(Community Matters 184) Fun, Food and Philanthropy: An Evening to Support Charitable Union

A fundraiser can be flashy and still be deeply practical, and Giving Table is built to do both. Teresa Allen from Charitable Union sits down with Community Matters to unpack the newly named event at FireKeepers Casino and Hotel and the real reason it exists: keeping vital nonprofit services stable while community need continues to climb.

You’ll also hear how the table decorating tradition really works. From witches to circuses to Kentucky Derby ideas, creativity becomes the conversation starter that brings people together.

Then we get to the heart of it: Charitable Union’s free store model and how donated jeans, T-shirts, steel-toed boots, and scrubs turn into real relief for neighbors who need to prioritize rent, utilities, and food. Teresa explains what it means to serve nearly 9,000 people in a year, why shopping visits are rising, and why flexible fundraiser dollars matter when grant funding is restricted, flat, or decreasing.

The Giving Table Fundraiser is Thursday, April 30 from 5:00 to 8:00 PM at FireKeeper Casino, 11177 East Michigan Ave in Battle Creek

Tickets for the event are available through the Charitable Union website or in-person at the Charitable Union gift shop located at 85 Calhoun Street in Battle Creek

Episode Resources

Charitable Union Website

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.

Transcript

Welcome And Where To Listen

Richard Piet 0:02

Thanks for being with us on Community Matters. This is a radio thing, 95.3 on Saturday mornings. It's also online and on your devices. BattleCreekPodcast.com. We're there. All of our episodes and more. And if you go where you get podcasts and just type Community Matters Calhoun County in the search box, you'll find us. You can follow us, and then we'll send you a little hello when new episodes drop. Presenting sponsor, Lakeview Ford Lincoln. An event coming up to support charitable union in Battle Creek. Teresa Allen is back to talk to us about the Giving Table event. Hello, Teresa. Hi, Richard. How are you doing? Great. Thanks for stopping by. It's been a while since we've checked in, and now a good reason for us to check in again is this event. What's Giving Table about?

SPEAKER_01 0:57

So, Giving Table is our annual fundraiser. And for those that are familiar with Charitable Union, it is the same great event we've been having for the past decade, but we have rebranded it with a new name. So the entire evening, the focus is fun, food, and philanthropy.

Richard Piet 1:14

Well, that sounds like a good combination of things. So, what are we trying to infer by changing the name?

How Table Decorating Works

SPEAKER_01 1:22

For many years, the event has been called decorated table event. And we had some confusion uh with that branding. Um, folks, everyone thought they had to decorate a table, and that is not what we're doing. Um, so a table of eight will be decorated. And so if Community Matters was a sponsor and they wanted to decorate the table, they decorate it. But if they told me they really didn't want to do that, we at Charitable Union would decorate it for you. Um, unfortunately, when we decorate your table, you're not allowed to win. So that's our little plug. Um, so it's kind of a competitive night. So last year, our attendees really stepped up their game. We had easily 15 decorated tables. And when I say decorated, Richard, they went all out. We had umbrellas, we we had things hanging, we had dry ice creating fog in the room, like we had some very interesting tables. Um, so it creates this the level of creativity that comes into the room. And of course, competition, competition can drive a fun uh time. So uh the rule of the evening, so we win best decorated table by popular vote. But I have to remind folks if every table, if every attendee votes for their own table, we're gonna have a whole bunch of ties and then we have to pick a winner still. So we encourage you to really walk around the room, vote for the best decorated table. So that's part of the fun. Um, so the way our evening flows is we have folks decorating tables um prior to the event. So everything's ready to go at 5 p.m. when the event starts on April 30th. And from five to six, that's our social hour. That is a time to mingle with the other guests. We anticipate about 180 uh plus people in the room this year. So lots of folks to mingle with, lots of great organizations will be represented in the room. So we want to have folks come out and take advantage of that social hour. Then at six o'clock, we're gonna have a wonderful meal. And we're at Fire Keepers Casino and Hotel. So uh the meal will be spectacular with a duet plate. So there's plenty of food to eat. I do a very short program uh while you're eating. We want you to have fun. We want a couple of updates about charitable union. We want to know who all the sponsors in the room are, and then we want to get back to having fun. Um, after dinner, we'll play some games. We do games of chance. So we have a wine and beer wheel where interestingly enough, the prizes are all associated with wine and beer. Um, and then we do another game associated with all the items from our gift shop. So we'll be raffling off those items. Again, they're socializing and mingling. We have a silent auction and we have some real spectacular packages in there. Um, so we've gone with a package theme for the silent auction. So um, if you are the person who is getting your yard ready right now, we have about a$1,700 package of yard stuff that includes um dirt. So that way you can fix, right? We all have those spots to fix.

