EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS: The 2011 Match Day exceeded the expectations of organizers. More than $422,000 was raised in eight hours on Thursday.

Match Day 2011 Results
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 Match Day 2011 Evaluation Form

 Match Day exceeds our expectations!

Recognizing that Mecosta County may be one of the most economically challenged counties in Michigan, Judge Scott Hill-Kennedy witnessed first hand how generous its residents truly are.

On Thursday, the Mecosta County Community Foundation’s 2011 Match Day event raised more than $422,800 for local nonprofit organizations in eight hours.

“It’s the type of people who live in Mecosta County that made this possible,” said foundation President Hill-Kennedy. “Nobody is flush with funds right now. … In so many placed across the country there is a loss of a sense of community. We really have it here. Even when our residents are broke, they look around and have a real sense of caring for their neighbors and friends.”

More than 2,200 individual donations were made during the one-day event. About 1,000 individual donations were gifted last year.

MATCH DAY: More than $422,000 was raised in one day during the 2011 Match Day. (Pioneer file photos)

Donations were matched up to 50 cents on the dollar up to $2,500 per donor. All donations and match dollars will “pass through” the community foundation and be presented to nonprofits in December. No fees will be deducted by the community foundation.

With a theme of “Giving thanks for a Christmas to remember,” the goal of Match Day was to help the 109 participating nonprofits raise money for use during the holiday season.

“More than $420,000 was raised in Mecosta County. Every bit of it hits the streets in time for Christmas,” said Tim Zehr, event chair and foundation first vice president. “You hope and pray for these kinds of results, and when it all comes together like this, it just goes to show that there is nothing that can’t be done. … It’s just an affirmation that there is no bounds and no end to the generosity of the people who live in Mecosta County.”

Zehr was the driving force behind the foundation’s first Match Day in 2010, which raised more than $253,000. Chairing the event for the second year, he never imagined it would become so successful in such a relatively short period of time.

DONATION: Anna Tuuri presents a $10 check to Joni Thompson of Angels of Action. Tuuri was given $50 by her parents to give to the nonprofit of her choice at the 2011 Match Day. (Pioneer photos/Jonathan Eppley)

“Everybody has fundraisers this time of year. The question was, ‘How do we organize one that is different, better and one that works for everybody?’” Zehr said. “When you put your heart and soul into something, and it happens right, there is nothing better.”

By hosting Match Day a second time, the Mecosta County Community Foundation sets itself apart from other community foundations. Most foundations build funds within their endowments to be donated to organizations in smaller amounts throughout the year. Match Day puts larger sums in their collective hands at once, he added.

“Whether funds come to us as a foundation and we grant it out piece by piece or it comes in the form of Match Day and we give it directly to them, in the long run it comes out exactly the same — it still goes out to the community,” Zehr said.

New to Match Day this year was prizes for the top three organizations that received the most individual donations. Angels of Action will be awarded an additional $2,500 for receiving the highest number of donations, St. Peter’s Lutheran School will get an additional $1,500, and the Mecosta County Senior Center will receive an additional $1,000.

It is too soon to say when Match Day will return to Mecosta County, Hill-Kennedy said. Like last year, the foundation will ask the participating nonprofits how they feel the event went to decide how it can be improved in the future.

“We’re going to take the results, look over them and think about all the hard work the community has done to raise this money,” Hill-Kennedy said. “Bottom line, (the foundation) is going to do something big that is our signature event. A lot of the things that made this year’s Match Day so successful will preserve those important aspects in whatever form our signature event takes next year.”

Match Day 2011 Results

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