Cook Family Foundation

Times of difficulty reveal our strengths and weaknesses.  During the challenges of the last 45 days, we have seen that our local nonprofit organizations are one of the strengths of Shiawassee County.  We count on nonprofits to add to the quality of life in our community, and over the years these groups have made Shiawassee County a better place to live for more of its residents.  Our community has an extraordinary capacity to come together and solve problems; those who volunteer and give of their time have a can-do attitude.  In the crisis brought on by the coronavirus, we have seen an amazing spirit of kindness, resolve, and generosity.  For this, we are thankful.

People express their values through their actions, and we have long seen Shiawassee County residents come together to care for one another, to entertain and enrich our lives through the arts, to promote our local economy, to conserve our river and the larger environment, to preserver our heritage, to create opportunities for our youth, and to protect and promote the most vulnerable members of our community.  The same attitude that made these collective endeavors possible is now serving the community well as we seek to recover from the impact of a dangerous pandemic which has thrown our futures into uncertainty.

Several nonprofits have stepped up their on-going work to help those in need. For instance, the Shiawassee Council on Aging has added to their Meals On Wheels program to help the elderly in their homes. Other organizations, like Respite Volunteers and the Arc of Mid-Michigan, have built on their long-standing relationships to better serve their clients.  Other organizations are assessing their strengths and finding new ways to serve the community.  Durand Union Station, with a well-known facility and talented volunteers, has become a hub for the collection of home-made masks and are distributing them to places and people in need of personal protection equipment (PPE).  This combination of personal relationships, competence and flexibility are serving our community well.

Raise Up Shiawassee was a commitment created by our nonprofit organizations inspired by the Giving Tuesday global movement to promote generosity. Many local groups began collaborating in 2017 to create greater awareness about their missions, raise funds to assist them in their endeavors, and encourage volunteerism. On Giving Tuesday, December 3, 2019, more than $78,000 was donated to local groups. Genesee United Way, serving Shiawassee County, provided a website and online giving portal to encourage donations.  The individual strengths of many organizations were amplified through cooperation, and trust and relationships were built.

Little did the community know that the collaboration built around Giving Tuesday would be of service during the COVID-19 crisis.  As it became clear that an emergency response would be needed locally, organizations came together to repurpose the Raise Up Shiawassee brand.  The United Way shifted their online giving website to support donations to the COVID-19 Response Fund, a fund managed by the Shiawassee County Emergency Operations Center.  Nonprofits and social service agencies coordinated their communications to support an Essential Needs Hotline (989-743-2460) to provide assistance and referrals to local agencies.

To increase awareness, the Raise Up Shiawassee Facebook page has been providing public service announcements related to COVID-19 and highlighting the work of community organizations. And, perhaps most importantly, the nonprofits in the community have been communicating regularly and coordinating their efforts to support the community during these difficult times.  For some this has led to the sharing of staff and resources, providing tips to grants and other resources to serve the community, and coming together to problem solve.  For others, this has meant finding new ways to meet their mission with innovative ways to support our local economy, online education efforts, and helping to heal through nature and the beauty of art.

The Cook Family Foundation, Shiawassee Community Foundation, and the United Way provide a backbone of organizational structure, but it is mostly the mutual support of our local nonprofits that have enabled them to carry on their important work during this difficult time.

On May 5, the global Giving Tuesday effort is coming together to celebrate the generosity that has been on display for the last several weeks throughout the world.  Locally, nonprofits are coming together to express their thanks for all that has been done in Shiawassee County.  If you are able, we would ask you to find a way to support our local nonprofit partners AND donate to help those in need in our community.  You can find a list of local nonprofits with links to their websites (click here).  You can donate the COVID-19 Response Fund online at raiseupshiawassee.org. Thank you.

Thoughts from Tom Cook, the Executive Director of the Cook Family Foundation.

