Nickels add up, commitments multiply and a slice of pie always brings a smile.
Denise Busley, co-owner of the Grand Traverse Pie Company, leverages her baked treats to help area foster youth in a big way.
Busley donates a five cents per slice of pie sold to the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative, an organization dedicated to help youth in foster care transition to adulthood. Her generosity adds up to about $1,300 a year. There is also an estimated $1,200 in loose change given by customers plus five percent of October catering profits earmarked for the initiative.
Busley also spearheaded a drive to bake 100 apple crumb pies, an annual endeavor except that in 2007 area foster youth pitched in to help. The pies were donated to the Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Trinity Lutheran Church.
Oh, and donated meeting space for the initiative's youth board plus a friendly smile and free slice of pie for any foster youth.
"The reason I'm so passionate about it is there's a lot of at-risk kids in the community,” said Busley, who began the company with her husband in 1996. "As a citizen of the state of Michigan, we need to be more aware of what happens to them, it's so easy to turn your head.”
"Opening your heart to these kids goes so far — just letting them know you care,” said Busley. "They don't ask for much, all they want is to be believed in.”
Staff, mentors and youth affiliated with the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative call Busley a Community Partner Superstar.
"Denise is unique, she understands this on a level most people don't,” said Marco Dedenbach, community partnership coordinator for the Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative. "It's very special for her. She's such a bright soul and very, very generous and very committed to making life better for youth.”
The Michigan Youth Opportunities Initiative is creating a template that future community partners can use to support the program. For more information, call Dedenbach at 922-5276.