Local teens support organ transplant efforts
The Gift of Life Foundation supports the Gift of Life Michigan mission of honoring life through organ and tissue donation. The funds will be used to further promote organ and tissue donation education and awareness and provide financial support for transplant recipients and the social workers at Michigan Transplant Centers.
“We are so grateful for this collaboration,” said Susan Rink, chief of philanthropy and foundation programs for Gift of Life. “These funds will further our mission to promote organ and tissue donation education and awareness, while also financially supporting transplant recipients and the social workers at our Michigan Transplant Centers.”
Key2Finesse was founded in 2015 by high school students Esha Ghosalkar and Chintan Maheshwari with the goal of creating future leaders. It promotes public speaking and other life skills and puts on several events every year, including confidence building and public speaking workshops and career exploration symposiums. Their largest event, the Speak the Difference fundraiser, comprises a variety of different competitions including essay writing, poetry, art, coding, multimedia, and public speaking.
Through the Speak the Difference fundraiser and other events, Key2Finesse has generated more than $130,000 since 2015 for charitable causes like The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), Gleaner's Community Food Bank, Easter Seals, and more. Key2Finesse teams up with a different charitable organization each year and selected the Gift of Life Foundation in 2020.
The Speak the Difference event took place virtually on Dec. 13. With help from sponsors like Ally Financial Services, the NVIDIA Foundation and more, students from Troy, Canton, Northville and Novi raised $75,000 for Gift of Life - a new record for the 5-year-old organization.
“They enjoyed working with Gift of Life Michigan and they learned a lot,” said Vidhi Ghosalkar, who brought the Finesse Academy to the U.S. in 2002. “I think they also learned to be more grateful and value life more.”
A complete list of winners is available at key2finesse.com.
Dorrie Dils, CEO of Gift of Life Michigan, said she was appreciative of the collaboration.
“We are truly grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with these talented young people,” she said. “This has been a wonderful partnership and we appreciate all the hard work that went into this event and for everything they've done for us this year. We were fortunate to have been selected from so many worthy causes.”
For more information about Gift of Life Michigan or to register as a donor visit golm.org.
