Rainbow Connection, Paint Creek Arts Receive County 'Casual Dress' Funds

The season of giving came alive Wednesday for 17 southeast Michigan charities when Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson awarded donations totaling $31,750.

The donations were made possible by funds raised in the Casual Day Fund to which county employees have donated $1 each time they dressed casually throughout 2011. 

Representatives from the local charities gathered at the Oakland County Executive Office Building in Waterford to receive their checks and discuss the missions of their organizations. 

"I think it's amazing that Oakland County would come together to accumulate this source of funding," said Suzanne Wiggins, executive director of Paint Creek Center for the Arts in Rochester, which received a donation. "These kinds of opportunities are very rare."

The Paint Creek Center for the Arts promotes art through a variety of programs, projects and events. Wiggins said the donation will help initiatives such as the college scholarships it offers students. 

Patterson said Oakland County has collected donations for local charities for the past 19 years. Each year, he is impressed with the wide range of missions each charity offers the communities, he said.

"I find out just how good these organizations are," Patterson said Wednesday. "I'm sure they appreciate everything."

Ann Heler of FernCare in Ferndale was also present to receive a donation for her organization. FernCare is a medical clinic that offers free health care services for uninsured patients age 19-64.

"We are very very greatful," Heler said. "To have this, it just means that there is much more for us to put toward our patients." 

Heler said she hopes to use the donation for lab tests and medication.

With many of the charities focused on helping children, Mary Grace McCarter of The Rainbow Connection in Rochester said Oakland County is bringing dreams to life this holiday season.

"Without (the donations), there's a dream that may not come true," McCarter said. "Employees get to dress comfy for work, pay a buck, and they change a child's life."

The following charities received donations Wednesday:

• American Diabetes Association in Bingham Farms
• in Birmingham
• Child Abuse and Neglect Council (CARE House) in Pontiac
• in Troy
• Donate Life Coalition of Michigan in Commerce
• FernCare in Ferndale
• Give-A-Christmas Year Round in Troy
• Kids Kicking Cancer in Detroit
• National Kidney Foundation PKD Foundation in Detroit
• Oxford/Orion FISH in Orion Township
• Paint Creek Center for the Arts in Rochester
• POH Children’s Health Services in Pontiac
• in Rochester
• SandCastles Grief Support Program in Detroit
• Toys for Tots in Waterford
• William E. Scripps Estate/Guest House Inc. in Lake Orion
• Winning Futures in Warren