There’s nothing like the feeling of celebrating a warm day on the lake. The La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership (LEAP) held its third annual Appreciation Day gathering on Tuesday, September 3. This year’s celebration took place at the Boardwalk Beach Bar and Grill in La Porte, just behind the Blue Heron Inn.
LEAP hosted a traditional outing for board members and sponsors with the La Porte Chamber of Commerce prior to the pandemic. Appreciation Day has helped bring back that excitement of celebrating everyone who allows the organization to accomplish the things they do. Lindsay Kneifel, director of marketing and communications, looks forward to this event every year.
“We started this a couple of years ago where we just decided to create an event for our yearly sponsors and our board of directors,” Kneifel said. “We felt it was a great way to show how much we appreciate them."
More than 50 people came to this year’s event. LEAP started their Appreciation Day tradition with an evening of baseball. However, the goal this year was to make the event more easygoing and keep it within the area.
“We started by doing it at the South Bend Cubs game for a few years,” Kneifel said. “The first year had a solid turnout but we lost a couple of people the second year due to travel. This time, we decided that we wanted to do something local. The Boardwalk Beach Bar and Grill is a beautiful location right on the lake that’s in the area so we felt it would bring more people out here to celebrate.”
Another benefit of LEAP’s Appreciation Day is the opportunity they have to connect with all of their sponsors for the year.
“This event gives us a chance to talk to our sponsors,” Kneifel said. “We’re incredibly grateful and wouldn't be where we are right now without them. It allows us to discuss what we’ve been doing over the past year. We like to be transparent, and I think it helps to have that connection with the board and all the sponsors that contribute to our organization.”
It’s always exciting for LEAP when they get to talk with the sponsors, board members, and volunteers of the organization in a different environment.
“Appreciation Day is always a more relaxed environment for everybody,” Kneifel said. “This gives us a chance to network a little more loosely than normal. It helps that we’re able to host it on such a beautiful day as well.”
While LEAP’s Appreciation Day may not have been at the baseball diamond this year, the event was still a home run. Everyone was ecstatic to connect with close friends in what was a great opportunity for the organization to further its mission.
“I just hope that we’re able to get our message across and help people understand more of what we do,” Kneifel said. “It was a little difficult in the beginning to differentiate the Chamber of Commerce from economic development. We want to be accessible to our members, our board, and the sponsors that support us.”
For more information about LEAP, you can visit their website.
