their communities to egood businesses via ongoing giving and
fundraisers, and benet from increased funding and awareness
to do good in the world, allowing egood members to see the
dierence we make together."
THE GIVING SPIRIT
Giving is no longer something people do once a year; it's
become a constant for many. For many businesses, giving is
embedded as part of the company culture or in some cases,
grows organically.
is past Christmas, e Living Room in Elkhart, Indiana
collected clothes, gi cards and warm coats for three local
families in need. e Living Room is owned by Kyle Johnson
and Erik Johnson, who also own J2 Marketing, an Elkhart-based
marketing rm in the same building. In years past Kyle and Erik
each personally adopted a family. But this year, they decided to
use e Living Room as a platform to increase the giving.
"We wanted all of the sta to be able to get involved in the
project and the coee house became the avenue by which we
held the drive," explains Hannah Birong, Communications
Manager for e Living Room and J2.
Dubbed e Shine Drive, three unsuspecting families
received extra gis last Christmas. J2 and e Living Room
hosted a clothing drive and a holiday concert. e list included
everything from kids and adult clothing to gas cards. Birong
said the shops are already planning next year's drive.
Geeksboro CoeeHouse and Cinema in Greensboro,
North Carolina put a 'super' spin on community giving. At
Christmas, the coee house and movie theatre hosted its
rst "A Very Merry CosPlay Christmas," inviting local kids
to have their picture taken with their favorite superhero
or Star Wars character. (CosPlay is short for costume play,
where participants wear costumes to interpret their favorite
character). Local CosPlay actors donated their time and
helped raise $200 for Greensboro Urban Ministry.
"We wanted to nd a way to help people in the community
who might be homeless or hungry. But we didn't want to give
to a specic religion or denomination; Greensboro Urban
T L R
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Photos Courtesy J2 Marketing
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