It was a cool summer evening this past Thursday, August 13th, when White Picket Real Estate and the Coalition for the Homeless took over the Norton Commons Amphitheatre for the Helping Homes Happen: A Fundraiser to End Veteran Homelessness. They hosted this kickoff fundraiser to celebrate their partnership and to bring even more supporters on board. They already had a presenting sponsor, First Liberty Financial Mortgage, who took it upon themselves to fund the entire event as well as to waive fees for homeless veterans and to donate 5% of those sales to the Coalition. Additionally, co-sponsors of the event include: Norton Commons, Norton Commons Realty, Commonwealth Tap, Pet Station, and Limestone Title & Escrow.
What is so special about this new collaboration that it deserves its own event? White Picket has made a commitment of donating 5% of ALL transactions to the Coalition for the Homeless. This year, the Coalition is working on its Rx: Housing Veterans project to house all of Louisville’s homeless veterans by 2016. As a result, all of the money raised at this fundraiser will be used towards this cause.
A lot of different things were going on at the fundraiser that night. Radiotronic was playing at center stage while spectators sat on the steps of the amphitheater and enjoyed the concert. There were breaks between every couple of songs and that was when speakers from the Coalition and White Picket came up to talk about their partnership, about the veterans project, and about the ways everyone could help. On top of that, there were food and drinks available for purchase from Zoom Zoom Yum, Mike’s Kentucky Kitchen, Tea Station Chinese Bistro, and Professional Bar Service; all of whom also donated 15-20% of their total gross sales of the night to the Coalition.
There were also balloon animals for the kids, baskets of various goodies up for raffle, and sign-ups for the Five Bucks a Month Club. White Picket picked up the $5 club effort and made it their own rally that night. They pushed for attendees to consider and sign up for the club, and they had a goal of getting at least 100 or more to register. The Five Bucks a Month Club is a Coalition program where supporters donate $5 a month to the Coalition towards their White Flag Program. Essentially, the White Flag Program helps partner shelters open their doors to those in need on extreme weather days (<35 in winter, >95 in summer), even if it exceeds the shelter’s maximum capacity.
All in all, the fundraiser had a successful night of raising support, awareness, and donations! This is only the beginning of a great collaboration and all of the possibilities that it will generate!
Photos by Irena Tran and Courtesy of Catherine McGeeney
