Many fundraising events in the Toledo area depend upon grassroots promotion.
Friends ask other friends to join them in donations, event attendance or both. Recently two local nonprofit organizations benefitted from grassroots fundraising events, Family House and Feed Your Neighbor. One group of Emery’s friends included the owners of Mind, Body and Soul, a dance studio offering urban ballroom and step classes. Kelli Hinkle, one of the business partners, said they were pleased to provide free promotion of the event, dance demonstrations and gift certificates for the raffle. “We know people who are only one paycheck away from homelessness. This is our way of being grateful that we are not in that position,†Hinkle said. Through the efforts of Emery and her friends, the event raised $3,000. Executive Director Janet Boswell said the proceeds will be placed in a pool of unrestricted funds. Another group of friends united through music at The Blarney Irish Pub to raise funds for a food pantry in their neighborhood. Augsburg Lutheran Church hosted the second annual “Raise Some Cash†concert to benefit the food pantry located in the church. The Blarney allowed the group to collect the $5 cover charge as a part of the charity event. The event is coordinated by Larry Meyer, who approaches some of Toledo’s most popular bands asking them to donate their time. Bands that are a part of the concert are asked to play one Johnny Cash tribute song and that creates the event’s theme. Raise Some Cash is now in its second year and Meyer can see the progress. “As an event, I think that we are gaining a reputation for not only supporting a valid cause, but for building this first and foremost from the ground up as an evening of great bar-band rock ‘n’ roll, period,†Meyer said. “Hopefully that helps our credibility as we work with the venue, contact the press, enlist other acts, etc.â€
Among the bands joining Meyer and Augsburg Lutheran were The Flecks. For both years of the event, The Flecks have essentially been part of the infrastructure, donating not only their time, but their sound system, amps and drum set for the other acts to use. Raise Some Cash proceeds totaled $3,601, which will be used to purchase food from food banks to stock the pantry shelves to meet the neighborhood’s summer needs for emergency food.