Here & Now

Essay Program Will Give Grants to Families in Need

Frederica Freyberg:

Finally tonight and on a lighter note, a bittersweet story of the season, sweet because it involves charitable giving, bitter because gift recipients will have a sad story of great need. Family hardship grants will be awarded to those who write winning essays detailing that need. Michael Johnson is CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County which along with an anonymous family foundation is sponsoring the essay contest. Thanks very much for being here.

Michael Johnson:

Thank you so much for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

Tell us how this idea came about.

Michael Johnson:

I was in Washington DC meeting with our congressional delegation here in Wisconsin. And on my way back one of our– a national foundation reached out to me and said, you know, we want to do something to give back to the community. And I shared with them stories of hardships that young people and their families are facing. And they said we would like to give you a family hardship grant, but, Mike, we want you to choose how this can really make a difference for families over the holidays. And that’s what happened.

Frederica Freyberg:

So how much could a family get in such a grant?

Michael Johnson:

They can ask for up to $3,000 for families, for medical bills, it could be for scholarships, it could be for basic things like food and clothes. All we ask is that they write an essay, they send it to Boys and Girls Clubs, and then we’re going to have a group of community leaders that’s going to read it and make a decision.

Frederica Freyberg:

And some of these have already come in. You said you’ve gotten a really excellent response.

Michael Johnson:

Yeah, almost 60 applications have come in so far. I’ll tell you, what made me really think about this, I remember last Christmas, one of our kids’ mother had a massive heart attack and she passed away. And these two young boys said, the only thing we want for holidays is for our mother to have a tombstone. I said, wow. I sat there. We ended up purchasing the tombstone, but we also wanted to make sure these kids had a happy holidays. We want to be able to utilize our lives to make a difference in others’. I think this grant is going to afford us the opportunity to be able to help some people over the holiday season.

Frederica Freyberg:

You said that you, having taken receipt of some of these essays, have sat down to read some of them. And what are you hearing in those essays?

Michael Johnson:

A lot of stuff around medical issues, around electrical bills. People are deciding whether or not they should get medicine or purchase food. And so when you hear stories like that– There was a young mother who said, my daughter may not be able to go to college because we don’t have enough money to cover the costs for room and board. But she has money for tuition. And so you hear stories like that. Or there was one story I read where a father has stage IV cancer, and the mother had to quit her job to help take care of him. And because of that, the family is now struggling. So I believe that we are all one or two paychecks away from needing support like this. So the fact that this family foundation would step up and say, hey, we want to help fill a gap, it sends chills down my spine.

Frederica Freyberg:

How are you possibly going to choose which essay to award a grant?

Michael Johnson:

So the family foundation said, Mike, we want to leave that up to you, and we want you to make that decision. And I couldn’t bear the responsibility of making a tough decision like that by myself. So there’s a group of community leaders that’s going to help read these essays. We’re going to grade them based on the criteria that we set. I also have invited some other donors to be a part of that conversation. And what I found amazingly, the applications we have gotten so far, a lot didn’t ask for $3,000. Some was $50, some was $150. Some was, hey, I just need a coat for my five-year-old daughter, who can’t find a coat over the holiday. So some of it was simple stuff. And there was some that were $3,000. So we’re going to read it. We will make phone calls. And we’re going to let the community decide who’s going to become the benefactor of these grants.

Frederica Freyberg:

And you’ve said that you think this is likely to spread outside Dane County because of the interest?

Michael Johnson:

Yeah, I would love to. So I play a national role with Boys and Girls Clubs of America. I sit on the national presidential commission for our national organization. I also sit as executive committee for Boys and Girls Clubs of Wisconsin. So I’m hoping what we do in Dane County, that donors will feel compelled to do this across Boys and Girls Clubs or other organizations across the state. There are thousands and thousands of families that need support from people like me and you, our friends and our colleagues. And I just firmly believe that we have to utilize our lives to touch the lives of others.

Frederica Freyberg:

And donors really like this idea.

Michael Johnson:

Yeah, from what I’m hearing, yes. I think there’s some people who would say– Like somebody wrote this nasty comment and said, we shouldn’t be giving handouts. I don’t see it as a handout. I see it as a hand up. We all at some point need help in our lives, and if we can help somebody become productive adults or help them during a tough time, I think we have a responsibility as a society to help pay it forward for others.

Frederica Freyberg:

When’s the deadline for people to get their essays in?

Michael Johnson:

It’s next Tuesday. And so that morning we’re going to read the essays, and then that night we’re going to feed 600 people for thanksgiving.

Frederica Freyberg:

Michael Johnson, thank you very much.

Michael Johnson:

Thank you for having me.