November 4, 2024 • 12 mins
Lisa Fuson from the Assistance League of Southeastern Michigan reveals how a century-old organization continues to make a difference in modern times. Join us as we learn about their impactful mission to transform lives through initiatives like Operation School Bell, which helps children in need, and other programs that provide aid to assault survivors, food pantries, and young mothers. Driven by a personal desire to support my community during the COVID pandemic, I became involved with the Assistance League and now have the pleasure of sharing their incredible story with you.
We're also gearing up for the much-anticipated Mistletoe Marketplace, a major fundraising event that promises a day filled with shopping, raffles, and auctions, all for a noble cause. With over 485 tickets already sold, this event is shaping up to be a success, supporting the League's various programs throughout the year. A heartfelt thank you to Lisa for her time and dedication, and to our listeners, we encourage you to get involved and nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on our show by visiting GNPRochester.com.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi everyone, and welcome to Episode 124 of the
Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today, we have with us Lisa,and she is with the Assistance
League of Southeastern Michigan.
How are you doing today, Lisa?
(00:33):
I'm doing really great, Lisa.
So it's a Lisa Lisa show today?
Huh, it is.
It is the Lisa Lisa show.
So let's start off by tellingus what is the Assistance League
of Southeastern Michigan?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah.
So Assistance League ofSoutheastern Michigan is a
nonprofit organization locatedhere in Rochester.
We've been around for many,many years but it started back
in the 1890s out of Californiaby two after that feeling that
they needed to help people thatwere impacted by the war.
(01:01):
So they had a group of 12friends that started the chapter
in Southern California.
It evolved and as it evolvedback in the night.
(01:23):
1985 was their 50-yearanniversary of their
establishment and during thattime period they had 72 chapters
in 17 states with about 16,000dedicated volunteers.
So one of our chapter founderscame from California and in 1993
(01:47):
, she started SoutheasternMichigan's Assistance League
with a group of ladies about 175women that were interested in
the Detroit area to help feed,clothe and transform the lives
of individuals withinsoutheastern Michigan.
So that's how our organizationbegan and Cindy Serrar, who was
(02:10):
our founder, was one that wasinstrumental for bringing the
Assistance League to Michigan.
And we are the only Michiganchapter here in Rochester.
Some of the things that peopledon't know about us is that we
do have a resale store indowntown Rochester and that
helps fund some of our ninephilanthropic programs.
(02:31):
Most of our money is throughdonations, through grants and
through charitable events thatwe do and we have nine programs
that we support.
Let me give you one of thebiggest programs, which is
called Operation School Bell iswhere we go into school
districts in Oakland, wayne andMacomb County and we take over
(02:53):
their facility and we establisha store within the school and we
give away brand new coats, hats, gloves, uniforms in some areas
underwear, socks, hygiene kits,books and duffel bags to these
kids, and some of these childrenhave never had a brand new coat
, so it's a great way for themto start their school year.
(03:14):
That's our biggest fundraiser,that we look for donations and
grants and support from thecommunity to help get that done.
That's one of them.
The other ones that we do iscalled Assault Survivors and
that's providing personal kitsfor children and adults who have
been abused or sexuallyassaulted and domestic violence,
who have had their clothesdestroyed and retained by police
(03:39):
for evidence.
That's another big one we do.
Nourishing Neighbors is ourpartnership with the
Neighborhood House where we helpthe food pantry.
That's another big one we do.
Nourishing Neighbors is ourpartnership with the
Neighborhood House where we helpthe food pantry.
That's another one.
Pass it Forward is where wetake donations that we receive
at our store, at the resalestore and we move those goods to
other nonprofit organizations.
(04:00):
That's another one.
Wehelp is where we take andprovide brand new layette kits
over 20 items for babies' firstweeks, along with their safe
pack, their sleep pack.
We even provide car seats forthese young mothers who have
nothing once they leave thehospital with a newborn baby.
