Press coverage September 2008

Good morning my fellow WCR members and readers! I wanted to share with you an article on this project we have been working on all year!

We are celebrating our first years success on September 27th! It has been a very busy this year getting this project up and running..........but we did it and we are proud!

Our local Chapter made the on line news paper, and we have claims from other media that they will cover as well...............so I share with you the 1st of many (I hope)!

http://www.rapidgrowthmedia.com/developmentnews/flow0918.aspx

There is a post of mine currently featured on active rain that refers to the Habitat home that our local chapter participated in............. this was funded through this foundation and labor came from WCR members.

Our local chapter is making a difference in our committy..................I am very proud to be be a member of WCR and connected with such wonderful woman!

Who our landscapers are for 2008

Our Landscapers:

Signature Outdoor Concepts - Jason Haywood http://www.signatureoutdoorconcepts.com/

Wabeke Lawn Service and Snowplowing, Inc. - Mike Wabeke
http://www.wabekelawn.com/

River's Edge Property Management - Lynn Beukema
Riversedge5558@sbcglobal.net

D.J.'s Lawn Service, Inc. - D.J. Vander Slik Jr.
http://www.djslawnservice.com/

Wildwood, Inc. - Justin Heyboer
http://www.wildwoodlandscape.com/

Harder and Warner Nursery - Erma Warner - http://www.harderandwarner.com/

Fix My Yard - Steve Sanders - (no website) (616) 299-7014

Kloosterman Landscaping, Inc. - Bob Kloosterman
http://www.kloostermanlandscaping.com/

JLH Landscaping - Justin Hickman
http://www.jlhlandscapers.com/

A BIG thank you to my senior volunteers!

Collating and book making was the plan for the day yesterday. ICCF who has partnered with us for the F.L.O.W. foundation, called in their senior volunteers. We had fun and they worked hard to get it all done. I got to learn how to use a binding machine! The books look great.........Mary Mishler made the lay out and Brendan O'Driscoll printed the pages for us. Which has been wonderful, as everything needed to get this foundation up and running has been donated! So thus far............every penny donated has been used for the foundation. Not ONE admin cost as of yet!
This foundation was meant to be a community project and it really has turned out that way. People from all over have pitched in to help!
I so enjoy all the new people I get to meet. Here is a pic of my senior volunteers hard at work:

Art work to be auctioned off at F.L.O.W. Garden Party

F.L.O.W. Garden Party and Garden Tickets - Ready for your order!

We are excited! September 27, 2008 will be the Garden Tour and Garden Party to celebrate F.L.O.W.'s first years success!

Yes, we have a commitment for 10 yards to be transformed..........and a great party planned! For those of you that have been to a WCR party, you know we can throw a great party!

Here are the details:
Garden Tour Saturday September 27th, 10am till 4pm
Garden Tour books with maps of the homes cost $10.00

Garden Party - Saturday 27th 5pm - 8pm Tickets Cost 20.00 Ticket price includes:
Entrance to Garden Party at Republic on South Division

(Rockwell's and Republic NEW Restaurant)
Vallet Parking
Appetizers
Door Prizes
Auction Art (book mark this blog, as will be adding pics of the art to be auctioned) All local artist!
Meet our Sponsors and Landscapers
A fun time had by all!

Buy both - Garden Tour Book and a Garden Party ticket at a reduced price of $25.00

To order your tickets please e-mail Dannielle Rowland - Danielle.Rowland@flagstar.com
www.flowgr.com

F.L.O.W. Update - Landscaping the Habitat Home “Woman Built”

Well, the landscaping of the Woman Built Habitat Home was great fun! We got VERY dirty, and I probably have never worked this hard ever in my life! I was sore from head to toe and perspired in places that I had no idea there were sweat glands! It was the hottest day of the year so far! However we worked hard and got it all done. What a great sense of accomplishment it was!

WCR members, Mary Mishler (WCR President), Shelly Abbott, Michelle Gordon, and Kathy Thayer were there, along with friends and family members.

September is just around the corner, and will be here before we know it. The members of the F.L.O.W. committee have been working hard to get as much money raised as we can and have done a fantastic job bringing this whole project together. There was much to work to out…..details, details and more details! Might I say next year will be much easier as the play book has now been written!

We currently have 10 Landscapers on board with the project who are going to volunteer their time and plants.

Romance Gardens has already committed to donating some plants for the project. (Susan Pastoor (Metropolitan Title) is working on all the other retail nurseries in the area)

We just got a donation of $500.00 from Huntington Bank to the project. Which now covers the rest of the cost of the Woman built – Habitat Home. So as I wipe the sweat off my brow, we have raised enough money to support this wonderful project. A JOB WELL DONE!

Have you considered donating to F.L.O.W?

