Campers Cove Community: Turning Recyclables into Hope for Cancer Patients
Pink bags were used to collect recyclable bottles and cans from visiting campers at Campers Cove campground. Proceeds from the recycling effort were donated to the Susan’s Wish Fund at MyMichigan Health Foundation to support local cancer patients.
“It was worth every dime,” Penny Barton said when reflecting upon the recently completed Campers Cove fundraiser. For the past three summers, Barton and her son Johnathan have partnered with Campers Cove owners Mark and Judy Hall to collect recyclable bottles and cans from visiting campers. This year was their biggest return yet, bringing in thousands of recyclables which were returned for $1,500.00 and directed to the Susan’s Wish fund at MyMichigan Health Foundation.
Susan’s Wish was created by Barton and her family in memory of her daughter, Susan Yachik, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2012. The goal of the fund is to specifically fill the gaps in traditional financial assistance available to local cancer patients. The fund allows social workers at the Alpena Cancer Center to help patients and their family members with needs that insurances often do not cover, such as the costs of transportation, medicine, meals, and lodging.
Campers Cove is located on Thunder Bay River and Lake Winyah, northeast of Alpena. The 92-site campground is known for its family-friendly atmosphere and on-site activities, which draws people from across the state to the Alpena region. Having learned from past years, the Bartons and the Halls wanted to try something to engage with the campers more directly. They decided to be more pro-active, directly asking campers for their recyclables and providing the visitors with special pink bags for cans and bottles.
Barton explained: “Previously, we were just picking up the recycling from the bins and returning whatever we got. This year, we took a bit more initiative, and we talked with campers, giving them special bags and asking for their returns. This also let us explain exactly where the funds we would get from the returns would go.”
Barton continued, “Almost everyone who participated had a story of a friend or family member who’d been touched by cancer. There were a few times people got teary-eyed sharing their stories. We also had several people from in-town drop off their recyclables after hearing about what we were doing. Cancer touches many lives and it’s really meaningful to see people so open to supporting Susan’s Wish.”
This extra effort yielded generated 15,000 recyclables and raised $1,500.00. To celebrate this success, the Halls made an additional $300 donation to Susan’s Wish, bringing the total raised to $1,800.00.
Ann Diamond, development director, MyMichigan Health Foundation added, “Penny, Johnathan, Mark and Judy have done so very much to enhance this fundraising opportunity. It’s extremely impressive that they had the vision to offer the opportunity to tell the Susan’s Wish story to campers and to be so visible with the pink bags, obviously resulting in a huge return. I’m very proud and humbled by their generosity and hard work, and grateful that the Susan’s Wish Fund is held at MyMichigan Health Foundation, offering our staff the opportunity to greatly assist our cancer patients.”
Those interested in more information about donations to the Susan’s Wish Fund or supporting cancer care at MyMichigan Medical Center Alpena may contact Diamond at (989) 356-7738 or ann.diamond@mymichigan.org.
