‘Tis the season to be thankful, at Global Marine Insurance Agency we’re thankful for the great team and loyal clients, that have enabled us to provide consumer and commercial boat insurance for the past 23 years. Of course, there has been help along the way. Often from members of our close knit Northern Michigan community. That’s part of the reason that we were so happy to hear Sleder’s Family Tavern announce that they would be holding a celebration in honor of their 130th anniversary this year. Regardless of whether you are in the boat insurance industry or the restaurant industry, 130 years of service is an exceptional accomplishment. Even better yet Sleder’s Family Tavern owners Brian and Deb Cairns committed to donating 100% of the proceeds from their birthday bash to the Women’s Caring Program.
The Women’s Caring Program is aimed at helping disadvantaged children get the quality child care and early childhood education that they need so that will be ready for kindergarten. Many of the children that don’t receive this critical early education begin school behind. Even worse, according to The Center for Public Education many teachers that are working to help disadvantaged kids catch-up are discovering that by the time they reach kindergarten it may be too late.
The first years of early education helps a child create a strong educational foundation, and teaches them how to thrive in an educational environment. Kids that miss these important years are often lacking in current skills and school readiness when they start kindergarten. The gap is significant enough that unfortunately many never catch up. Although there are efforts to prevent any child from being left behind there are many families who earn too much for governmental childcare assistance but can’t afford high-quality early care and education. The Women’s Caring Program provides scholarships to children from birth to five years whose families fall into this category.
Our vice president and co-owner Pam Stanley volunteers on the board of the Women’s Caring Program so our team was familiar with the positive impact the organization has made and were proud to be a corporate sponsor for the fundraiser. The Sleder’s Family Tavern festivities including a sold out golf outing and outdoor party with over 330 guests allowed the event to raise over $23,000 for disadvantaged kids and provide fourteen Traverse City, Michigan area families with early education scholarships.
That’s fourteen, Traverse area children that will receive a quality early childhood education who may not have otherwise, fourteen kids that, are less likely to start their educational careers behind, fourteen children that, are more likely to graduate from high school and go on to college. This year this boat insurance company has a lot of things to be thankful for and because of the generosity of the Cairns family and the Traverse City community now we have fourteen more.