If you have been meaning to donate and just have not done it yet, or if you were waiting to see if we could really get this project up and running. Wait no longer………..
This project is really going to happen, we are up and running, we are going to landscape 10 homes this fall! More if possible, we will not stop till we have to!

You can very easily donate by using pay pal on our blog site……..look tothe right, there is the PayPal button, go a head use it, I dare you!

If every realtor/lender in Kent County gave $10.00, we would have enough money for 3 or 4 homes! How wonderful it would be if I could advertise how all the Kent County Realtors and Lenders supported the movement of F.L.O.W. and how WE as a group of Realtors and Lenders were able to fund 3 or 4 of the homes!

$10.00 = 3 grande Star Bucks coffee, 2 cocktails at the bar, 1 lunch out with friends, maybe ¼ tank of gas, money wasted on lotto tickets, school lunch for a week (the kids are out now), found change in the bottom of purse and/or floor board of our cars. However this $10.00 for F.L.O.W. will be a tax deductible donation, none of the others listed are!

A reminder to save the date:

September 27th is the Garden Tour and Garden Party. Some details are on the website now and will be updated as we get more activities finalized, but I am guessing you will not want to miss the party of the summer! So block out that date on your calendar NOW!

F.L.O.W. is on the MOVE

We had a wonderful time at the “Making Thyme Kitchen” on Tues May 6th. We tasted some awesome foods served up by our gracious host’s Karen and Ken the owners. While the tasting event is over, they’re still offering through end of May to give 20% back to FLOW!!!

Words from Mary Kent our Sponsor co-chair:

We sampled the Jamaican Chicken Burgers with Mango Sauce YUMEEE!!! The Sweet Potato and Black Bean Cakes and my personal favorite, Baked Macaroni and Cheese. My usually picky 8 year son loved it too!!

Please help support FLOW and forget about COOKING!!! To order Just call 616.406.8511, fax. 616.241.2084, email, info@makingthymekitchen.com or stop by 962 Cherry St SE ½ block west of Diamond.

View the May Menu and MAKE SURE TO SAY YOUR ORDERING TO SUPPORT FLOW!!!

Results of Yard Sale

What a fun day this was! We Raised another $250.00. A big thank you to all who donated and to Naya Bistro for the donation of the room. We had a rapid change in the weather. It got chilly, so having the yard sale inside was a God send.

The volunteers who worked the sale, Mary Kent, Susan Pastoor, Sarah DeWitt, Linda Pell, I – Michelle Gordon and 3 youth also spent money, many goodies were to be found at our yard sale.

We really liked meeting the public who came out and shopped, and were able to hand out brochures on F.L.O.W. to everyone (courtesy of Chris Gamelin). Being able to spread the word of our foundation was as important as it was to make money.

I have to say, working on this project has put me in touch with many people in the public that I normally would not meet. I was able to hand out my business card to one shopper's, and when people found out we were realtors and lenders, they were impressed.

The funniest donation we had was a woman dropped off a “great” collection of CD’s. We asked her why she was getting rid of such a good collection. Her comment: Her boy friend had broken up with her and he left behind the collection! So she donated them to a good cause and got some personal satisfaction as well!

Getting to know these members of W.C.R. while working on the yard sale was priceless. We tend to all go to the luncheon but not much time to “really” get to know each other. This was a good way to spend some time together and learn a little more about each other personally.

Mary Mishler dropped in to see us during the course of her busy day. Thank you for your continued support to this very important cause.

We all felt this was a great success for how small our yard sale was, so we want to do this bigger and better in the summer! So if everyone will get a box or a garbage bag, mark it F.L.O.W. start adding your old “stuff”. We will need it this summer!

We need a volunteer to have it at their home, what we have learned: Better at a house then a business, better to be able to drop off donations all week, not just one day. EGR is a great location for yard sales, yes I live in EGR, but my husband is NOT yard sale friendly! Ha-ha let me know if you are willing to host the yard sale.

Watch out for more fund raisers on the way!

And then there was more help!

Another person went out on their own to work on the “Woman Built” Habitat home for humanity. Linda Pell a member of WCR, went out on her own and worked at this home. Linda called me after working on the home yesterday, as she had a great experience, she said she was pleased with how many people came out to help after they worked their “full time jobs” . If felt like an Amish committee that is working together to build a new home. Linda has signed up for 2 more days. Linda worked on making trellises and feels so good about the work she did that it makes the muscle pain she has not feel so bad!!!

The home Shelly(see post below) and Linda went out to work on is the home WCR is supporting for Landscaping as part of our F.L.O.W. foundation.

Thank you Linda!!!!

The date set aside for WCR to work on the landscaping portion is June 7th, however if you do not want to do physical work, there is still room to support the landscaping project financially. See sponsorship section of the F.L.O.W. website.

Also visit our blog site often for more info and to keep up on the updates as they become available.

Above are pictures of the home courtesy of Linda Pell.