Richard Piet 4:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Um, you know, and we have lots of fun items in that. So we kind of do these larger packages, all with a theme to make it a little more fun. Um, instead of fitting on, you know, the easily 150 items we have in the silent auction, we do baskets and keep it simple.

Richard Piet 4:57

Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. And who said dirt cheap was an adequate slogan, right?$1,700 for the yard.

The Night Schedule And Venue

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah. So it's got all sorts. You're gonna have tools, you're gonna have equipment, you're gonna have uh a nice little sasquatch uh sign to put in your yard um as a pretty fun package. So we get a little bit of everything. Uh, we focus on our pets, we focus on our families, we focus on date night because that is important. Um, we do a monster pizza package. So um, if you like pizza, that is a package for you. So yeah, so we have a lot of fun things going. Um, and then again, it's a night about philanthropy. So we know nonprofits are going through a lot of change currently. We've been going through change, frankly, since 2020, when that big thing called COVID happened and we had to do some refocusing and re-engineering of how we'd offer our services. And so we're kind of back in that mindset of we'll pivot again and we'll do things a little bit differently, um, how we offer our services uh throughout our community. And when I say our services, I mean all nonprofits. Um, we're all looking at the best way that we can provide a service uh that is efficient, that is economical, and that really meets the mission of the work we are trying to achieve. So here at Charitable Union, we want to serve people with your old items. So give me your old blue jeans and your old t-shirts, your old steel-toed boots, your old nurse's scrubs. We're gonna give those to somebody who can utilize them and move them forward. And that that's the magic that happens here. Almost 9,000 people were served here last year.

Richard Piet 6:43

I was about to ask you how this helps. So you've begun to talk about that. Uh, this is important because 9,000 people, you and I talk about this just about every time you're here. This is demand that's increasing, not going down.

Games And Silent Auction Packages

SPEAKER_01 6:57

Correct. So we know that the need is increasing. So we'll have more people coming, we'll have more people accessing services. So, what that means is historically we did about 36,000 shopping visits a year. We did over 38,000 last year. So that means those unique people that were coming were coming more often for services. So that that uptick right there alone, uh, that requires more shirts being taken out of bags that you've given to us, being put on a hanger, being put in the free store, being taken off that hanger, put back in a bag and going out our front door. It is a beautiful uh process that we have here. And it really does a lot for our community and allows folks with limited incomes to focus their energies on the really important things: utilities, rent, food. Well, we have those are the three big ones we want folks to put their money towards, and we can be that piece that fills in all those little gaps along the way for the whole household.

Richard Piet 8:01

Yeah, important stuff. So, creative people, where are you? Think about uh decorating the table at the giving table event for charitable union. I do not have a creative bone in my body, so I admire people who do some of the things you say, like create fog and and however they think of the theme and then execute the theme on the table. I have none of that acumen, but uh I really admire people who do, and you get to see all of this at this event. So, what does it take to get a table and what do we have to do to reserve it?

