Originally posted on Crain’s Detroit – LINK
Nearly a year ago, I attended Crain’s Detroit Business’ Detroit Homecoming and met actor Marc Evan Jackson for the first time.
Marc’s career began in the 1990s at The Second City in Detroit. Although Marc’s career has taken him far beyond Detroit, he still considers this city home. Like so many people who maintain a deep connection to Detroit no matter where life takes them, he was looking for a meaningful way to give back.
At the Children’s Foundation of Michigan, that’s a question we think about often. How do we create more opportunities for people to support Michigan’s children?
As Marc and I talked about Detroit, our shared love for this city quickly became a conversation about how to turn hometown pride into lasting support for its young people.
That conversation became The Coney: A celebrity charity event with everything on it. Developed by the Children’s Foundation of Michigan and Marc Evan Jackson, and presented by Bedrock, Rocket, Shinola, and MoveDetroit, the inaugural event brings together Detroit-connected artists, entertainers, and community leaders to support youth arts education.
The host committee includes J.K. Simmons, Tim Meadows, Sam Richardson, Diona Reasonover, Marc Evan Jackson, and dozens of their friends.
But these individuals aren’t simply lending their names to an event. They’re demonstrating that hometown pride can be turned into hometown investment.
This city is incredibly generous. For generations, our local companies, foundations, and numerous families have supported the schools, hospitals, cultural institutions, and many nonprofit organizations that are integral to this community.
Detroit’s tradition of generosity remains one of our greatest strengths. But as some Detroiters build their lives elsewhere, we have an opportunity to keep them connected to the city they still call home. If we don’t create meaningful ways for them to give back, we risk losing not just their affection for Detroit, but their philanthropy as well.
As we look to the future, we need strategies to unlock the generosity of those living here now, as well as those elsewhere.
The arts are a natural place to start.
Creativity has always been one of Detroit’s defining strengths. In many ways, the arts are what make us feel connected to this city. It’s hearing Motown and thinking of home; it’s the pride associated with Dave Coulier wearing his Red Wings jersey on Full House; it’s techno and Movement Festival; it’s the murals of Eastern Market; it’s claiming Eminem, Jack White, Big Sean, Madonna, and all the others that immediately make us turn to our closest non-Detroit friend and say, “You know they’re from Detroit, right?”
These cultural touchstones don’t just inspire pride. They remind us where we come from and why Detroit continues to shape and inspire people around the world.
We have a responsibility to ensure that creative spirit is passed on to the next generation. Through arts education, young people build confidence, strengthen communication skills and learn to express themselves in new ways. They develop creativity and problem-solving skills while finding healthy outlets to navigate life’s challenges. Those lessons extend far beyond the classroom or stage. They prepare young people for school, careers, and life.
By supporting youth arts, we’re helping preserve what makes Detroit special.
Because The Coney, at its heart, is a celebration of Detroit, we are welcoming new local donors who have not typically supported youth arts. We have also received donations from Detroiters in Florida, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Denver and Chicago. Their mailing addresses may have changed, but for them, this is still home.
The impact of The Coney is designed to accomplish two things: provide immediate grants to youth arts organizations while also building a permanent endowment that will sustain this work for generations.
These goals are interdependent.
Today’s grants will address existing needs. At the same time, philanthropy has taught us that we can’t wait for difficult times to begin planning for them. Endowments help us prepare for population changes, economic downturns, shifts in charitable giving, and other unexpected challenges. Endowments provide stability, flexibility, and preparedness for whatever the future brings.
That’s the kind of long-term thinking Detroit needs.
For years, Detroit Homecoming has been demonstrating the power of reconnecting people to the place that shaped them. The Coney builds on that same spirit, creating another opportunity for people to invest in Detroit’s future.
If we want to grow the philanthropic pie, we have to welcome more people into the work, invest for both today and tomorrow, and ensure every young Michigander has the opportunity to reach their full potential.
Andrew Stein is president and CEO of the Children’s Foundation of Michigan.
