A fun, competitive atmosphere will prevail April 26-27 as Unity Foundation of La Porte County celebrates its 20th anniversary with a 39-hour Give Day event.
Beginning at 6 a.m. on Friday, April 26, online donations will be collected at www.LPCountygiveday.org to benefit 57 Unity nonprofit and donor funds. A tracking Leaderboard will allow live viewing of the fund totals as the event progresses toward its dramatic close at 9 p.m. on April 27th.
At that point, the top five funds that have raised the most funds will split $15,000 to be used for charitable purposes. Several special prizes also will be given out during the 39-hour event, leading the participating funds to strategize in hopes of winning some special prizes to earn a piece of an additional $5,000.
“The Unity Foundation brainstormed ways to best celebrate our collective impact and strengthen La Porte County,” President Maggi Spartz said. “We decided that raising money for Unity endowment funds is a great way to do it. We did something similar at our 15th anniversary, people really liked it and it generated $125,000.”
Spartz noted that the current Friends Helping Friends Give Day is “new and improved”, featuring an online credit card donation web site. Though checks and cash donations are welcomed, the focus is on encouraging donors to make credit card donations online at the www.LPCountygiveday.org site.
For those wishing to give cash or check donations, it is preferred that they arrive prior to the event, as those monies must be manually input into the system to be counted on the live Leaderboard. Donors can bring cash or checks to the Unity office at 115 East 4th Street, Michigan City, across from the library. Or they can mail checks to PO Box 527, Michigan City, IN 46361, listing the specific Give Day fund.
Funds participating in the Give Day event will split their monies evenly between principal and spendable – which means there is money available for the fund to use right away. The grant prizes also may be spent immediately.
“The ultimate winner is every single person in La Porte County, now and forever,” Spartz said. “The Give Day simply provides a fun way to attract new gifts to nonprofit and donor endowment funds in Unity.”
Special Grant Prizes for the Give day event, totaling $5,000, include:
- Nickel Campaign Now – April 20th $1,000 Awarded to the Fund that receives the greatest number of verifiable ‘revocable’ planned gifts by April 20, 2013. (See Nickel Campaign Description at www.uflc.net for more details.)
- Early Bird Friend April 26th, 6-10 a.m. $500 Awarded to the fund with the largest gift made between 6 – 10 a.m. CST when the event begins on Friday April 26th.
- Lunch Buddies Friend April 26th, noon-1 p.m. $500 Awarded to the fund with the largest gift made between noon and 1 p.m. CST on Friday April 26th.
- Weekend Warrior Prize April 26th, midnight $500 Awarded to the fund that receives the donation made closest to midnight CST on Friday April 26th.
- “Saturday in the Park Prize” April 27th, 1-3 p.m. $500 Awarded to the fund that receives the greatest number of gifts on Saturday April 27th between 1-3 p.m. CST.
- Procrastinator Prize April 27th, 7-9 p.m. $500 Awarded to the fund that receives the greatest number of gifts during the last 2 hours of the event (7– 9 p.m. CST) on Saturday April 27th.
- $250 to each of the first 4 funds with 10 individual friends each making a gift of $50 or more.
- $500 “Most Friends Prize” to the fund with highest number of gifts made in 39 hours.
All Unity endowment funds were invited to participate in the Give Day event. Fifty-seven funds accepted, spanning the areas of the arts & culture, animal care, education and literacy, civic & philanthropy, youth, environment, human services, scholarships & awards.
4-H of La Porte County Endowment Fund
Arts United Fund for La Porte County
Boys & Girls Club of Michigan City Endowment Fund
Clarence Weinkauff, Jr. Grant Fund
Dress for Success Fund
Environmental Improvement Fund for LP County
Festival Players Guild
Food Bank of Northern Indiana Fund
Foundations for Youth Fund
Gail's Gift Scholarship Fund
Greater Michigan City Area Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation
Hanna Indiana Community Fund
Harmony House / CASA of La Porte County, Inc.
Housing Opportunities, Inc. Endowment Fund
Indiana Dunes Environmental Learning Center Tuition Assistance Fund
International Friendship Gardens
Ivy Tech Michigan City Pejic Campus Fund
Jack and Shirley Lubeznik Center for the Arts
Jim Jessup Future Leaders Fund
Junior Achievement of La Porte County
La Lumiere School Endowment Fund
La Porte County Mental Health Fund
La Porte County Park Foundation Endowment Fund
La Porte County Habitat for Humanity, Inc. Endowment Fund
La Porte County Red Cross Endowment Fund
La Porte County Symphony Orchestra Endowment Fund
La Porte County Family YMCA Foundation Fund
La Porte Hospital Foundation Fund
La Porte Hospital Foundation VNA Fund
Leadership La Porte County Endowment Fund
Lindsey O'Brien Kesling Wishing Tree Foundation
Love Our Lakes/Pine Lake Avenue Project
Major Building Repairs Fund - Salvation Army of Michigan City
Michigan City Education Foundation Michigan City Lion Charities, Inc. Endowment Fund
Mosette Levin Fund for Cancer Help
Open Door Health Center Endowment Fund
Read La Porte County, Inc. Literacy Fund
Salvation Army of Michigan City, IN Endowment Fund
Samaritan Counseling Centers Endowment Fund
Shirley Heinze Land Trust Endowment for La Porte County
Social & Learning Institute for the Disadvantaged
Stepping Stone Shelter Endowment Fund
Teacher Innovation Fund for MCAS
The Children's Fund - Dunebrook
The Garner Foundation
The Rumely/Allis-Chalmers La Porte Heritage Center
United Way of Greater La Porte County Endowment Fund
Unity Foundation Community Fund
Unity Foundation County-Wide Scholarship Fund
Unity Foundation Literacy Fund
Unity Foundation Operating Fund
Washington Park Zoo Fund
Westville Community Fund
Women’s Well Being Fund
YMCA Community Child Care Center Endowment Fund
Youth to Youth