Founded in 1974, West Grand Neighborhood Organization (WGNO) is the second-largest neighborhood organization in Grand Rapids.
Its mission: "Welcoming neighbors and businesses, encouraging safety, promoting growth by empowering the community."
Since last year with your support, WGNO has worked with many people with many different issues and have provided resources for them. We have worked with renters, homeowners and landlords on different issues that they have had and provided them with ways to work on them. We have provided a space for neighbors/business owners to get to know each other, learn from each other, learn about safety, talk about concerns in their neighborhoods and even speak with our city leaders about issues that mean the most to them.
WGNO has brought in bilingual staff members as well to help bridge the gap between residents and also city services. Those staff members have been helping to translate materials and important information so more of our residents can be in tune with each other, be safe and more!
This year alone we have worked together with you on some special projects like the West Leonard Mural and the Richmond Park Police Memorial. But every year we have special events for our neighbors to celebrate the work we are doing such as National Night Out, Halloween Party at WGNO, the Giving Tree, Grandma's Attic, the Santa Concert at WGNO and help coordinate with other organizations to do events like the Westside Community Cleanup, Comcast Cares Day, ArtPrize, Taste of Grand Rapids, GR on Tap, Coffee with a Cop and many more! We work with our local schools to help provide support to our community.
It really does take a village to lift each other up and make our neighborhood a safer, cleaner and ultimately better place for everyone who lives, works and play here. It also takes a lot of work! One of the ways we do that is Grandma's Attic. Grandma's Attic is a program we run that if someone is in need of some help they can volunteer two hours a month in the community and be able to shop in our special hygiene pantry which has items in it like dishsoap, toothpaste and other items for personal care! Residents have taken advantage of this program and have become regular volunteers in their community, gaining new connections, even friends along the way!
We could not do all of this without YOU! You are the reason why we are making a huge impact in our neighborhood! Without your support WGNO would not be celebrating over 40 years of working for the betterment of our community!
With that in mind, today we are launching our 2017 Year End Campaign. Our goal is to raise ____ to help us continue to expand on our successes and give us the ability to do more for the community! WGNO is partially funded through grants which are specifically designated for certain programs that we provide. However, the special events and other programs we have come from unrestricted funds/donations, which means we have to raise those funds to continue them and provide new ones!
This is why this campaign is so important! Would you be willing to make a special year-end donation of $50, $100 or whatever you can afford? It would go a long way!
Your support will make a real, lasting impact in the lives of our neighbors. Thank you for your continued support and friendship.