(04:22):
We do tutoring, we doscholarships, we do creative
teaching and then we have whatwe call community connection,
which is helping veterans andseniors in fostering out.
So those are some of the ninephilanthropic programs that 272
volunteers Lisa, let me justtell you, we are all volunteers
(04:43):
help to support our initiativein southeastern Michigan.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That is amazing, so tell our listeners about your
journey.
How did you get involved withthe Assistance League?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Well, you know, I felt a need to give back and
it's funny because you decidewhere you want to really put
your efforts and someone hadshared with me Assistance League
.
So I kind of looked into it and, oddly enough, I joined during
COVID and, believe it or not, wewere still doing our monthly
meetings via Zoom during COVIDand trying to generate some type
(05:21):
of revenue for our organizationto support our programs.
So I joined during COVID andI've just felt a need to give
back and again, I'm in mycommunity.
I live in Rochester.
It was just a good fit for me.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
That is amazing, so tell me a little bit more.
You have a couple of eventscoming up that you'd like to
share.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah, our biggest event and our biggest fundraiser
is called Mistletoe Marketplaceand it is held at the Plaza
Grande in Shelby Township.
We've been doing it.
This will be our 21st year offundraising and, again, as I
mentioned earlier, proceeds fromour event help support our nine
philanthropic programs.
(06:05):
Last year we had 672 attendeesattend this event and let me
just tell you how it works.
You walk in, you're greeted bya host of members from the
Assistance League and we have a50-50 raffle.
We have a basket raffle, wehave a silent auction.
(06:25):
We have over 34 vendors that setup and sell their items
throughout.
We get a luncheon.
It's all well maintained, it'sorganized and orchestrated
Unbelievable.
It's a great place to have avenue.
We take over all four halls ofthe plaza, so it is a big event
and it starts at 930 in themorning and it runs to three
(06:49):
o'clock in the afternoon, soit's a great way to sit down,
have a nice lunch with somefriends and shop for the
holidays, and we look forward tohaving the guests come year
over year.
We're already at.
We're only a month away fromour event.
We're already at.
485 attendees have alreadypurchased their tickets for our
(07:10):
Mistletoe Marketplace.
Again, it helps supporteverything that we do.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
That is amazing.
And then, what are you lookingfor for ongoing support?
Are you looking for sponsors?
Are you looking for more ticketsales?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
all of the above, as we do get a large amount of
sponsorships.
We start our sponsorship earlyin the year, trying to get our
name out, because most peopledon't really know much about the
Assistance League ofSoutheastern Michigan.
So we hope you know.
We go up and down Rochesterasking for donations and
sponsorships from a lot of thelocal businesses in the
(07:47):
Rochester area and then weutilize, you know, facebook,
marketplace, the events piecesand obviously your tools that
you provide to get the word outso that people know you know
we're there to help support thecommunity.
And the best way to have funand have a great day at the
(08:08):
event is to come and see what wedo.
Our tickets are $90 a piece.
Like I said, it gives you a lotof opportunity and it gives you
a really nice luncheon.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
That's great, and can people buy a table of tickets?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Absolutely.
They can buy a table, they cando a sponsorship.
Most of our sponsorships givethose sponsors one or two
tickets each.
You know it just depends on thedollar amount of the
sponsorship.
We go anywhere from $250 to$8,000 in different categories,
on the sponsor.
So those individuals' nameswill appear in slides throughout
(08:45):
our event, as well as theposters that we have within our
store and the publications thatwe give to all the attendees
that attend the event.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
That is amazing.
And then, what is the date ofyour event this year?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
It is November 13th and, just to give you kind of an
idea, you don't have to attend,although we would love for you
to attend, because we do allowpeople to go in to our site and
look at our items that they maywant to bid on, because there is
a bidding process that startson November 8th at noon.
So the silent auction biddingstarts at November 8th at noon
(09:24):
and it runs till noon on the13th of November.
