Ken Clark's Coat Closet wins annual Charitable Giving Campaign and $5,000 donation
Ken Clark's Coat Closet wins annual Charitable Giving Campaign and $5,000 donation
GRAND LEDGE, Mich. – The holiday season can be a wonderful time of year, full of joy and happiness, good food, friends and family. But it can also be challenging, especially if you’re a non-profit organization designed to help those less fortunate and dependent on the generosity of others.
Such is life for the team at Ken Clark’s Coat Closet & GECKO program in Grand Ledge, the 2022 winner of Eaton Community Bank’s annual Charitable Giving Campaign. With a dual mission of providing free clothing, personal care items, household and other items to those in need while also providing a work-based learning environment for special education students through Giving Eaton County Kids Opportunities (GECKO), the Coat Closet is simply too busy to toot its own horn.
“Ken Clark’s Coat Closet and GECKO program is a great organization that does amazing work in our communities, and exactly why we started the Charitable Giving Campaign,” Eaton Community Bank President Timothy Jewell said. “The vitality of our communities is at the heart of everything we do at Eaton, and we want help support and build awareness for like-minded organizations in our communities that deserve all of our support and recognition.”
Eaton Community Bank’s annual Charitable Giving Campaign lives on social media and is 100 percent community driven. Each year the bank announces the campaign in early October across its social media channels with a public call for nominations. Requirements for participation are simple; nominees must be a registered non-profit organization based locally and serving the local communities. In early November the five finalists are announced as voting opens via the bank’s social media channels. Each organization has until the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to generate as many community votes as possible.
This year’s campaign concluded on Tuesday as Jewell announced Ken Clark’s Coast Closet & GECKO program as the winner and presented the staff with a $5,000 donation on Eaton Community Bank’s Facebook page. Each of the four remaining finalists receive a $1,000 donation.
“We’re so grateful to have been recognized and given this opportunity,” Ken Clark’s Coat Closet director Sarah Mida said. “Our kids had a lot of fun with this campaign, and the community support was outstanding.
“What Eaton Community Bank does with their Charitable Giving Campaign is just wonderful; I think it truly embodies what mid-Michigan is, a big community with a lot of smalltown pride,” Mida continued. “There are so many amazing local organizations that put community first, it’s nice to see a bank like Eaton supporting that. And it was a lot of fun learning about the great things each of the other finalist do in our communities.”
The remaining finalists for the 2022 Charitable Giving Campaign were the Angela Dallaire Bruce Memorial Scholarship Association, Eaton Clothing & Furniture Center, Eaton Rapids Teen Space and Jewels Faith Ranch. To learn more about each of the finalists, visit www.eaton.bank/community-support.
Eaton Community Bank has served mid-Michigan since it was chartered by two local businessmen in 1937 to help local families buy a home and provide a safe place to invest their savings. Today, Eaton provides expanded services and solutions to meet the financial needs of the diverse communities it calls home.