After 5: Creative events inspire donations to area nonprofits

The artistic application is partly due to economic conditions and partly due to the creativity of supporting organizations.

“It’s tough out there,” says Pat Reiser, president and CEO of the Family Violence Center Inc., noting that annual fundraisers haven’t done as well as usual. “We have to think outside the box 24 hours a day to come up with these things.”

Reiser describes a baby shower that CU Community Credit Union held for the center with the nonprofit executive as the guest of honor.

“I was invited to the baby shower, and they had baby games, decorations and a crib filled with gifts,” she remembers. “They even had presents wrapped up, and I got to open them while everyone said, ‘Isn’t that cute?’”

According to Reiser, the Family Violence Center gets calls monthly from community groups wanting to help. Groups will often tour the center and notice a need.

“Our donors are predominantly middle class, and they don’t have as much disposable income now,” Reiser notes. “They can’t write a $50 check, but they can buy shampoo and ask others to. People never cease to amaze us.”

Pennies from heaven

Dr. Robert Carolla, president of Oncology-Hematology Associates, went to great heights to raise money for his staff’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life team. He jumped out of a plane.

“I always thought skydiving was a cool idea, and (my staff) came to me and asked if they raised $1,000, would I do it? I said, ‘No way.’ And then I jokingly said, ‘I’ll do it for $10,000,’” Carolla recalls.

The Relay for Life team met Carolla’s challenge in six weeks by raising more than $13,000 through penny wars, asking for donations from patients and other doctors and hosting an oncology educational fair and luncheons.

“I never thought they would do it,” Carolla says. “I prayed for rain.”

Carolla kept his word on July 4 with a tandem jump at Skydive Skyranch at Cecil Smith Field in Siloam Springs, Ark.

“I couldn’t eat anything or sleep the night after because I was so revved up about it,” Carolla adds.

Dr. Larry Halverson of CoxHealth’s Family Medical Care Center is revved up about diabetes prevention. He plans to ride his bicycle Aug. 15–Oct. 15 from Anacortes, Wash., to New York City.

Halverson describes biking 40 miles to a fishing pond with his younger sister as a boy, and says since then, he dreamed of completing a long-distance ride.

“So I’m going to make my ride that I’ve wanted to do since I was 11 and raise money,” Halverson explains.

So far, Halverson has raised $50,000 for the Family Medicine Diabetes Fund and hopes to bring in at least another $50,000.

All-star treatment

Larry Whiteley, manager of communications with Bass Pro Shops, says a fundraiser with actor Kevin Costner came from a staff brainstorming meeting. A meet-and-greet event and movie premiere July 6 generated $50,000 each for the Upper White River Basin Foundation and Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks.

“We’re always creative with what we do,” Whiteley says. “We don’t write big checks, we try to raise money instead.”

Another recent program that Bass Pro Shops stores across the country participated in was “Go Outdoors.” Customers who brought in old videos or Wii games received discounts. Whiteley says all the items collected were distributed to children’s hospitals across the nation.

And what better entertainment for the donation dollar is there than adults playing kickball?

Jeff White, an Allstate Insurance agent in Springfield, is chairman of the Sertoma Summer Sizzle, which includes a concert, backyard barbeque competition and a coed kickball tournament scheduled for July 19 at Summers at the River in Nixa. At press time, 18 kickball teams had signed up, and they’ve raised $18,000. White says Sertoma was hopeful for 3,000 attendees and a minimum of $25,000 with a portion going to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield.

“Corporate support and local community support hasn’t waned. If anything, most notable would be in-kind donations instead of cash, but this event requires it,” White says.