The Macomb Charitable Foundation exists to help children living at or below

poverty level in Macomb County. Our goal is to alleviate the suffering of children and their families

by providing financial assistance for items such as but not limited to; food, clothing, personal

care items, rent/utility assistance, vehicle repair, educational assistance and when available per-

sonal & spiritual mentoring. This goal is accomplished through the generosity of our contributors

by providing children with benefits and services that meet their basic needs, thereby enhancing

their self esteem. It is our desire to focus on the child . To make that child’s life richer, not just by

offering assistance with worldly goods, but by offering kindness, humility and respect.

The Macomb Charitable Foundation makes every effort to be open and fully accountable to our

donors and to make careful business decisions so that contributed dollars provide the maximum

help to the needy children who have been referred to us. These referrals are accepted without

Our Mission Statement

Board

of Directors

August 2009 Volume 5

Shelly Penzien

President

Mitch Vogeli

Vice President

Sue Schwark

Treasurer

Rev. Brian Davies

Board Member

Wayne Oehmke

Board Member

Mr. Frank Henke, Esq.,

Warner, Norcross

& Judd LLP

Legal Counsel

Contact Us:

Macombcharitable

@comcast.net

586-232-3473

Visit our Web Page:

www.macombcharitable

foundation.org

this event will be used to improve the life of a home-less/needy child living in Macomb County. Our foundation is run solely by volunteers, no one is paid, which means 100% of your gift is given back to the

children we service.

Special thanks to committee chair Julie Standlick, her helpers Gloria Arra, Sue Chapman & Tracy Kowalski for once again putting on a class event! Special mention to the many guys and gals who donated their time. MCF is blessed with wonderful friends. We’re already

thinking about next year...

Cracklewood’s Chef, Shelly Maas and her kitchen staff provided a delicious Cajun inspired meal that was topped off with a flaming Cherries

Jubilee served for dessert!

A heartfelt testimony was given by Andrew, a 16 year old who has bene-fited from the generosity of MCF supporters. Andrew shared how he, his younger brother and mother fled an abusive situation eventually living in a shelter for a period of time. He thanked all of the women for the kind-ness shown to his family. It was an emotional mo-ment each of us will long

remember.

Nearly $11,000.00 was raised this year! As with every one of our fundrais-ers, all of the profit from

164 Women put aside their obligations to work and home on Monday, August 10th to raise money for CHILDREN IN NEED. Cracklewood Golf Club was host to the 3rd Annual Ladies Golf Outing to benefit MCF. A Mardi Gras theme set the stage for a fun filled event! At registra-tion, the Ladies were given goodie bags donated and filled by Dave & Julie

Standlick and family.

There were many surprises on the golf course for the ladies; ice cream treats, drinks and contests were at

many of the holes.

Several area businesses and many individuals sponsored holes or donated prizes. Many friends and volunteers assisted by donating their time on and off the course to insure that this event was

successful.

Serving underprivileged CHILDREN in our community.Serving underprivileged CHILDREN in our community.Serving underprivileged CHILDREN in our community.Serving underprivileged CHILDREN in our community.

Stephanie’s story...Stephanie’s story...Stephanie’s story...Stephanie’s story...

Macomb Charitable Foundation

Stephanie and her brother have been in and out of foster care for many years. Their mother is a drug addict, their father is in prison. Despite moving many times to various foster homes, Stephanie has been able to maintain a 4.0 grade point average. Because of the many moves to so many different school districts, her credits did not always transfer with her. She was in jeopardy of not graduating with her class and was forced to enroll in summer classes. Her instructor strongly encouraged her to get a computer for home use. Her foster parents are on a fixed income and not able to pro-vide extra’s such as computers. Macomb Charitable provided Stephanie with the items she needed for continued success in school. Many foster children arrive and leave with only a small paper bag containing their personal belongings. Macomb Charitable purchased clothing, shoes, hygiene products and a reconditioned computer for Stephanie. She will graduate this summer and is applying for college classes this fall. We are encouraged and hopeful that she will be a productive member of society despite her troubled childhood.

VG’s Community Sharing Fund is a simple way for our

foundation to earn a 1% cash rebate on every purchase

YOU make! Simply save your VG’s cash register receipt

and mail it to our program coordinator, Kris Aubry.

Kris will compile the receipts and return them to VG’s!

Send all receipts to:

Kris Aubry

61851 Spring Circle Trail ~ Washington Twp., MI. 48094

WOULD YOU CONSIDER HELPING

OUT BY PLACING A

VG’S COLLECTION BOX AT YOUR WORKPLACE?

LET KRIS KNOW VIA EMAIL AT:

krisaubry@comcast.net

CAN YOU DO THIS? We are looking for individuals who would be willing to promote our cause within their own “community” of co-workers, friends, classmates etc. Would you consider throwing a pantry shower for our pantry? How about collecting new, unused toys to help provide a homeless/needy child with a Christmas. Would you and your co-workers be willing to collectively come together and donate new, unused items for themed baskets? You choose the theme, examples are: garden, Lego, Nerf, Barbie, tools, relaxation, dental, etc. You convince your friends to bring the items in, turn them over to us and we will take it from there. These baskets would generate much needed funds at one of our fundraisers. Do you work for a company that might donate services or product? Would you ask for us? We really need this kind of support. We pray that our cause touches your heart. Can you bless us in this way? For more information, call Shelly at 586-232-3473. All ideas appreciated!