They can go into alsmcboio topurchase a ticket or even just
to become a bidder, and we'vehad that happen in the past,
where people can attend but theywant to participate and see
what we have to offer.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
That is great, and we will share those links on the
bottom of our blog post as well.
For you, great, and so we'll beable to click on that to
purchase tickets.
So that sounds like a veryamazing event and I look forward
for it to come up.
You said a month away, soNovember 13th, and it's like you
(10:06):
said it's a good way to gettogether, grab some girlfriends,
have lunch and do someChristmas shopping.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
They come year over year and that's how we really do
generate a lot of the revenueto help support our nine
philanthropic programs.
This is our largest and biggestfundraiser, year over year.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Good.
So anything else you would likeus to know about the Assistance
League or about the eventcoming up?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, absolutely Part of you know.
If you haven't seen our store,it's on the resale connection.
It's right on Main Street and2nd right on the street front.
But we had some exciting newsthis year After searching for a
building for over 10 years, wefound a warehouse building on
South Street which is going tohouse a lot of our goods that we
(10:58):
keep in our warehouse now forall our philanthropic programs
as well, as we're looking in thenear future to have furniture
for sale there.
So not only can people come inour resale store and buy nice
women's clothing and home goods,but they will also be able to
look at some of our items at ourwarehouse for furniture,
(11:20):
because we do sell little, smallpieces of furniture at our
resale store but we, you know wedon't have the space for some
of the stuff that we receive asdonations.
So that's exciting news.
You know, again, we're lookingobviously for some support.
We were able to purchase thebuilding.
Some of the proceeds from ourMistletoe Marketplace are going
(11:42):
to help support us paying offthat building loan pretty soon,
sooner than we thought.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, you have a lot of amazing things going on with
the Assistance League this year,so kudos to you guys and I wish
you guys much success.
Lisa, I want to thank you forbeing a guest today on our Good
Neighbor podcast and sharingwith us how we can help and be
part of the Assistance League.
(12:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, thank you so much, Lisa.
We appreciate your support too,so we hope to see you at our
Mistletoe marketplace.
Yes, thanks again.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast,
rochester.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPRochestercom.
That's GNPRochestercom, or call248-988-9640.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Lisa Swiftney.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Hi everyone, and welcome to Episode 124 of the
Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today, we have with us Lisa,and she is with the Assistance
League of Southeastern Michigan.
How are you doing today, Lisa?
(00:33):
I'm doing really great, Lisa.
So it's a Lisa Lisa show today?
Huh, it is.
It is the Lisa Lisa show.
So let's start off by tellingus what is the Assistance League
of Southeastern Michigan?
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Yeah.
So Assistance League ofSoutheastern Michigan is a
nonprofit organization locatedhere in Rochester.
We've been around for many,many years but it started back
in the 1890s out of Californiaby two after that feeling that
they needed to help people thatwere impacted by the war.
(01:01):
So they had a group of 12friends that started the chapter
in Southern California.
It evolved and as it evolvedback in the night.
(01:23):
1985 was their 50-yearanniversary of their
establishment and during thattime period they had 72 chapters
in 17 states with about 16,000dedicated volunteers.
So one of our chapter founderscame from California and in 1993
(01:47):
, she started SoutheasternMichigan's Assistance League
with a group of ladies about 175women that were interested in
the Detroit area to help feed,clothe and transform the lives
of individuals withinsoutheastern Michigan.
So that's how our organizationbegan and Cindy Serrar, who was
(02:10):
our founder, was one that wasinstrumental for bringing the
Assistance League to Michigan.
And we are the only Michiganchapter here in Rochester.
Some of the things that peopledon't know about us is that we
do have a resale store indowntown Rochester and that
helps fund some of our ninephilanthropic programs.
(02:31):
Most of our money is throughdonations, through grants and
through charitable events thatwe do and we have nine programs
that we support.
