The real spirit of giving: Step Up for the holidays

Step Up

Building upon the success of their house for young women, the board of Step Up recently announced it has committed to opening a house for young men.

For those of you who may not already be familiar, Step Up is a Muskegon, faith-based, non-profit that helps young people transition out of foster care with mentoring and a safe place to live.

A Gift that keeps on giving

When we heard this exciting news, my family and I were eager to help. We took a bottle of our Stork Family honey down to Kylie and Patty at Patricia’s Chocolate. We asked them to create something that would embody the spirit of the Step Up house for young men.

“In Christian symbolism, the pear frequently appears in connection with Christ’s love for mankind.”

Patty and Kylie are amazing! Just in time for the holidays, they have unveiled their latest creation – a chocolate and honey covered slice of pear.  Even better, Patty is donating 50 cents from each chocolate sold to benefit the house for young men.

I’ve eaten quite a number of these honey drenched pears and given many more away as holiday gifts. They’ve been warmly received and I plan to give away many more as stocking stuffers.

Christmas comes early, $50K towards our $150K goal

Beyond the chocolates, I am excited to announce Christmas came a bit early for Step Up this year. In just the past two weeks, Dr. Kamps received notification the Step Up House for Young Men received a $10,000 grant from the Muskegon Community Foundation and a $10,000 grant from the Muskegon County Men Who Care.

This brings Step Up’s total fundraising up to almost $50,000 for this $150,000 project.

We would like thank both of these organizations for their generosity! We thrilled with the donations we have received in just a couple of months. At the same time, we can’t overemphasize the importance of individual donors and donations as we continue to work toward our fundraising goal.

Giving back for the holidays

In this Season of Giving, I hope you will take a moment to not only enjoy one of our honey drenched pears, but also to reflect upon the mission of Step Up. 

Step Up is changing lives of young people in our community. If you would like to learn more about how you can be a part of Step Up, you can e-mail Dr. Kamps or Ms. Carolyn Walker. Donations for the Young Men’s House can be made through the Muskegon Community Foundation – just click on this link and, under Specific Fund(s), designate your gift to the Step Up Fund. Finally, if you live outside of the Muskegon and Grand Haven Community and would like to support Step Up by ordering our Honey Drenched Pears, simply click here.

My family and I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and the very best of health, 

Dr. Brian Stork and Family

References:

Sacred Symbols: Apples and Pears

The Pear in History, Literature, Popular Culture, and Art