Like a prism focuses light into a concentrated beam, Nancy Carlisle’s Clarkston Relief Committee does the same with monetary donations to help people recover from Hurricane Katrina.
The CRC started off as a reflection of Carlisle’s own empathy with the victims of the terrible storm.
‘After watching the images on TV over and over, it gave me a feeling of helplessness,? said Carlisle. ‘I wondered what we could do here to help.?
Her family, husband Chip and sons Cameron, 10 and Patrick, 7, could see Carlisle was distraught and in their own way comforted her. Cameron started conducting a survey of the rooms in the family’s Clarkston home.
‘He was trying to figure out how many extra people we could hold in our house. I told him ‘We can’t open up the house but we can help in other ways,?? said Carlisle.
The idea behind the CRC soon followed Carlisle’s statement to her son.
According to Carlisle, the CRC has, to date, recorded and sent just over $48,000 in Clarkston’s name to the relief effort along the Gulf Coast.
She does not seek praise, but Carlisle deserves some for being the guiding light behind the Clarkston Relief Committee. The folder she carries with her is a testament to her tireless drive as it is tattered at the edges and stuffed with tabulations, e-mails and notes chronicling her progress.
In the beginning, Carlisle wanted to encourage people to give, make donating money as easy as possible, allow groups to have freedom to come up with their own fund-raising ideas and in the end come up with a final dollar amount that the community as a whole raised. The concept of the CRC would accomplish those ideals, but Carlisle’s idea needed help getting off the ground.
Originally, Carlisle wanted to accept cash donations, but the lengthy process of setting up a 501 c3 charity was an impasse to that plan.
‘You want to help, but you have all of this bureaucracy to get through,? said Carlisle.
Because of the red tape, Carlisle amended her strategy, imploring people to write checks directly to the Red Cross, which she then collected, tabulated and sent on to the humanitarian aid organization.
But, if the CRC was to act as a hub for Clarkston’s donations, Carlisle needed more of a central and visible location for people to drop off checks ? she found one in Clarkston State Bank.
‘We are always trying to help others and this was a great way to do that,? said Angela Tenbusch, branch manager of Clarkston State Bank.
In Tenbusch and Clarkston State Bank, the CRC found an anchor for its campaign, but still lacked exposure. The Clarkston Community Schools and the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce both proved invaluable in spreading the word.
The chamber spread word through e-mails sent to all members alerting them of the CRC’s mission.
‘Things really started rolling once the (chamber’s e-mails) went out (on Sept. 8) and letters went home with kids from school,? said Carlisle.
Through discussions with chamber members, including Executive Director Penny Shanks, Carlisle established the CRC’s deadline of Oct. 31. Originally, the span of collection time was shorter.
‘Anyone who came in the offices, we also gave the information to. We want to be able to come up with a final Clarkston donation total,? said Terri Bendes, event planner for the chamber.
The chamber took donations at Taste of Clarkston on Sept. 25 and all money raised from admission fees at the chamber’s Business Expo on Nov. 3 is also being sent to the Gulf Coast in the name of Clarkston and the CRC.
Before hitting a wall of red tape in regard to collecting cash, Carlisle’s original concept also included collecting money outside of school events.
According to Carlisle, the school district balked at the original proposal because of the precedent soliciting money at events like football games, regardless of cause, would set. However, the school district fell in love with the CRC once Carlisle’s concept was fleshed out into becoming a focusing effort for all Clarkston donations.
‘It was a very easy sell because Clarkston has always been a community that prides itself in giving,? said Clarkston Schools Superintendant Dr. Al Roberts.
Carlisle was invited to Parent Advisory Team meetings to explain her idea; from that point on, the schools were on board.
‘We sent out a letter to all of the schools letting each individual building know how Nancy had set (the CRC) up,? Roberts said.
‘Dr. Roberts was really supportive. He basically challenged everyone in the schools to participate,? Carlisle said.
Some childrens? efforts which stood out to Carlisle include: children from Pine Knob raising $1,160 selling popsicles and kids from Clarkston Elementary forwarding $960 culled from a similar effort.
Other groups were already in action and joined the CRC’s side with money in hand. The six members of the Lego Robotics team at Pine Knob Elementary raised $300 in a can drive held on Sept. 17.
‘We had already raised the $300 and then we heard about the CRC and decided to donate the money through them,? said Carol Barber, advisor of the team.
Raising money was not always the problem, rather organizing donations into check form became an obstacle. Such was the case when a Clarkston State Bank patron donated close to $400 worth of pennies to the CRC. The money just needed to be rolled. Carlisle turned to Randy Stelpflug’s Boy Scout Troop 377.
‘Nancy got us hooked up with Clarkston State Bank. They had all the money in pennies and were looking for it to be rolled,? said Stelpflug.
Four boy scouts from Troop 377, which is based out of the American Legion Post 377, and some of their parents spent six hours on Sept. 24 in the bank’s conference room rolling pennies. With Clarkston Schools having a day off on Sept. 26, two of the scouts came back to toil for another few hours and finish the work.
‘The pennies were in a large blue water jug and a cardboard box. It was quite a process,? said Stelpflug.
Sometimes, like with the plethora of pennies, cash was unavoidable. Carlisle was happy that Clarkston State Bank is so accommodating to the CRC’s goal, as they converted cash into cashier’s checks.
Working as a hub for Clarkston area groups? donations, the CRC’s main role is to keep a running count on money originating from the area to the relief efforts along the Gulf Coast. Simply put, the CRC does not raise money alone, rather it galvanizes the Clarkston response by providing easy ways to donate and a look at the community’s response on the whole.
‘Especially because we live in an affluent community, it is our responsibility to give. We’ve been blessed. People have the opportunity to give,? said Carlisle.
Two churches, St. Daniel Catholic Church and Clarkston United Methodist Church, are responsible for the bulk of the money raised and counted by the CRC. According to Carlisle, both congregations raised close to $20,000 each. Those churches are donating to relief organizations of their choosing rather than to the Red Cross, but wanted to make sure their fund-raising efforts were added to Clarkston’s total.
Currently, Carlisle has collected $4157.16 from the Clarkston Schools. Another group whose efforts stand out are the Clarkston Junior High School teachers, the grand majority of whom made a donation to the CRC.
The CRC’s campaign is scheduled to conclude on Oct. 31. Carlisle does not expect a final tally until the second week of November.
For individuals or groups who have raised money that can be tallied along with that already counted by the CRC or who would like to donate money should contact Nancy Carlisle at 248-625-3740 or njcarlisle@comast.net. A single check made out to the American Red Cross is the preferred form for donations. Donations can be left with tellers at the Clarkston State Bank.