Thank you Shelly Abbott - Greenridge Realty

Shelly took it upon herself to be the first to assist with the "Woman Built" habitat for humanity home, here is what they had to say about Shelly:

I had the pleasure of meeting Shelly Abbott from Greenridge Realty on Saturday who was a part of the first day of construction! Shelly decided to help out as a general volunteer and is excited about returning to work on the landscaping with the Women’s Council of Realtors. Shelly will be a great asset to your team in helping with the landscaping!

Kathy M. Forzley
Habitat for Humanity of Kent County

Good Job Shelly!!!!! and Thank you!

We are still looking for cash donations for this project. If you are interested in joining the day of landscaping please e-mail michellegordon@grar.com

Thank you!!!!

A new fund raiser is on its way!!!!

Yes, it is spring cleaning time. Do you want something to do with that old junk you have laying around? Please consider donating to our Yard Sale.

When: April 26th – Saturday

Time: drop off time 7am – 9am - Sale 9am – 4pm

Where: Naya Bistro and Wine Bar – 1144 East Paris, SE – Naya will be having a new special - $5.00 off diners ordered between 4pm and 6pm!

What: Give us anything you do not want anymore! All left over items will be donated to Salvation Army, unless requested by someone else.

Volunteers – I will need some help to work the sale. This is a great opportunity for youth looking for service hours!

If you plan on dropping off “stuff” and/or need more info please e-mail Michelle Gordon – michellegordon@grar.com

And…………plan on doing a little shopping!!!!

fundraiser event 03/08/2008

I want to thank everyone who participated! This first fundraiser was a HUGE success. We raised $1,000.00! It was so much fun. The hostess for the products were wonderful, and I had the most fun ringing the bell every time some one cashed in at the gold swap. Jennifer Tabor gets a special thank you, as she cashed is 2,500.00 in gold!

However our money from this event has not stopped here..........everyone who booked a party from this event, the home shopping reps are donating another 1 percent of all sales from future parties! So money will continue to roll in.

Mary Kent our sponsorship chair had the best idea for this fundraiser.....thank you Mary!

Mary Kent has more fundraisers planned, watch out for the next one, as I am sure it will be just as fun as this one was!

Donna was able to talk to the reps for membership to WCR, and Olive's had sales (we got 10 percent of those too) that exceeded their normal lunch days!

I have to say, I am over whelmed with the continued support I get from WCR! Joining this group was this best decision I have made in a long time.

A TEARFUL AND HEART FELT THANK YOU!

F.L.O.W. Fundraiser at Olive's in EGR

We have 8 home shopping representatives all in one place for your enjoyment and convenience. Each rep is going to donate a percentage of their proceeds to F.L.O.W.

Olives Restaurant is going to open their doors for our “private” party. The bar will be open (cash bar) and a special appetizer menu will be provided. From 1 p.m. till 4 p.m. 10 PERCENT OF ALL BAR SALES WILL BE DONATED TO F.L.O.W. so at the very least come AND HAVE A COCKTAIL!

Below is a list of who will be there and their website. If you can not attend, but want to order something you may do so on line.

If you would like to attend but do not have an e-vite, please email me so I can keep count of how many are coming, we do not want to run out of food or drinks! thegordons1450@comcast.net

Table 1. GOLD SWAP – Mike Wagner - You are able to make money with your old gold jewelry and then go shopping! Bring in your broken, missing earring, herringbone, unwanted gold jewelry and swap in for cash!

Mary Kay - Rep is Diane K Smith website is http://www.marykay.com/dianeksmith/default.aspx

Pampered Chef – Rep Cindy Qualmann - COLDWELL BANKER AJS http://www.pamperedchef.biz/cindyQ The new spring catalogue is out!

Silpada – Laura VanRavenswaay www.mysilpada.com/laurie.van

Purses – http://www.beijobags.com/
Marylyn Wagner – RE/MAX SUNQUEST REALTY

Jewels by Park Lane – Melissa Maxson http://www.jewelsbyparklane.com/

Southern Living at Home - Joni Korb - https://www.southernlivingathome.com/Corp/index.aspx

Essential Oils, Clara Vanderzouwen http://www.naturalhealth4today.com/

How landscaping affects our community in the economic status we are currently in.

Homes sales keep the economy purring. Home buying is one the main factors of turning the economy around. If we increase home sales, it will affect everyone even if they are not buying or selling a home. Increased home sales will help boost our economy in this domino effect:

Landscape city yards….

City neighborhoods become a more desired area to live for home buyers
Home sales increase in the city
Reduced inventory allows to stabilize prices and recover home values
Sellers are selling and are able to buy their 2nd home
This effects new construction and mid price range homes
New construction sales will rise
This will affect jobs as well
People out of work can go back to work due to demand and retail sales will rise.
If mid price range home sales increases this will affect the sales of the higher end homes as well.

