Detroit, MI
Holiday Cheer for Charity 2023: Readers’ choice nonprofit to win $20,000
With the holidays around the corner, The Detroit News is giving back to the community with its seventh annual Holiday Cheer for Charity competition, which awards one nonprofit $20,000 based on reader votes.
“With the Detroit News celebrating its 150th anniversary, we are thrilled to have an incredible and diverse group of charities participating in our 7th annual Holiday Cheer for Charity campaign,” said Maryan Toma, a marketing specialist for Gannett and the USA Today Network. “Being able to give back to some of the most deserving organizations during such a joyful and festive time underscores The News’s deep commitment to the Metro Detroit community.”
Readers have 14 charities to choose from in the 2023 competition’s first round. First round voting begins at noon on Sunday through this link and will be open through Nov. 26 at 11:59 p.m.
The nonprofits are:
Michigan Ovarian Cancer Alliance: This organization supports Michigan residents impacted by ovarian cancer and funds research while raising awareness on the issue. Facebook | Instagram
Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum: A community-first space, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum informs the public, houses artifacts and provides hands-on aerospace and aviation engineering programs. Facebook | Instagram
Living Arts Detroit: The organization encourages Detroit youth to access the performing, visual and media arts and to seek inspiration from their community. Facebook | Instagram
Gesher Human Services: The Jewish human services group offers programming assistance on workforce, behavioral health, inclusion and residential issues for Metro Detroiters. Facebook | Instagram
Blue Water Recovery & Outreach Center: A local addiction recovery group run by people in recovery, the nonprofit offers recovery resources and training with community outreach. Facebook
Rhonda Walker Foundation: The five-year leadership program mentors teen girls to grow their confidence, build successful futures and become leaders. Facebook | Instagram
A Kid Again: The nonprofit provides positive experiences, community and long-term support to children with life-threatening conditions and their families. Facebook | Instagram
Salus Center: The LGBTQIA+ community center provides programs, groups, clinics and other events for Lansing community members. Facebook | Instagram
Michigan Lyme Disease Association: The nonprofit supports educational programs and research on Lyme disease diagnoses and treatments. Facebook
Affirmations: The LGBTQ+ community center in Ferndale offers community space, programming and other events. Facebook | Instagram
Rosa L. Parks Scholarship Foundation: Awards scholarships to Michigan high school seniors who demonstrate academic skill, community involvement and economic need while upholding the ideals of civil rights activist Rosa L. Parks. Facebook
HAVEN: The nonprofit provides support services to victims of sexual assault and domestic violence in Oakland County. Facebook
Kunsthalle Detroit: This Detroit nonprofit offers multimedia art exhibition space and historic building restoration. Facebook
Detroit Creativity Project: This nonprofit provides young people in Detroit with improvisation classes to inspire confidence and creativity. Facebook | Instagram
Here are the official 2023 Holiday Cheer for Charity rules:
Each individual person may cast one vote each day for the first round between noon on Nov. 12 until 11:59 p.m. Nov. 26.
By the end of round one, the top five nonprofits with the most votes will be announced and move on to a final round.
The final round of the competition is based on monetary donations through FundRazr.com. Donations start at a minimum of $10.
Voters can choose among the top five second-round candidates between noon on Dec. 1 until 11:59 p.m. Dec. 15.
Each donation in the second round will go to its corresponding nonprofit, which will keep their full fundraising.
The Detroit News will award $20,000 to the nonprofit with the most donations raised to the dollar.
Readers can also support their favorite contestant on social media and tag The Detroit News.
The 2022 Cheer for Charity campaign garnered more than 6,000 public votes in the first round and raised more than $68,000 by the end of round two.
Detroit, MI
Metro Detroit weather forecast Dec. 24, 2024 — 11 p.m. Update
WEATHER
The Local 4Casters track the latest weather alerts in Metro Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Get the most updated information here: https://www.clickondetroit.com/weather/
Detroit, MI
Auto shop hosting free oil change giveaway in Detroit on Christmas for those in need
DETROIT (WXYZ) — FastLane Oil Change in Detroit is giving back this holiday.
The shop on W. 8 Mile Road near the Soutfield Freeway is gifting 25 free oil changes and wiper blades for people in need Wednesday on Christmas Day.
And it doesn’t end there. Customers in line behind the first 15 cars will get half off a regularly priced oil change.
To add to the holiday giving, the business is helping a mother of nine get her car back on the road with new brakes, rotors, pads and filters for free. It’s something that she says significantly help her this holiday.
“A stress that was lifted off of my shoulders because this was something that was gonna need to be done sooner than later, but I was putting it off because it wasn’t in the budget, especially right now,” Rashanda Martin said.
In addition, the Blazin’ Grill right next door to the car shop is giving away 100 free meals on Wednesday. The free and half-off promotions will run from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. The offers are good for Christmas Day only for families and individuals in need.
Detroit, MI
How a Detroit Lions fan’s life was saved and then lost — and the real message behind it
Jeremy Schmidt was given a gift on Sunday: four or five extra hours with his father, Wally Schmidt — a big-hearted man who loved to fish and work on cars and go to car shows and was “my rock, my last pillar.”
Wally, 65, collapsed on the field in Soldier Field on Sunday morning before the Detroit Lions played the Chicago Bears.
“I saw his eyes roll back,” Jeremy said, “and immediately, I’m yelling for help.”
Ben Roth, an off-duty paramedic from Texas, rushed to help, assessing the symptoms.
“That man gave me four or five more hours with my dad, which is invaluable,” Jeremy said. “That guy was amazing for what he did with no hesitation.”
As state troopers came to help and Bears personnel got an AED (automated external defibrillator) machine, CPR was started and Roth pushed the AED button, giving Wally a shock and bringing him back to life.
