2014’s 1st NWITweetup event was special for a lot of reasons. It was the first one organized by the Ideas in Motion Media team (aka mostly all by Jenny Craig-Brown). We coordinated with Jae Chang Berman’s Infinti of Merrillville to give away $250 to a non-profit. That turned into $500 because Jae is awesome and decided $500 would be a better way to kick off 2014’s tweetups. Then that $500 turned into $1,000 being split between Worthy Women Recovery and Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana because Meals on Wheels helped out Rick Gosser, who matched the donation because Meals on Wheels’ cause had recently affected his family.
It was all great and it was cool to see and be a part of, but this month’s also gave a platform to several non-profit organization representatives who were able to share their story in front of many of Northwest Indiana’s biggest social media advocates and most active users, who are now aware and can help spread the word about their causes.
Michelle McCaskey, a LIFE team member, spoke about Medals4Mettle, (Facebook | Website) a group that collects medals from runners and presents them to child patients battling severe illnesses.
Dan McGuire from the Valparaiso Parks Foundation (Facebook | Website), spoke about the initiative to rebuild ValPLAYso, designed by Valparaiso students and will be handicap-accessible.
Jeni Bolton from 500 Turkeys (Facebook | Website) was there to share how her organization has grown to help feed thousands of families every year thanks to donations.
Rich Schmidt was on hand from the National Alliance on Mental Illness - Porter County (Facebook | Website) to talk about the work the group does to raise awareness of mental health issues in Northwest Indiana.
Randi Light and Apryl Niksh of Women in Bloom (Facebook | Website} spoke about their group’s efforts to empower women to develop both personally and professionally.
Julie Dalton was on hand to talk about the Valpo Schools Foundation (Facebook | Website), a group that assists in giving teachers classroom learning grants for special projects.
Jodi Bella talked about the work done by Meals on Wheels of Northwest Indiana (Facebook | Website) and their work ensuring senior citizens do not go hungry.
Sonshine Troche from Worthy Recovery Inc. (Facebook | Website) talked about her organization’s commitment to keeping former La Porte County female inmates with substance abuse issues off the streets.
Jamie Bauer from A Positive Approach to Teen Health (Facebook | Website) explained to the crowd about the organization's work to keep teens healthy and safe in Northwest Indiana.
The Tweetup was fun - it always is - but this one showed that the events don’t always have to be all about Twitter geeks, cocktails and networking. Click the links above, “Like”, “Follow”, and “Share” the causes, and learn about the people and groups who are working hard to make Northwest Indiana a better place.
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