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MFD@Work!

Become a Corporate Partner

Mittens for Detroit is fortunate to have a great array of businesses and companies sharing their energy and resources to support us in many creative ways. Here are a few examples that you and your company can provide new, warm mittens and gloves this year:

Collect New Mittens and Gloves

Hold a MittenRaiser

Every winter we receive thousands of new mittens and gloves that come from the community.

Additionally, if you want to collect financial donations, we can set up a personalized private donation page just for your company, at no cost to you.

Whether it is a Community Collection box in the lunchroom or “admission” to the company holiday party, the simple gift of a pair of mittens or gloves goes a long and meaningful way. 

MFD DTE bigsort

Community Engagement for Your Team

Teambuilding at The Big Sort

We rely on volunteers to help us to process the thousands of pairs we receive. From September through March, we hold The Big Sort, which is a series of sorting parties at our office in downtown Detroit. Your team can come to sort, count, and pack the pairs for pick-up by our Distribution Partners. We can host groups as small as 3… and as large as 15! It’s a fun, relaxed, and meaningful way to do some community service while working together outside of the office. Many teams come year after year.

Support a Distribution Partner

New this year, we are able to provide you with a way to make your MittenRaiser or fundraiser more meaningful. You can choose from our Distribution Partners to find a school, agency, or organization that is in your geographic area or is already being supported by you in other ways. By choosing a specific partner, we can tell you how many pairs or what your fundraising goal should be so that you meet their needs. This is an exciting new way to increase your impact in the community, and to find new charity partners for your future work.

Knit and Crochet Clubs and Upcycle Sewing Groups

If you have DIY folks at the office, a great project is handmade mittens. Whether knit, crochet, or upcycled from sweaters, handmade mittens are a luxury and a treat to those who receive them. Please visit our Making Mittens page.

Partner with MFD and the United Way for Southeast Michigan

Mittens for Detroit is a Designations Eligible Partner. If your company support the UWSEM with employee donations, please recommend that MFD be considered for payroll deductions donated to UWSEM.

Pot Lucks and Bake Sales

Who doesn’t love an opportunity to help a charity while enjoying some delicious food? Maybe hold a drawing for a pair of oven mitts! Why not whip up a few batches of mitten-shaped cookies!

Fundraise for MFD

Matching Employee Donations & Volunteer Hours

You can double the impact of your employees’ generosity if you participate in matching their donations and volunteer hours. We are a 501(c)(3) organization. We are registered with Benevity, Your Cause, Mighty Cause, and other fundraising and employee engagement platforms.

Year-end Charitable Donations

Please consider including us in your year-end charitable giving. GivingTuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) is an annual international day of giving, where the focus is on doing good in your community, by donating funds, time, and other resources. This is an excellent date for your year-end contribution.

Giving Day Collections

If your company holds Jeans Days or Casual Days as community fundraisers, please consider benefiting Mittens for Detroit this year. The nice thing about these dress-down days is that they occur throughout the year, rather than being tied to seasonal giving!

Consider Mittens for Detroit as your Charity Partner

Mittens for Detroit is a great charity partner for your golf outing, conference, holiday party, or other public or private events. Because our mission is so specific and easy to relate to, you’ll find that your attendees will enjoy an opportunity to help people fight the cold, in such a concrete and tangible way. Please contact Wendy Shepherd, MFD Executive Director, for more information.

Why Mittens Matter: From Our Community

Mittens for Detroit has been a tremendous support to the children and families we serve. The hats and mittens provided through their generosity help meet a basic need for families who are struggling financially, especially in today’s economy. By reducing the cost of winter essentials, they help relieve stress on caregivers and support family stability, an important protective factor in child abuse prevention.

Through our Holiday Shop, guardians are able to select new hats and mittens for their children to take home and wrap as gifts, preserving dignity and creating joyful holiday memories. Their support not only keeps children warm, but also brings comfort, hope, and peace of mind during the winter season.

One experience that will always stay with me involved a mother who came to our center with hats and mittens for her children but nothing for herself. As she sat in the lobby, it was clear she was trying to warm her cold hands. I quickly retrieved a pair of gloves donated by Mittens for Detroit and gave them to her. With tears in her eyes, she looked at me and said, “Thank you. No one ever takes care of me.”

That moment was a powerful reminder that Mittens for Detroit does more than provide winter gear. They help people feel seen, valued, and cared for. It is a memory I will always hold in my heart and a testament to the meaningful impact their generosity has on the families we serve.

Cindy Read | ​​​​​Manager-Consumer Engagement
The Children’s Center

GreeningOfDetroitThankYouNotes#12015 copy

Your generous donation of mittens and gloves has been an invaluable asset to our program for veterans transitioning out of homelessness. Many of our residents arrive at the shelter with very little, and braving the cold winter months to attend medical appointments, job interviews, or housing viewings can be a massive barrier. Providing high-quality winter gear ensures our veterans stay warm, protected, and respected as they work hard to rebuild their lives and move into permanent housing.

Raeda Dabaja | Chief Executive Officer Michigan Veterans Foundation

GreeningOfDetroitThankYouNotes#36

We are incredibly grateful to receive gloves from Mittens for Detroit to share with our clients through our clothing pantry at Catholic Charities Center for the Works of Mercy. Winters in our city can be especially harsh, and for many of the people we serve, particularly those experiencing homelessness, a warm pair of gloves can make a real difference in getting through the day. Gloves help protect against the cold, prevent injury, and allow our clients to safely travel by foot, bus, or wait outdoors for services during Detroit’s long winter months.

One client was shocked by the quality and beauty of the gloves. She said, " Wow, these are nice. They even have pink one. It might be silly but pink is my favorite color."

These donations help us meet urgent, real-life needs in our Detroit community while making the most of our limited resources.

Because of this generosity, our neighbors don’t have to choose between staying warm and affording essentials like food, transportation, or medicine.

We are deeply thankful for this support, which brings not only warmth, but also dignity, care, and hope to those we serve across the city.

Nicholas Herman | ​​​​​Director of the Center for the Works of Mercy,
VISTA Program Supervisor

GreeningOfDetroitThankYouNotes#22

I want to express my appreciation to Mittens for Detroit for the donation of mittens and gloves to the students of Dickinson East. My Fourth grade students were beyond excited to received a brand new paiir of mittens. Each student thoughtfully picked out a pair of mittens that they liked, that fit, and that matched their jacktets. Many of my students come to school without the proper winter attire. It is hard to see them go outside for recess when they do not have hats and glovers. Mittens for Detoirt provided them something to help them stay warm this winter.

Kristen Geving | ​​​​​Dickinson East Elementary,
Fourth Grade Teacher

GreeningOfDetroitThankYouNotes#5

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