October 27, 2021 People/Dining/Shopping/Events/Culture All defining Livonia
|
|
Seedlings' 6th Annual Online Auction
Attracts widespread community support
|
On Monday and again today FridayMusings outlined that the Livonia City Council candidates have raised nearly $200,000 and yes campaigns cost money but some of the money raised left this observer shaking his head and wondering how one favorite Livonia non-profit was doing coming out of the pandemic.
Seedlings is preparing for their November 10-17 online auction with the expectation of raising $20,000 in order to make 2,000 braille books available for children with vision loss.
The nine companies above along with Rick & Erin Swaine have stepped up to be headline sponsors for the auction. Four others have added their name as supporting sponsors: Community Financial, Pipefitters Local 636, Wolverine Orthotics, and Shaw Construction.
If the typewriter could give a standing ovation to these thirteen sponsors I would, so let's pretend that you and I are standing together and thanking these community-spirited businesses, organizations, and individuals.
|
Now, how can you and I help reach that goal of $20,000? And maybe be the winning bidder for Red Wing tickets?
First: Mark your calendars and be ready to bid November 10-17!
Third: start bidding on November 10th
Now there are two items that I want to draw your attention to. One is lunch with Mayor Maureen Miller Brosnan and the other is lunch with the typewriter AND an article in Musings.
Last year the lunch with Mayor Brosnan went for $200 and was sold to Gary S. and the lunch with the typewriter went for $150 and was sold to Robb D.
This year these two lunches are listed under the category of Unique Experiences which means they are among the last two, U, after all, coming at the end of the alphabet. I am going to lobby next year that they should be listed under Awesome Experiences and come first.
I am determined that this will not happen this year. So get ready to help me top $200. Please. Now I do not want to beg, but. . .
Let's help Seedlings come out of the pandemic with a Better Normal. Normal just is not good enough.
|
Check out this weekend "The War of the Worlds" on stage at Barefoot Productions |
|
Seedlings featured on CW50 Community Connect |
Reading is the foundation to a good education, and within the blind community, braille books are really the best way for early childhood education to include reading. Braille books are expensive to make and expensive to purchase, making it challenging for for-profit companies to find a sustainable foothold in the market.
Seedlings Braille Books for Children took the nonprofit route to find sustainability in the market to help the community that is in much need of braille books. Seedlings was founded in 1984 by Debra Bonde. In 1985, the first year of book production, Debra made 221 books in her basement office.
By 1990, Seedlings was producing 5,000 books per year. In 2020, Seedlings is located in a larger building, with a small staff, and a group of loyal volunteers, producing nearly 30,000 braille books and articles (60% of which were given away for free), with a grand total of 608,885 since 1984, equalling over 25 million pages of braille.
From toddlers to classic literature for older children, Seedlings offers a variety of books to cover several years of educational development.
Being that it’s a nonprofit organization, Seedlings gives away about half of their books and sells the rest for a fraction of what it costs to make them. Support comes from individual donations, philanthropic groups, corporations, and private foundations.
Debra Bonde, Founder of Seedlings Braille Books for Children, joins Lisa Germani on Community Connect to talk about the process of creating braille books, how they get their funding, and what it means to her personally to provide this support to the community.
To see the complete interview click here:
|
Liam (pictured) is one of the Seedlings kids. Read this nice quote his family sent to them:
“Liam is deafblind and an avid reader of braille. His main source of entertainment is reading as you can see from a recent family trip; he found a lovely spot to do some reading on Lake Erie. Seedlings’ books are awesome so those that do not read braille can follow along with him.”
Happy reading, Liam!!
|
|
Returning to a Better Normal with another great Livonia Christmas Parade
Billy Keppen is hard at work to bring us another Livonia Christmas Parade. Thank you Livonia for this welcoming event.
The Merry & Bright Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting is back! Mark your calendars for 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5.
They will kick off with a parade from Frost Middle School to the Livonia City Hall south entrance, where there will be tree lighting before families can enjoy some free activities at the Livonia Public Library’s Bennett Civic Center Library around 5 p.m.
If it's anything like this picture, it’s sure to be a great event to kick off the holiday season.
They are currently looking for civic groups, school groups, non-profits, etc. who would like to get festive and walk in the parade. Be it dressing up, making a banner, or building a float, they want your group to show your holiday spirit while marching along.
You’d be welcome to hand out candy or giveaway items along the route before continuing along to the participant pick-up location at the Kirksey Recreation Center.
Those interested should email Billy at wkeppen@livonia.gov for details.
Let's make the return to normal a return to a Better Normal. Thanks Billy.
|
|
Council race breaks all contemporary records for donations.
County income reports updated: $197,850
Expenses updated total: $124,024
Cash on hand updated: $73,827
Our Livonia City Council race has accumulated from the five candidates who have submitted their required campaign finance reports $197,850 in campaign donations taking into account the $26,104 transferred by Laura Toy from her Mayoral campaign into her Council campaign.
Two candidates have raised over $50,000. Dan Centers, 50,370, with expenditures of $40,225. Rob Donovic, 50,538, with expenditures reported of $25,796.
Jim Jolly raised $17,615 with expenditures of 12,753. Scott Morgan raised 19,734 with expenditures of 18,437. Carrie Budzinski raised 10,519 with expenditures of 10,268. Laura Toy raised 38,279 with expenditures of 9,797. Ken Overwater raised 10,796, with expenditures of 6,748.
Both Toy and Overwater were listed as not filing by the deadline of October 20, however, on Monday Wayne County listed both candidate reports with a filing date of October 20 for Toy and October 17 for Overwater.
These figures are as of October 17. There will be a post-general election report that will include contributions and expenses after October 17. Some candidates will hold expenses until after the October 17 deadline so as to keep their numbers lower.
|
Haunted Storywalk this Saturday |
|
|
|
|
|
|
