Friends Together aims to match $30K donation in October
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ALPENA -- A generous anonymous donor has pledged $30,000 to Friends Together to help the organization fulfill its mission of helping those impacted by cancer.
In order to get the money however, Friends Together must raise the same amount in the month of October.
A large campaign to raise the funds is underway, which Friends Together founder Judy Burns says need to be new money and not funds raised from planned events.
When Burns learned about the intention of the donor, she said she was taken aback and thankful for the support.
"I was speechless for a few minutes and then got overcome with gratitude," Burns said. "To have someone bring this forward to us, recognising what we have done all these years, made me feel really overwhelmed and overjoyed."
Now the work to raise the needed money to meet the terms of the donor begins, Burns said. She said special postcards, featuring local people who have or had cancer -- along with inspirational quotes -- will be sent out to promote the fundraising effort -- appropriately called 30k in 30 Days-Our People Need Your People.
Burns said regular fundraising events will still take place, but new ones will be added to aid the new campaign.
If the $30,000 is raised and the donation for the same amount becomes a reality, Burns said the money could be used to acquire a different van to help transport people to doctor's appointments out of town and for the transportation program as a whole.
"Right now we give out about $5,000 in gas cards every month, so our transportation and lodging program will get a boost," she said. "The other thing we are doing is, we're trying to expand our services to other areas. We have had a lot of participation in Tawas. We have been running there since March and we are averaging between 10 and 16 people every week using our programs."
Burns said people who use Facebook can expect to see information about the fundraiser and learn more about the people Friends Together has helped. She said local businesses are also challenging one another to match each other's donations and area credit unions also have plans to help raise money and make donations.
"We haven't even really rolled out the campaign and there are already a lot of people who heard about it and are now connecting with others to help," she said.
Friends Together was established in 1996 after Burns' daughter Dawn died in 1995. Burns promised her daughter that no one would face cancer alone as they did and since then the organization has a critical resource for people who have cancer, as well as those close to them who are a part of their loved ones journey.
Cancer services are provided by Friends Together to Alcona, Alpena, Iosco, Montmorency, Oscoda, and Presque Isle counties.