Courtesy Photo Judy Burns, the founder of Friends Together, shows off the meter filled with red that indicates the charitable organization reached its goal to raise $30,000. The goal was boosted to $50,000 after the initial target was achieved quickly.

ALPENA — It only took Friends Together a few short weeks to raise the $30,000 needed as a match to collect a donation of the same amount from an anonymous donor.

Now, the donor has upped the ante and has pledged $50,000 to the organization if it can raise an additional $15,000 by the end of October.

The organization raised $35,000 as of Thursday morning, said Judy Burns, the founder of Friends Together, which offers services to people in Northeast Michigan who have cancer or have lost someone to cancer.

Burns said, as in the past, the people in the area stepped up to the plate to help reach the first goal. She said the support impressed the donor so much, he decided to increase the amount of his pledge and challenged the community to rise to the occasion once more.

“The donor is so excited and grateful for the way the community has rallied together,” Burns said. “So, based on that, and his overall commitment, he decided to move it to $50,000.”

Burns said the money could be used to acquire more vehicles to help transport people to doctor’s appointments out of town and for the transportation program as a whole. She said a portion of it may also be used to help fill staffing needs and to expand programs and services in other areas in Northeast Michigan outside of Alpena.

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 proven a critical resource for people who have cancer, as well as those close to them.

Last month, Burns broke down how important the organization’s transportation service is for people who don’t have rides or can’t drive to and from appointments out of town and how the money would benefit it and other services.

“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.”

Outside of the Friends Together office, a large meter was updated daily to let people know how much money was raised toward the $30,000 goal. Burns said the sign will need to be redone to reflect the new amount.

“We have to have a new number printed, because it only went up to $30,000,” she said. “We’ll do that so we can update it and remain transparent.”

Donations can be made on the Friends Together website, or at the office. For more information, call 989-356-3231.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.