in the communities we care about, that make this shared vision possible. MW Gives is our way of giving thanks to them and showing gratitude and appreciation for their tireless work.
Look for more information about these organizations in the coming weeks, and join us this holiday season by saying “thank you” to those in your network who have gone above and beyond in 2020.
