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First Trust Supporting Open Door
Dorene Martinson, Marketing Assistant/Charity
Committee Member - First Trust Credit Union and Perry Minner, Mental Health
Coordinator - ODAHC.
First Trust Credit Union’s Michigan City office held a
Mother’s Day Plant Sale the first week of May to help raise funds for their
community partner, Open Door Adolescent Health Center (ODAHC) located inside
Michigan City High School.
The sale ran
the entire week, and featured hand-painted/decorated pots with an arrangement
of different plants, yielding well over a $350 profit. Dorene Martinson, Marketing
Assistant and Charity Committee member for First Trust, stated, “Our committee
decided to try this idea that had worked for other fundraisers in the past, and
we had no idea this would be as successful as it was.”
Martinson said the employees of First Trust’s
Michigan City office rallied together and really enjoyed painting and
decorating the pots in order to get ready for the sale. They even had many of
their family members helping in the painting/decorating process. Plants and flowers
planted in the pots varied including petunias, catus, and spider plants. Martinson said the “going price” varied as
they asked for a minimum donation of $5 per plant and let the purchasers decide
what they wanted to donate. First Trust also had to go out and purchase more
pots to paint and then sell as they were running low after just two days into
the sale.
Profits will all be donated to Open Door Adolescent Health Center,
which is dedicated to providing both physical and mental health services to
students within the Michigan City Area School District. They provide education, support, and
counseling to adolescents dealing with issues including substance abuse
(alcohol, tobacco, drugs), teen pregnancy, anger management, suicide, depression,
academics, and more. ODAHC is utilizing some of the funds raised by First Trust
to help with educational programs at the middle school level that will focus on
prevention of substance abuse.