The outcome:
Home sales on the rise………foreclosure rates are lowered and economy status stabilizes.

Grand Rapids WILL be vital again, with the medical industry expansion. When people come to check us out for relocation purposes…………lets give them something to look at! Some GREAT looking city neighborhoods that includes a community who cares!

No gift is to small………..donate today……….and do not forget this is a tax write off!

A community project in Grand Rapids

A big thank you goes out to Lola Audu! Lola with Audu Real Estate in Grand Rapids got wind of my community project that I have been working on with ICCF and Woman Council of Realtors. She loved the idea and has bloged it for me on her own blog.

Our community project is F.L.O.W. (friends landscaping our world). A non-profit community project to landscape lower income family homes in the city of Grand Rapids.

Lola is very much a well respected person and realtor in our community. Her support means so much to me.

I have to admit I think her blog looks better then mine as she knows how to do all the “cool” stuff!
Check out her blog at http://activerain.com/blogsview/351291/F-L-O-W

Thus far getting support from the community for material things has been great! We are able to get local artist help for the out door art auction, Items for the silent auction, donation of a website (which will be up and running soon) a sign company has agreed to make our signs for free etc…..however like any other non-profit we need cold hard cash.

Your cash donation is a charitable tax write off. No donation is too little. Here on our F.L.O.W. blog site we have pay pal set up for your convenience.


The website is www.flowgr.com (coming soon) this website will feature all sponsors.

Personal thoughts from Michelle Gordon

To date I have posted on this blog information that has been PR worthy. However, a true blog is a web journal, where personal thoughts and ideas are shared. Google thinks of them to be more reliable source of information, as they contain a 2 way conversation and are constantly updated VS a website that may be updated once a year, and no access to a 2 way conversation. So feel free to post your comments………PLEASE!

So here it goes, I am posting my personal feelings about this project. However I will admit to using spell check, I am not going totally free of help!

Yes personal feelings…………….as this project is very personal to me. When I decided to do this project the summer of 2007, I had no idea the effect it would have on me. I thought, I had a good idea the effect it would have on the new home owners. However, they blew me away as well.

The home owners already had a sense of accomplishment as they just purchased a home which they worked very hard to get themselves in a position to do so. However, they were amazed that someone would donate time and money to them. Jason at signature did not even know them and he was donating his time and money. They cried when the truck of materials came down the street and so did I! So I cried 3 times that day, with each home owner!

One home we did was in a neighborhood where the other homes were kept up well, the neighbors were thrilled to see the yard transformed. Another yard we landscaped, the houses that surrounded that home had trash in the yards and toys left out…….. When I went back to visit, the yards were cleaned up……..they had removed the trash, mowed the lawn and put in a few plants of their own!

The new owners were thrilled, they did not just buy a house, they bought a home they were eager to come home to. When people are proud of them selves, they become a better person internally. They become better employees, better spouses, and better parents and on time bill payers as they want to keep this home. Some say we are a product of environment. By creating this community project we have just created an environment that believes in it takes a town to raise a family.

So when people ask me why, or say this is very good cause but what is in it for me……..It is hard to respond in such a short answer. I LOVE Grand Rapids! I do not want our community to be a statistic in this market. I want us to remember the 1950’s where we all helped our neighbors. We are all affected some how by this market. By keeping up our neighborhoods and holding on tight to the value of our homes, I think we can team up to make a positive difference.

WE being the key word here, WCR and ICCF can not do this with out you……….YOU as an individual or YOU as a company owner/manager………..Lets get with the FLOW and donate!

Habitat for Humanity Woman build 2008

One of the homes we have selected to landscape is a home by Habitat for Humanity woman build. “With the help of Woman’s Council of Realtors and other community partners we can build much more then a simple house. We can help make a dream of affordable homeownership a reality for a hard working family and help strengthen the community in the process”. Quote from the funding department of Habitat for Humanity.

WCR is excited to be part of this project and it fits in so well with our mission of F.L.O.W.! WCR is going to supply the manual labor for this project. However we need a help of a woman owned business to donate the funds to support this project as well as a landscaping company that is woman owned. It can be one business or a group of business’s as long as it is Woman owned.

This project involves a little more then the landscaping:

Site-built garden shed
Garden tools (lawn mower, hose and sprinkler)
Landscape materials (top soil, sod, plantings)

Cost: $2,850.00

This home should get a lot of attention in the media, the company who sponsors this home is free to put of their company logo/sign in the yard during the yard transformation and will be honored at the garden party. (Along with all the other sponsorship advantages).

REMEMBER YOUR DONATION IS A TAX WRITE OFF!!!!!

Please e-mail Mary Kent for more details mkent@kentcountyhome.com

Hurry, there is only one of these homes, the first company to pledge and turn in their money will get to sponsor this home.