Let me give you one of thebiggest programs, which is
called Operation School Bell iswhere we go into school
districts in Oakland, wayne andMacomb County and we take over
(02:53):
their facility and we establisha store within the school and we
give away brand new coats, hats, gloves, uniforms in some areas
underwear, socks, hygiene kits,books and duffel bags to these
kids, and some of these childrenhave never had a brand new coat
, so it's a great way for themto start their school year.
(03:14):
That's our biggest fundraiser,that we look for donations and
grants and support from thecommunity to help get that done.
That's one of them.
The other ones that we do iscalled Assault Survivors and
that's providing personal kitsfor children and adults who have
been abused or sexuallyassaulted and domestic violence,
who have had their clothesdestroyed and retained by police
(03:39):
for evidence.
That's another big one we do.
Nourishing Neighbors is ourpartnership with the
Neighborhood House where we helpthe food pantry.
That's another big one we do.
Nourishing Neighbors is ourpartnership with the
Neighborhood House where we helpthe food pantry.
That's another one.
Pass it Forward is where wetake donations that we receive
at our store, at the resalestore and we move those goods to
other nonprofit organizations.
(04:00):
That's another one.
Wehelp is where we take andprovide brand new layette kits
over 20 items for babies' firstweeks, along with their safe
pack, their sleep pack.
We even provide car seats forthese young mothers who have
nothing once they leave thehospital with a newborn baby.
(04:22):
We do tutoring, we doscholarships, we do creative
teaching and then we have whatwe call community connection,
which is helping veterans andseniors in fostering out.
So those are some of the ninephilanthropic programs that 272
volunteers Lisa, let me justtell you, we are all volunteers
(04:43):
help to support our initiativein southeastern Michigan.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
That is amazing, so tell our listeners about your
journey.
How did you get involved withthe Assistance League?
Speaker 3 (04:56):
Well, you know, I felt a need to give back and
it's funny because you decidewhere you want to really put
your efforts and someone hadshared with me Assistance League
.
So I kind of looked into it and, oddly enough, I joined during
COVID and, believe it or not, wewere still doing our monthly
meetings via Zoom during COVIDand trying to generate some type
(05:21):
of revenue for our organizationto support our programs.
So I joined during COVID andI've just felt a need to give
back and again, I'm in mycommunity.
I live in Rochester.
It was just a good fit for me.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
That is amazing, so tell me a little bit more.
You have a couple of eventscoming up that you'd like to
share.
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yeah, our biggest event and our biggest fundraiser
is called Mistletoe Marketplaceand it is held at the Plaza
Grande in Shelby Township.
We've been doing it.
This will be our 21st year offundraising and, again, as I
mentioned earlier, proceeds fromour event help support our nine
philanthropic programs.
(06:05):
Last year we had 672 attendeesattend this event and let me
just tell you how it works.
You walk in, you're greeted bya host of members from the
Assistance League and we have a50-50 raffle.
We have a basket raffle, wehave a silent auction.
(06:25):
We have over 34 vendors that setup and sell their items
throughout.
We get a luncheon.
It's all well maintained, it'sorganized and orchestrated
Unbelievable.
It's a great place to have avenue.
We take over all four halls ofthe plaza, so it is a big event
and it starts at 930 in themorning and it runs to three
(06:49):
o'clock in the afternoon, soit's a great way to sit down,
have a nice lunch with somefriends and shop for the
holidays, and we look forward tohaving the guests come year
over year.
We're already at.
We're only a month away fromour event.
We're already at.
485 attendees have alreadypurchased their tickets for our
(07:10):
Mistletoe Marketplace.
Again, it helps supporteverything that we do.
Speaker 2 (07:15):
That is amazing.
And then, what are you lookingfor for ongoing support?
Are you looking for sponsors?
Are you looking for more ticketsales?
Speaker 3 (07:25):
all of the above, as we do get a large amount of
sponsorships.
