Hello, Friend –

You know how sometimes something unexpected happens and it kinda changes everything?

Well, that's what just happened to Mittens for Detroit late on June 26th when a pipe burst in the ceiling above our office. We are in a 100+ year old building in downtown Detroit, and things like this happen. Unfortunately, it happened to us. We've had some small leaks spoil some pairs over the 10 years we've been in this building, but this was nothing short of a doozy.



Our amazing building manager - Joyce Wine - contacted me on Friday night to tell me the news. And at 9:30am on Saturday I walked with her to the basement hallway in front of our office, and I saw the aftermath from this leak. In short, it's a disaster. I'm sharing a few pictures, just to give you the idea.... but honestly, this is unimaginable. The pictures don't really show the scope. It is so very sad to see such waste. And it's basically like we are starting from scratch again.... as we kick off our 17th Season of Warmth.

The disaster crew worked fast on Friday evening and moved everything that was wet out of the office. THOUSANDS of mittens and gloves were dragged in bags and soaked boxes from the office into the hall outside of the office. Many box bottoms simply collapsed. Everyone at Bedrock has been amazing, and I know this is hard for them, too.

Ken, my husband, wasn't able to come to the office to help because he was sick, and my wonderful friend Sam dropped everything to help me try to salvage any pairs that might be dry. Sadly, there weren't very many. It's heartbreaking. The water wasn't clean, and right away the soiled pairs started to show signs of mildew and mold. MFD can only give out new pairs, and simply, these thousands were wasted. Horrific. It took until Wednesday for a group of about 30 amazing volunteers to clean up this mess over the days and then organize the few pairs that were salvageable. And to add to all of this, it was a holiday week AND the worst heatwave Detroit has had in a very long time!

Our office is closed until August so that it can be repaired. I'm out on a medical leave for a week or so starting 7/6 (this is turning into a good old fashioned country western song! Where's my truck? Where's my dog?). I'll be working from home during July... because where else could I go!

Finding the majority of the pairs ruined and needing to be disposed of was beyond nauseating, horrifying, and downright defeating. If you know me, you know I'm an optimist and maybe something good will come of this. But right now, this is a real shock and so, so sad. I've been in touch with our insurance company. It has been an overwhelming and exhausting week - physically, mentally, and emotionally - as we try to figure out how to replace the pairs that were in the office, slated to be boxed up in August for our Distribution Partners to pick up in the September just before our 17th Season of Warmth would begin.

So now what? We try to build back to where we were while getting ready for the next season. With the community's health, we made it through the pandemic. We are already receiving some support. The building management has worked hard to make all of this as easy as possible for us, and we are so grateful. We have had wonderful news coverage fro WXYZ, WDIV, and Fox2, and some radio programs have shared the information. It is gratifying to see that the media sees that mittens matters. And so many people have made wonderful donations to our "disaster relief" giving page.

Bluntly, now we need you to get involved right away!

We cannot receive pairs until the office is open in August. What you can do falls into a couple of categories:

Be a Team Mittens Ambassador.

• Read all about the story on our Facebook page if you are connected – Facebook.com/MittensForDetroit
• Watch the news coverage (see below).
• Most important.... please consider making a donation to our "disaster relief" giving page – bit.ly/HelpMittySaveHisMittens
• Share, share, share our posts and story with your networks - the more people who are engaged, the faster we will be able to get back on track.

Mittens for Detroit is still a one-staff office. We need as many people pitching in as possible, just like the volunteers did in that basement for five days. If you have any ideas or want to throw a fundraiser for us, that would be great. Send an email to me at Volunteer@MittensForDetroit.org. I have an idea I'm working on where everyone can get involved... I'll share it in a week or so when it's ready to go! Watch this space!

This week has been a week, that's for sure. My amazing mom Fran Shepherd used to say many very smart things. The gem I'm holding in my head and heart right now is: "Out of the worst things come the best stories." I know that something good will come out of this... if only to be the winner of a "What's the worst thing that happened to your nonprofit" contest!

Thank you all for being there for us. I always say that Mittens for Detroit - a small but mighty Detroit nonprofit - has made it through our 16th year because the community wants us to exist. I hope you will be there now and answer our calls to action.

THANKS!

Wendy Shepherd, Executive Director, & The MFD Board of Directors