The alarm clock blares on another Monday morning. You roll out of bed and grab a teal t-shirt with a bright neon yellow arrow on it. It’s not your typical work outfit, but this isn’t a typical Monday. Today is Moved By Good Day.
Moved By Good Day is our annual team member volunteer day where we focus on our passion for giving back and fulfilling basic human needs in our Michigan communities. For the second year in a row, we asked Team Lake Trust if they’d be willing to spend their day off (a federal holiday where we are closed) giving back to Michigan nonprofits and schools. And for the second year in a row, we were overwhelmed with the response.
Nearly 350 team members signed up to volunteer at 20 different sites across the state. Each nonprofit site was selected because of the focus the organization provides on a basic human need: Clothing, education, food, housing, or health and wellness.
Giving Essential Clothing
Last year during our inaugural Moved By Good Day, we learned that many young students in need do not own a winter coat. This simple article of clothing allows a child the freedom to play outside during recess and could help them miss fewer days of school. So we worked with Operation Warm* to distribute coats to kids at two different schools. This year, however, we wanted to help even more students.
We once again worked with Operation Warm to coordinate the distribution of the winter coats. We visited three different schools this year: Dove Academy of Detroit, Gardner Magnet International School in Lansing, and Holland Heights Elementary in Holland.* Our team helped each student pick out a new jacket, ensuring that it fit properly. Nearly 1,500 children in Michigan left school at the end of the day with a brand-new coat thanks to an enormous contribution from the Lake Trust Foundation.
Focus On Education
In addition to donating winter coats, we identified six additional schools that we could help: Central Elementary in Hastings, REO Elementary and Willow Elementary in Lansing, Deckerville Elementary in Deckerville, Holmes Elementary in Ypsilanti, and Thurgood Marshall Elementary in Detroit. In the weeks leading up to Moved By Good Day, Team Lake Trust collected paper, pencils, glue, markers, crayons, and other supplies.
On Monday, we delivered over 95 boxes of school supplies between the six schools. Teachers at each school also received a small care package from us that was filled with goodies to explain the idea behind Moved By Good: That making small choices to help out and do good in the world can lead to an enormous impact.