We start our sponsorship earlyin the year, trying to get our
name out, because most peopledon't really know much about the
Assistance League ofSoutheastern Michigan.
So we hope you know.
We go up and down Rochesterasking for donations and
sponsorships from a lot of thelocal businesses in the
(07:47):
Rochester area and then weutilize, you know, facebook,
marketplace, the events piecesand obviously your tools that
you provide to get the word outso that people know you know
we're there to help support thecommunity.
And the best way to have funand have a great day at the
(08:08):
event is to come and see what wedo.
Our tickets are $90 a piece.
Like I said, it gives you a lotof opportunity and it gives you
a really nice luncheon.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
That's great, and can people buy a table of tickets?
Speaker 3 (08:23):
Absolutely.
They can buy a table, they cando a sponsorship.
Most of our sponsorships givethose sponsors one or two
tickets each.
You know it just depends on thedollar amount of the
sponsorship.
We go anywhere from $250 to$8,000 in different categories,
on the sponsor.
So those individuals' nameswill appear in slides throughout
(08:45):
our event, as well as theposters that we have within our
store and the publications thatwe give to all the attendees
that attend the event.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
That is amazing.
And then, what is the date ofyour event this year?
Speaker 3 (09:01):
It is November 13th and, just to give you kind of an
idea, you don't have to attend,although we would love for you
to attend, because we do allowpeople to go in to our site and
look at our items that they maywant to bid on, because there is
a bidding process that startson November 8th at noon.
So the silent auction biddingstarts at November 8th at noon
(09:24):
and it runs till noon on the13th of November.
They can go into alsmcboio topurchase a ticket or even just
to become a bidder, and we'vehad that happen in the past,
where people can attend but theywant to participate and see
what we have to offer.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
That is great, and we will share those links on the
bottom of our blog post as well.
For you, great, and so we'll beable to click on that to
purchase tickets.
So that sounds like a veryamazing event and I look forward
for it to come up.
You said a month away, soNovember 13th, and it's like you
(10:06):
said it's a good way to gettogether, grab some girlfriends,
have lunch and do someChristmas shopping.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
They come year over year and that's how we really do
generate a lot of the revenueto help support our nine
philanthropic programs.
This is our largest and biggestfundraiser, year over year.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
Good.
So anything else you would likeus to know about the Assistance
League or about the eventcoming up?
Speaker 3 (10:35):
Yeah, absolutely Part of you know.
If you haven't seen our store,it's on the resale connection.
It's right on Main Street and2nd right on the street front.
But we had some exciting newsthis year After searching for a
building for over 10 years, wefound a warehouse building on
South Street which is going tohouse a lot of our goods that we
(10:58):
keep in our warehouse now forall our philanthropic programs
as well, as we're looking in thenear future to have furniture
for sale there.
So not only can people come inour resale store and buy nice
women's clothing and home goods,but they will also be able to
look at some of our items at ourwarehouse for furniture,
(11:20):
because we do sell little, smallpieces of furniture at our
resale store but we, you know wedon't have the space for some
of the stuff that we receive asdonations.
So that's exciting news.
You know, again, we're lookingobviously for some support.
We were able to purchase thebuilding.
Some of the proceeds from ourMistletoe Marketplace are going
(11:42):
to help support us paying offthat building loan pretty soon,
sooner than we thought.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Well, you have a lot of amazing things going on with
the Assistance League this year,so kudos to you guys and I wish
you guys much success.
Lisa, I want to thank you forbeing a guest today on our Good
Neighbor podcast and sharingwith us how we can help and be
part of the Assistance League.
(12:10):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Yeah, thank you so much, Lisa.
We appreciate your support too,so we hope to see you at our
Mistletoe marketplace.
Yes, thanks again.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Thanks for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast,
rochester.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPRochestercom.
That's GNPRochestercom, or call248-988-9640.
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