A huge shout out to all

those who participated in

the Sandy Semlow Memorial

walk/run on July 18th. Money

raised will benefit the food

pantry at St. Peter Lutheran

Church which is where MCF

sends its families for supple-

mental food. Special recog-

nition goes to Ed and Cheryl

Borowski for coordinating

this event! Sandy would be

Christmas inspires people

to give from the heart.

However, like most

charities, we experience a

sharp decline in donations

after the holiday season.

We get requests for beds,

clothing, school supplies,

food and housing all year

long. Please consider

supporting our efforts with

a donation (monetary or

otherwise) to our upcoming

fundraiser Harvest of

Hearts. Your contribution

will directly touch the life

of a child in need.

Page 2

SECOND STORY

ACCEPTING DONATIONS OF

USED BOOKS, SOFT AND

HARD COVER, ADULT

& CHILDRENS,

CD’S, DVD’S.

NO ENCYCLOPEDIAS PLEASE

DONATIONS CAN BE

DROPPED OFF AT

ST. PETER LUTHERAN

CHURCH

24 MILE AND ROMEO PLANK

DURING BUSINESS HOURS.

FOR MORE INFO, CALL

BILL OR DIANNE WETZEL

586-677-1830.

Ky- lie’s first contact with MCF was Winter of 2008. Her mother came to us seeking shelter assistance as she and her three children were sleeping in their car. MCF provided funds to pay for a hotel for Kylie and her family. The children were provided clothing, food and Christmas gifts. Once Kylie’s mom was able to secure a job, Macomb Charitable assisted the family with the security deposit and first months rent necessary to move into an apartment. Sup-porters of MCF donated beds, furniture, appliances and household items to this family. Because of the generosity of MCF donors, Kylie and her family no longer have to sleep in

their vehicle.

Finances are tight for everyone right now. The economy is tough. Here are a few innovative ideas some MCF supporters have used: Dianne Wetzel transferred her prescription to CVS. They gave her a free $25.00 CVS gift card. She donated the card to MCF. Dianne and her husband Bill are the coordinators for our Second Story Book Sale. Jennifer Pries celebrated her 12th birthday with a party. She asked guests to bring a personal hygiene or cleaning product for needy children instead of bring-ing her a gift. She donated these items to the St. Peter Food Pantry and vol-unteered on pantry day to help pass the items out. Sherry Brodowsky is a gifted crafter and a blogger. Sherry invited her crafter friends (via her site: www.creationsfrommyheart.blogspot.com) to donate items for our October fundraiser. You may remember Sherry’s talents from our Starry Starry Night event. She decorated and donated the Christmas Tree. Kregg Bellhorn is Superintendent at Cracklewood Golf Club. For the Ladies outing, Kregg asked Wiegands Nursery to donate flowers that would be used on each Tee Box, and then raffled off as prizes for the Women. Thanks to the generosity of Weigands, and Kregg’s resourcefulness, we had 38 beautiful raffle prizes that generated funds for our kids! Jamie Franquist promotes MCF with enthusiasm and heart. Keeping written info about our charity at hand (which we would be glad to supply to anyone), Jamie tells our story when she is out to eat, at the hairdresser, visiting shut-ins, working with customers or relaxing with friends. Jamie has secured numerous gift cards and services for our upcoming October event. There are many more supporters working diligently on our behalf, heartfelt thanks to each of you!

SPECIAL RECOGNITION... The Shelby Township Optimist Club for the generous financial donation! Macomb Township Lions/Lioness for 75 FILLED book-bags for our kids! St. Peter Macomb Vacation Bible School for the financial donation!

Horizons Church for the financial support! Central Macomb Optimist for sending two of our kids to Girl Scout Camp! Dr. Carrie Mullica for offering free dental services to one of our kids! 164 Women who attended the Golf Outing, bought raffle tickets and

took a logo bag in support of our upcoming auction in October! Dip~n~Dots at 23 & Romeo Plank, Ray from General Wine, John Marasco from Vintage Wine Company, the entire Costello Family,

members of The Lutheran High North Golf Team and Cracklewood Golf Club; Customers & Staff (Kitchen, Maintenance, Wait, Bar, ProShop

& Friends) for supporting our Golf Outing! The “Gals Night Out” attendees and donors... we’ve said many prayers

of thanks for all of you! Julie Wright for volunteering to write Grants for our foundation!

The Macomb Charitable Foundation is a non profit organization that relies on the support of donors like YOU. Financial contributions are tax deductible. Most of our

monies are raised via fundraisers like those outlined in this newsletter. If you would like to make a financial contribution that will be used to benefit the life of a child living at or

below poverty level, please use the form below. There are many ways other than a financial contribution to support our efforts.

Your prayers and donation of time are every bit as valuable!

NAME: _________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ______________________________________________________________

CITY: __________________________ ZIP: _________ PHONE: _________________

DONATION: _________ MAKE CHECK PAYABLE TO: (MCF)

MACOMB CHARITABLE FOUNDATION

SEND TO: MCF C/O: 18215 24 Mile Road, Macomb, MI. 48042

A TAX DEDUCTIBLE RECEIPT WILL BE MAILED TO YOU