Dearest Friends and Donors of Marian’s Closet,
We have spent much time adapting to and reinventing ourselves in the face of many challenges in the past two years, and we can safely say that the spirit of our ministry remains quite strong! We have some exciting changes to announce as well as some notifications that pertain to you, having been such generous and supportive donors and friends to Marian’s Closet over the years.
After a fairly lengthy search, we have selected our new Executive Director! It is our pleasure to introduce Teresa Berrey, who comes to our mission with many years of leadership experience in the medical field and youth ministry. From the moment we began conversations with Teresa, the Board noticed that she began almost every sentence with “we,” or “we can,” a motto much forgotten during these turbulent times. Teresa is looking forward to meeting our volunteers and customers, and she is also looking forward to getting to know you and the crucial role you play in our story as well.
In other exciting news the Board of Directors undertook a rebranding process earlier this year regarding the Marian’s Closet website, its logo and its related imaging. Through a number of sessions, we made it a point to revisit and reaffirm Marian’s Closet’s vision, history and everyday mission. We feel the images we chose speak to those in the community who seek our ministry for its stability, dignity, love, and hope. And as we lovingly refer to Marian’s Closet as “The Closet,” this also played into our sessions throughout the process. We hope you like our new look!
Given that we are in a period of sharply rising inflation, which affects everything from finding employment to housing, gas and food prices, we expect that our customers will come to rely on The Closet even more than they did before and during the height of the pandemic. To meet this demand, we hope that loosening COVID restrictions, having a new Executive Director and increased volunteer interest will allow us to hopefully return to our pre-pandemic hours of operation in time.
It is because we have so much planned at this given moment, we made the tough decision to forgo our annual golf outing at Chippewa Country Club in August. We know that a good many of you looked forward to this event in earnest, as we have over the years as well. The quality of your experience regarding this event is important to us however, and we would rather plan for next year’s event having our new Executive Director onboard for a full year, a more robust volunteer staff to help make it a memorable experience for you, and well, more time.
We hope that despite this, you view our current position as delaying a bit of fun instead of cancelling it. And with that said, we humbly ask that you’d yet consider making a donation in the spirit of the golf outing, regardless at this time, so that we may begin preparations for the coming year-end Holidays, increased demand at The Closet, and the aforementioned cost of inflation that we undoubtedly expect will come to rest at our doorstep in time as well.
If we haven’t said it enough, we’ll mention it one more time. You have made a world of difference, far beyond what you can even imagine. On behalf of the Board of Directors, our new Executive Director, the volunteer staff and the surrounding communities, you have made the honor of serving possible.
Sincerely,
Marian’s Closet Board of Directors