2011 Charities

Child & Family Services donate

Child and Family Services from Petersen Productions on Vimeo.

Child and Family Services begins its 75th year of service to north western Michigan this fall!  Since 1937 we have provided foster care and adoption services, and as the community has grown we’ve added other programs to respond to changing needs.  We now offer a range of counselling and support programs, from intensive family preservation to supervised visitation and exchange, from treatment for children who have been sexually abused to independent living skills for youth that will “age out” of foster care.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.cfsnwmi.org/

Grand Traverse Conservation District donate

Conservation District from Petersen Productions on Vimeo.

The Grand Traverse Conservation District (GTCD) is a local environmental organization that connects our community to nature through education and conservation.  Their mission is to "inspire exploration, appreciation and conservation of our natural world."  The more someone explores nature, the more they will appreciate it and ultimately the GTCD helps foster that appreciation into active conservation and stewardship.

They built and are based out of the Boardman River Nature Center where a lot of their education work takes place.  They have a continuum of environmental education programs designed for schools, kids, adults and families.  Their Conservation work is focused on keeping our natural resources healthy and empowering the community to become active environmental stewards themselves.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.natureiscalling.org/

Host Homes for Homeless Youth donate

Host Homes from Petersen Productions on Vimeo.

Host Homes for Homeless Youth was originally established in 2004 to respond to the need to help unaccompanied teens find safe options for housing.  Initially funded by a grand provided by the United Way of North West Michigan, Host Homes serves students in the five-county region.

Currently, Catholic Human Services coordinates Host Homes and has fiduciary responsibility.  The program is funded by local grants and personal donations and has served 133 students since its inception.

The goal of Host Homes is to provide safe, adult-supervised homes to youth who can no longer live at home.  Because the absence of a safe living situation causes many youth to drop out of high school, the program seeks to support the students until they graduate.  Since 2007, 100% of the students in the Host Homes program have graduated from high school.

For more information visit http://www.catholichumanservices.org/

March of Dimes donate

March of Dimes from Petersen Productions on Vimeo.

The Traverse City Division of the March of Dimes strives to partner with our local community to help moms have full-term pregnancies and research the problems that threaten the health of babies.  Our organization started in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt to fight polio.  With our original mission accomplished, our mission today is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defeats, premature birth and infant mortality through community service, advocacy, research and education. Funds raised at this event will provide education to hundreds of families with babies born in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, prenatal care classes for woman, and community grants to support local innovative programs in material/child health.

For more information visit http://www.marchofdimes.com/michigan/4259_30391.asp

The Ryan Dobry Diabetes Charity donate

Ryan Dobry from Petersen Productions on Vimeo.

The Ryan Dobry Diabetes Charity received their 5013-C non-profit status in 2002. Our main goal is to help diabetic patients who do not have health insurance or are underinsured. All money raised stays in the local community through our contributions to the following organizations: Munson Medical Center's Diabetes Education Program (cash donations of approximately $17,000.00), the Traverse Health Clinic (cash and supplies exceeds $100,000.00), Mercy Hospital in Cadillac, the Cadillac Free Clinic, Manistee Diabetes Education along with programs in Grayling and Petoskey.

For more information visit http://www.therddc.com/

VSA Arts of Michigan - Grand Traverse Area donate

VSA Arts from Petersen Productions on Vimeo.

VSA arts has been assisting hundreds of adults and children with special needs in this community for 15 years. Parents and teachers have come to rely on its important programming as a catalyst for expression and growth. “VSA inclusive arts experiences enable me to witness my child interact with other children, outside the family, on a level playing field,” wrote parent Missy Carson Smith. “This is a very healthy and needed culture for parents of children with special needs. We want and need to know that our children are accepted by others in a loving environment that helps them grow.” VSA arts of Michigan-Grand Traverse Area sponsors the popular Kids on the Block puppet series, focusing on disability awareness, medical and social

For more information visit http://www.vsaarts-gt.org/