Nonprofit with GVSU roots unites volunteers for projects across Michigan

Under the shade of Shelter No. 8 on Belle Isle Park in Detroit, hospitality and tourism management professor Patty Janes has a moment to catch her breath. 

It’s been a hectic morning already for Janes and the volunteers with her nonprofit organization, Michigan Cares for Tourism. While she gets a brief respite from the day’s logistics, volunteers are scattered around the park’s north side, collecting garbage. 

Janes founded Michigan Cares for Tourism in 2012, uniting hospitality and tourism professionals from around the state to contribute their time and work to help rejuvenate and clean parks across Michigan. 

But, Belle Isle is a special place for Janes and her group. Nearly 10 years ago to the day, Janes and 450 volunteers met on Belle Isle to help the Michigan Department of Natural Resources get the park ready for the summer recreation season. It was one of Michigan Cares for Tourism’s earliest projects.

Ten years later, they are back at the Detroit landmark. 

“Belle Isle is an important park to the city of Detroit, but to the state, too,” Janes said. “The DNR always has a lot of work to do because they work on a skeleton crew, and with so many miles of accessible land, it has to be ready.”

This year’s visit on Belle Isle was a collective GVSU effort with the Charter Schools Office as a key partner for the day. 

A fleet of school buses pulled up to the shelter and more than 120 11th graders from University Prep Science & Math in Detroit, a GVSU-authorized charter school, have arrived for breakfast, ready to join the morning of restoration and cleanup projects, like landscaping, weeding, mulching, collecting trash, and prepping and painting.

“We always want to find ways to connect the faculty, staff and students at Grand Valley to our charter public schools, and vice versa, with really creative ways to further learning and community building,” said Michael Cousins, associate director of community outreach with the Charter Schools Office.

Volunteers drive projects

Janes said this year’s event has a group of volunteers with a wide geographical and professional background. Several of her fellow faculty members in the hospitality and tourism management department and the College of Education and Community Innovation are on the scene to help. There are more than 120 other volunteers, including a group from the Alpena Convention and Tourism Office, a representative from the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit, 13 staff members from the Henry Ford Museum and others.

Some have no connection to the tourism industry. Janes said one volunteer told her husband who works at General Motors about the plans. He was able to spread the word at his office and 10 of his co-workers agreed to join the cause.

Dan Sippel, executive director of the West Michigan Tourist Association, helped at the Belle Isle event 10 years ago and returned for this year’s effort. 

“To be able to go to these iconic destinations that other people don't even know exist in Michigan and be able to take care of them is great,” Sippel said, mentioning the island’s historical significance.

French colonists in the 18th century referred to the island as Hog Island because they would let their livestock roam here, said Sippel. Johnny Weissmueller qualified for the 1928 Olympics in the Detroit Boat Club’s swimming pool; he taught swimming lessons there, too. The next year, Amelia Earhart was a guest of the Women’s Aeronautical Association of Detroit for a luncheon in honor of women aviators. Nearby, Sippel noted, the Edmund Fitzgerald would dock on its voyages across the Great Lakes. 

“Not only are these parks cool places, but we’ll have about 225 volunteers for four hours here, we’ll get a lot of cool things done,” Sippel said. 

Prior to the big day, Janes said she assigns volunteers to teams, looking to mix professionals with diverse backgrounds to create and foster relationships.  

“It's remembering there's a whole big state out there in the world and different opportunities,” she said. 

And that belief is equally true for the charter school students. Janes said she polled the students beforehand to get an idea of what volunteerism means to them. Many responded saying they had never participated in a volunteer project.

“Today is about introducing them to volunteerism and introducing them to the tourism industry and other professionals,” Janes said. “Everybody is influenced by their circle of influence. I was lucky enough to go to college as a first-generation college student, and the world became so big.”