How Charitable Union Serves Neighbors

SPEAKER_01 8:36

So each table seats eight people. So if you have a group of eight and you want to come, you just need to buy eight tickets. We can get you a table all seated together. Just tell us use one member's name as the the table you want to be at. So if you want to be at the Teresa Allen table, you list my name. Um, I have a table every year that I'm filling. So there's my gentle plug. But yeah, so that's all you have to do is go online, get your tickets. Say you just want to come and be a part of the fun. Get a ticket. Don't pick a table. We will help seat you uh with some folks. So we're we're filling the room. Some sponsors just have a few seats filled at their table. Some sponsors are not able to attend, but they're donating uh some of their tickets back so that our staff can attend the event. So we have a lot of things going on. We're taking the sponsorship still, um, everything from just I want to be a business sponsor and have my logo there. We won't be attending the event to I want a table of eight and we want to decorate because we want to win that honor. So uh last year our winner was the Notre Dame Federal Credit Union, and they won with a witch-themed table. It was beautifully done. Wow. So and the year before that, it was Goodwill Industries with their uh circus theme, and they had when I mean, when folks go all out, they go all out for this event. Um, so sometimes we address the theme of a table. So for the circus theme, they were all different members of the circus. It was entertaining and fun and so creative uh to see how. So we have Kentucky Derby themes and witches and wizard of oz, you name it, you're gonna see it at this event. Um, and you're gonna chuckle. Uh, again, Richard, I'm like you. I love to do a spreadsheet. Let me process your numbers and excel, and I'm a very happy person.

Richard Piet 10:36

Well, I don't know if I go that far for me, but uh I see your point.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

Um, so when it comes to this being decorating, um, you know, my table has never received more than one sympathy vote, but I'm out there and I'm having fun and I do it every year. And part of the reason I do it is it's for a good cause. I care about charitable union, and even if I'm not gonna be a winner, I'm gonna decorate a table anyway.

Richard Piet 11:00

And that's the point is that the the competitive part and the creative part is fun. But the underlying part is you're having a hand in the significance support, the charitable union. And what does that mean? This event is a big deal for your budget, right?

Tickets Sponsorships And How To Donate

SPEAKER_01 11:19

It is. So this this event, you know, what really happens here is this these funds raised, they don't come with strings. So when I sit down and receive a donation or receive a grant, uh, normal that that it identifies where it's going, what program it's supporting, uh, sometimes very specifically how it's going to support that program. These funds fill in my gaps. Um, gaps exist today. Uh, we're in the middle of our grant season, which means we're applying for funding. We're waiting to hear back. Um, we've already heard from some funders in funding uh is either flat or it's decreased. So flat funding would mean my expenses needed to not increase.

Richard Piet 12:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01 12:02

And that is really not an option for me to not have the I'm experiencing the same increase as every household is experiencing here at charitable union. So we need these funds to help bolster the budget a little bit. And so that's what it's gonna do. It's going to fill in our gaps so that there is no impact to services to the people we serve. We'll be able to operate our programs. We don't want to be in a dire straight situation. We don't want to have to shift gears. So that's why we're doing this fundraiser and we're getting the information out there and we're around community matters to make sure folks are hearing all about it.

Richard Piet 12:36

All right. So all you have to do is, as Teresa said, is get your tickets. And if you want one, that's fine. If you want eight, you can have a whole table. And that's just by way of the charitable union website, right?

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Correct. Uh, if you are a loyal shopper to the gift shop at Charitable Union, you can step on in and buy your tickets in person. Um, if you do not want to, if online purchases are not your thing, we can process it all in the gift shop. Um, so it's very easy to do it either way. Um, and maybe you don't want to attend the event. April 30th might be a busy night for you. Feel free to make a donation towards the event. Those funds help us meet our goal, and then that goal fills in the gaps. And that's really what we're doing here is we're trying to be proactive about where we anticipate we're going to be, fill our gaps in, um, and then offer a year of solid services to this great community and try to fulfill all of their needs.

Website Details And Final Invite

Richard Piet 13:31

85 Calhoun Street is where you can get your ticket if you don't want to get it on the website. Tell them the web address, Teresa.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

It is www.charitableunion.org.

Richard Piet 13:44

All right, and we'll link it in the show notes for this episode as well at battlecreekpodcast.com. So you can click right through if you happen to be listening there and want to be a part of this. The Giving Table event Thursday, April 30th, Fire Keepers Casino. And uh Creative Folks come up with a theme for your table, and you might just win all the accolades while you're at it, which will be fun. Let us know who wins.

SPEAKER_01 14:11

Absolutely, we will do that.

Richard Piet 14:13

All right, Teresa Allen, charitable union. We'll talk again soon.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Thank you.