Shop for a cause! Downtown Zeeland partners with United Way this holiday season.
In a venture called “cause marketing” downtown Zeeland is partnering with Greater Ottawa County United Way this holiday season to host FEEL THE ZEEL OF GIVING, a holiday celebration for the whole community. Cause Marketing is when for-profit entities partner with nonprofit organizations to promote a single event. The participating businesses agree to give a donation to the nonprofit organization and in exchange the nonprofit commits to marketing the event to their group of supporters to increase attendance at the event. In this case, the more people who come out to shop downtown Zeeland during the holiday events, the bigger the donation will be for the United Way. So come on out during the FEEL THE ZEEL OF GIVING EVENTS and shop for a cause!
FEEL THE ZEEL OF GIVING is a way for the local, downtown businesses to differentiate themselves from the malls this holiday season. Downtown Zeeland is hosting a variety of free events for the whole family, and the emphasis is on giving back to your community. FEEL THE ZEEL OF GIVING will take place downtown Zeeland Thursday & Friday evenings in December before Christmas Eve. (December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 & 18) Activities are scheduled from 5-8pm.
Come on down during FEEL THE ZEEL OF GIVING and you will find horse-drawn trolley rides, free photos with Santa, strolling Christmas carolers, a free gift wrapping station, extended holiday shopping hours, and more! With 9 brand new businesses on Main Street since last year’s holiday season, you are sure to find something for everyone on your Christmas list this year!
Downtown businesses that will be participating in FEEL THE ZEEL OF GIVING include:
Don’s Flowers & Gifts, Mainstreet Beanery, Bella Donna Boutique, Clothes Junkie, My Favorite Dish & Gifts, Mom & Baby Again, Bunte’s Pharmacy & Gift Store, Eco Reef, Brummel’s Home Furnishings, Harbor Toy Company, Zeeland Hardware, Dekker’s Jewelry, Frank’s Restaurant, Silva & Son Gems & Jewelry, Jumees World, On Silver Shores, Mainstreet Sweets.
Greater Ottawa County United Way is helping the citizens of Ottawa County to create the building blocks of a better life for all. The United Way focuses on programs that advance the common good in the impact areas of Education, Financial Stability, Health, and Emergency Assistance & Basic Human Needs. The United Way community investment fund is a strong partnership of 63 programs of 38 nonprofit health and human service agencies that last year touched the lives of more than one in four people in Ottawa County.
Community partner programs located in Zeeland that receive United Way community investment dollars include:
Child Development Services, 100 Pine St. – child care tuition assistance for low income families
His Harvest Stand, 100 Pine St.- Food Pantry and Home Repair Ministry
Zee Bus, 3390 100th Ave – a mobile library that travels the Zeeland school district during the summer, providing students access to quality reading materials
These programs served 2,139 individuals and families in Zeeland. Another 30 programs located in Ottawa County had an impact on the lives of nearly 3,500 more Zeeland residents. These included youth development programs of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, transitional housing assistance through the Community Housing Partnership of Good Samaritan Ministries, American Red Cross emergency preparedness programs, blindness and low vision rehabilitation services through the Association for the Blind & Visually Impaired, domestic violence and child sexual abuse intervention, emergency assistance through Salvation Army of Holland, substance abuse counseling and prevention, and many more.
Downtown sponsors for the FEEL THE ZEEL OF GIVING events include:
Gold Sponsors:
On Silver Shores; Don’s Flowers & Gifts; The Zeeland Record; Keikover, Scholma & Schumaker, PC; The Zeeland Print Shop; Bunte’s Pharmacy
Silver Sponsors:
IC Designs; The City of Zeeland
Orange Sponsors:
Zeeland Hardware; Frank’s Restaurant; Zeeland Schwinn; Harbor Toy Company; Mainstreet Beanery; Edward Jones
Sponsors for the Horse-Drawn Trolley Rides include:
Life Services Systems
Carpet Bonanza
JQ 99/1260 The Pledge
Don’s Flowers & Gifts
Mainstreet Beanery
