Match Day injects quarter-million into community
Foundation kicks in additional $15,000 into match pool
DONATION: Bob Daniels (right) talks with Mecosta County Community Foundation board member Scott Hill-Kennedy as he donates $200 to the Big Rapids First United Methodist Church during the foundation's match day. (Pioneer photos/Jonathan Eppley)
By Jonathan Eppley
Pioneer Staff Writer
BIG RAPIDS — Former state Sen. Joanne Emmons arrived at the Big Rapids Holiday Inn and Conference Center just after 5 a.m. on Thursday with a goal of earning thousands of dollars for the Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center.
She and her husband, John, relieved a fellow volunteer holding the organization’s place at the front of the line for the Mecosta County Community Foundation’s first-ever Match Day. Volunteers from Care Net and nine other nonprofits waited in line overnight to ensure their organizations would receive a share of match money from the community foundation.
More than 1,000 individual gifts were donated during the event, which injected a total of $252,982 into the community.
When the doors opened at 7 a.m., the Emmons’ presented more than $10,000 collected for Care Net, which claimed the first spot in line more than 17 hours prior to the start of the event. “It’s terribly important to us,” Emmons said. “The response we had from people that we asked (for donations) was phenomenal. This is an opportunity we never thought we’d have.”
FIRST IN LINE: Nick and Amber Edward wait in line Wednesday night in advance of the Mecosta County Community Foundation's match day. The pair represented the Care Net Pregnancy Resource Center.
The foundation matched donations up to 50 cents on the dollar for donations from individuals up to $1,000 and donations from businesses and organizations up to $2,500. Organizers are waiting for donation checks to clear before releasing how much match funding will be awarded to each nonprofit.
The foundation board was so pleased with how the event went throughout the day, that it decided to kick-in an additional $15,000 into the match pool. The additional funds came from contributions collected earlier in the year to be used for the match pool, said foundation President Gary Trimarco. The extra money was going to be saved for a second match day sometime in the future. The foundation initially designated $50,000 for the match pool.
“We had such an overwhelming response from the public,” Trimarco said. “We wanted to make sure everybody received match dollars. This way, everybody who donated will receive some kind of match money.”
Board members were greeted with a rush of donors to start the event. Representatives from 44 area organizations cycled through the line in the first half hour.
Match Day Chair Tim Zehr, who is also store manager of Meijer in Big Rapids, said many of the people who arrived early to the event, were there presenting multiple donations on behalf their organization. He thought it was “clever” of the organizations to have one person present multiple donations, so others wouldn’t have to wait in line.
“What we would have liked to have seen strung out over the whole day, came at us early,” he said. “We’re not disappointed by the lack of people in line (after the first half hour of the event). It enabled other people to go to their jobs.”
A steady stream of donors did participate in the event throughout the remainder of the day, Zehr added.
He was pleased with the buzz the event created within the community and surprised to see so many people camp out overnight.
“This was not much different from a ‘Black Friday’ in a retail store,” Zehr said. “This has been hugely successful.”
Representatives from 10 nonprofits waited in the hotel’s lobby overnight to make sure they would get their share of match funds.
Brad Fath, of Rodney, held a place in line so St. Peter’s Lutheran School could receive its share of match funding. To pass the time, he watched movies on his laptop and conversed with others waiting in line.
He presented about $11,000 to the foundation on behalf of the school. St. Peter’s plans to use some of the money for a new playground at the school.
“I told everybody we were going to get the match, so I made sure we were here early,” he said.