When I was at Camp Hayo-Went-Ha as a youth, sitting around a campfire, the camp director grabbed a piece of kindling and easily snapped it in half. Then he held eight pieces of kindling together, and though he applied considerable force, he was unable to break them. I think of this story as our community faces a unique and severe challenge brought on by a virus too small to see. We will either rise to the occasion and discover new strengths, or we will have our deficiencies exposed. Probably some of both, but if we work together, we can get through this trial and hopefully build new muscles that will allow us to make our community healthier, and a better place to live for more of us.

Currently, our community–Shiawassee County–and our country (and the world) confront an unprecedented situation. This is foremost a health crisis, so we listen first to the experts, and we our fortunate to have the wisdom and services of the Shiawassee County Health Department and Memorial Healthcare. However, there are many difficult decisions we face as individuals and organizations not directly related to public health for which there is no clear guidance. We need to look to each other for help making choices, and we need to be patient and supportive of each other as we all struggle to learn and discover the best course of action.

Our options may be constrained by social distancing, by new laws and rules put in place to protect public health, breakdowns in communication, a lack of resources, and a missing person whom we have counted on in the past to give us guidance. It is time to be creative, to think of new solutions to problems, to experiment, and to rely on partners that perhaps we have not called on before.

We All Have Assets. Fortunately, we have many strengths in our community, and we can start by looking at our own skills and the successful work of our community organizations.  What is your purpose?  How can you continue to serve that purpose, and do it in a way that helps others and strengthens our community?  The Cook Family Foundation works to assist locally-based nonprofit organizations better serve the residents of Shiawassee County.  We are proud of having helped several organizations add capacity that, right now, are helping them serve our neighbors in need. Other organizations–ours included–are now realizing that what worked for them last week isn’t appropriate today.

Not all of us have a direct role in fighting the COVID-19 virus and its impact on the population, but all of us have a responsibility to not make the situation worse. Thus, for many of us, the best thing to do is to stay at home and limit our interactions with others. For a community where people come together often, this is hard. We are used to helping out those in need, or working together to make the place in which we live better, or just enjoying each other’s company and celebrating all that is good.

Staying connected is our first challenge. Call your family and friends, especially those you rely on for emotional support, or who you know you can cheer up. To meet our work responsibilities we may need to look to new tools for communication. The Cook Family Foundation quickly and easily began to use Zoom for virtual meetings, but there are other online platforms like Go To Meetings and Google Hangout that allow for face-to-face communication, sharing of documents, and productive brainstorming without participants being physically in the same room.

Facebook and other social media also connects us, and we are fortunate to have these tools available. I have worried sometimes that in our community we use social media to voice our criticism and then save our positive interactions for face-to-face encounters. It’s time to flip that, check our criticism, and limit our negativity.  Not that our feedback isn’t useful, but let’s think about the best way to share our ideas and suggestions. In all our communications–online, phone, and from six feet away from another person–let’s be extra aware of the impact our words and attitudes will have.  Now is the time to be as positive, optimistic and supportive as we can.  We are all struggling to cope; some days may be harder than others.

The Cook Family Foundation’s role is to provide funding to local nonprofits and we remain committed to doing that, now and in the future. With the declines in the stock market, our endowment has also been reduced and our financial position is not as strong as it was, but we have funds. Our current priority is to support organizations helping Shiawassee residents–especially those in need or at risk–get through this difficult time. Let us know if we can help. Longer term, we recognize our nonprofits may need support to recover from the current situation; we will be there to help then.

None of us do our work alone. All of our local nonprofits need support right now, especially if you have some past history of involvement as a participant, volunteer or donor. In the isolated days ahead, think of the right way to reach out to them and show your support. If a nonprofit works to help those in most need, they can really use moral or financial help. Already, several community groups that serve particular populations are trying new ways to reach out to their constituents; how can we help them do this?

If your favorite nonprofit does not directly address human needs, this is a time to be creative. What new way can we deliver on our mission?  What work can we do online, alone, or in a closed office to move us forward? How can our arts and cultural organizations engage, entertain and enlighten all of us stuck at home?  How can groups that work to protect and promote our natural resources remind us of what a special place in which we live?  How can we all help educate and support children who are learning at home?  The mission and work of all our community organizations is important.  We all need to continue to move forward, though it may be in a different direction and in a new way.