“His heart stopped on the field,” Jeremy said. “It took one zap to bring him back.”
Wally, who is from Midlothian, Illinois, was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
“In the ambulance, he was responsive, and I could hear the paramedics talking with him,” said Jeremy, who sat up front.
Wally was answering questions in the emergency room.
“I would say his energy was a little drained, but he was still himself, and he was still very coherent, very responsive to what happened, knew where what was going on,” Jeremy said.
Wally even started cracking jokes.
“He was joking about the fact that he was rooting for the Lions over the Bears,” Jeremy said.
Yes, Wally was a Bears fan, who got so frustrated with the losing, so frustrated with this franchise, that he joined the Lions bandwagon.
“It’s hard to watch the Bears if you’re a Bears fan,” Jeremy said. “And I’m a Lions fan, so maybe I had some influence on that. I feel like a lot of Bears fans sympathize with Lions fans. If it’s not going to be them, they root for the Lions, because they all hate the Packers.”
Getting extra time
Jeremy called his stepmother, Beth Schmidt: “She was able to get to the hospital to spend those last hours with him in the room,” Jeremy said.
Jeremy said that his father seemed stable in the ER.
“Everything was okay for the time being,” Jeremy said. “He got his CAT scan, and when he came back from that, he was starting to feel weak, and he was nauseous throughout the whole thing.”
More tests were ordered.
“They were trying to figure out, is there some sort of blockage?” Jeremy said. “Do we need to do a stent? Or, you know, is this serious to the point where we’re going to have to do open heart surgery?”
While in the ER, Wally took a turn.
“He was starting to feel weaker and not feel great,” Jeremy said. “And that’s when things started to go south. You can see the monitor, and it starts beeping a little crazy and turns red — you know, it’s not okay. And then I could see it in his face, his eyes went back, and he kind of tilted his head.”
Doctors and nurses rushed into his room: “The amount of care he got was insane. I would say upwards of 30-plus people were in the emergency room, in his room, working to get him stable at that point, which they were able to do through a breathing tube. They probably zapped him another eight to 10 times down there in the emergency room.”
He was taken for another procedure, but he died during it.
“They notified us that he unfortunately did not make it through the procedure,” Jeremy said. “And they informed us that the left side of his heart had pretty much 100% blockage, which is the side they call a widow-maker. The right side was close to 100%, so no matter how much CPR or anything they did, they just were not able to save him.”
He paused.
“I went from watching the Bears on the field at 11 o’clock with my dad to him passing at 5:30 that day,” Jeremy said. “His heart was in that bad of shape, like it was an incident waiting to happen.”
Two Lions fans linked together
On Monday, Jeremy was still in shock, still trying to process everything. He had to help set up a funeral and make arraingments.
But he did something else.
He called Roth to thank him for what he did on that field.
“I just wanted to express my gratitude,” he said.
Here were two Lions fans, who were brought together in the strangest of ways.
Neither had ever been on an NFL field before. Roth was invited by somebody in the stands who had two extra tickets, and Jeremy had a friend with some extra field passes.
And now, they were united in a dramatic, painful moment.
“I just wanted to comfort him,” Roth said.
And Roth can sense a higher power at work.
“We were supposed to meet,” Roth said. “It’s truly above me. It’s a spiritual thing. It’s a religious thing. It’s whatever deity you want to say, or whatever way you want to say, that things happen.”
Roth, who was incredibly disappointed and dejected, plans to stay in the Chicago area and go to the funeral.
“For closure,” he said.
You can view this story two ways.
You can view it as a tragic ending; certainly, it was, and I feel horrible for the family.
But you can also view it another way: It’s a miracle this family got those extra four or five hours.
The real lesson of this story
Jeremy remembers one last heartfelt moment with his father.
On the way to the game, Jeremy was just so dang happy his father went.
“When I invited him to the game, I didn’t think he was going to go,” Jeremy said. “He’s not big on cold-weather games.”
In the car, Jeremy shared something with his father.
“I told him, ‘I’m very happy you are here, because I don’t know when I’ll be able to do this with you again,’” Jeremy remembers saying, thinking about how he got the tickets. “He was ecstatic. He couldn’t have been happier to be going to that game that day.”
Jeremy paused.
“It’s the little things that you say,” he said, “and you don’t realize how they have that much meaning.”
That is the part that I can’t stop thinking about.
Both of my parents have died in the past few years, and I find myself thinking about them at strange times. When one of my kids has some big news, I think: I should call my parents to tell them. Then, it stuns me to realize they are gone.
I used to call my parents during long drives to watch my son play college football. And now, when I’m on a long drive, like I made to Chicago on Saturday, I had a strong, overwhelming desire to call my parents while driving.
Like I used to do.
And it’s a shock to realize, once again, they are gone.
I find myself thinking: I just wish I had a few more minutes.
Just a sliver of time to talk to them one last time.
That’s the big lesson here — the thing we can ask ourselves: What would you do if you were given a few extra minutes? Or a few more hours?
Would you make amends? Would you ask somebody for forgiveness? Is there something you haven’t said? Would you express your love? Would you cherish every moment?
That’s the lesson here: If there is something you would do, don’t wait.
As we finish out this holiday season, as we approach a new year, I’m gonna try to use this time more carefully.
My youngest son is in town for the holidays — I have to cherish this time with him.
I have a group of friends coming for New Year’s — we have been getting together on New Year’s Eve since college. But I don’t want to take this year for granted.
My granddaughter — who happens to be the cutest dang thing in the world — is simply growing up too fast, and I’m trying like crazy to be present every single second.
If I have one wish for this holiday season — one promise, one vow — it’s to slow down and appreciate more.
To use every stinking minute.
Because you never know when you have only a few hours.
Or even four or five extra ones.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on X @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.
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