Charitable Events

At Desert Gardens we host regular resident events to show appreciation to those who call us home. February 2011 was an event worthy of a press release. More info in the attachment. In honor of Heart Month (February)- Are the aches & pains in your legs due to poor circulation? Are you at risk for a stroke? Many people found answers to these questions and more last month at a Community Wellness Event & Free Health Fair, hosted by Desert Gardens Community, an apartment & mini storage facility in the West Valley. This event, open to the public featured several medical & care service providers all focused on Heart Health & Wellness, in honor of heart month. Vendors onsite provided free gifts, free advice, healthy food samples and free screenings. Those in attendance could enter to win 100’s of dollars in prizes through the day. Also, Sonoran Heart...

Participate in your local Relay for Life Event. This event sponsors the American Cancer Society. Create a team and reach out to your residents for support. Have colorful T-shirts made with your logo, and wear them during the event. After a few laps, everyone will remember your community name. You are typically also provided a table to give out info and sell items to raise funds for the charity. Our local carpet cleaning company sponsored us by paying for the t-shirts and in return we added their logo to the shirts below our community name.

Please join the Cascade team in a Walk for Warmth, sponsored by Community Action Agency. We will be walking in Zeeland, MI as a group. Anybody who signs up for the walk will receive a pink heart scarf to wear during the walk and then keep as a thank you gift for participating in the event with us. We are asking for a $5.00 donation to contribute to the Community Action Agency, but if you are willing and able to donate more, I'm sure the Community Action House will more then appreciate your donation, in any amount. Please stop by the Cascade main office to sign up for the walk. We look forward to walking with you all. Lets make this winter a warm one for those less fortunate. Thank you!

A lot of people think Bingo is a older-generation event, and to a certain extent, that is definitely correct. But really Bingo appeals to a wide variety of people, and who doesn’t enjoy playing with the Bingo blotter? You can do this just as a normal apartment party, OR charge a nominal fee per bingo card to turn it into a charity event! I don’t know if gambling laws apply to gambling, and what rules you need to abide by, so either do the research to see if you can offer cash prizes, or simply offer tangible prizes instead. Besides, non-cash prizes can be obtained by local restaurants and stores, in exchange for free exposure for their establishment. This is even easier when you set it up as a charity event. Here’s how it works: ...

Find a local charity that needs clean, gently used clothing for their cause. Your residents are already being asked for donations from every avenue possible. Give them an opportunity to get rid of some of their extra items they may have lying around the house and make room for the new gifts they will be receiving from loved ones! I recommend a drop-box, and guidelines to make sure items have been recently cleaned. Your staff may need to drop off the items to your charity weekly! Depending on the size of your site, this could mean A LOT of stuff. Keep the clothing/blanket drive as long as you feel you can collect donations. I've implemented this at several sites, and we've always had a great turn out. Some of the local charities that we partnered with were surprising - one year a local food shelf accepted clothing/blankets, another year,...