Let’s end the Thanksgiving holiday week by ending domestic and sexual violence

Thanksgiving has become a full week of events.

On Friendsgiving Wednesday, once the kids and pets are cozy in their rooms, I take time to catch up with old friends that I don’t get to see often enough. Two-Buck-Chuck for some, and for others a taste of the test pie I bake every year before the “real” one.

Thanksgiving Thursday is the main event. Driving, the Turkey Trot, the parade, food, family, food, more food, and a celebration of my youngest daughter’s birthday is the routine I’ve come to cherish.

Black Friday used to be a day I would tease my frugal mother and her friends about. I’m still a diehard feminist who is working on saving the world. But as a mom, I also now appreciate the value of an early morning sale at the Target Super Center.

Small Business Saturday reminds me each year of what a privilege it is to live in a vibrant community with storefront retail shops – so many of them owned by creative, dedicated women that I get to call my neighbors.

Busiest-Travel-Day-of-the-Year Sunday may not technically be a “day,” but for my extended family it’s a reality. It’s inevitably when we say goodbye to out-of-town guests and learn that the correct exit to the airport terminal we’re driving to last minute is not in this lane, which was where I thought I remembered it being last year.

Cyber Monday. Ah, is anyone else old enough to remember pretending to read emails while using the office streaming broadband connection to access deals online? Okay, maybe some of us still do that once in a while.

Which brings us to Giving Tuesday. The leftovers are gone, along with the in-laws. The deals have been found, and you’ve supported your local entrepreneurs. Most importantly, the new federal tax bill (with a proposed cut to the charitable donation deduction) has not passed, so you can still utilize a donation today toward your 2017 income tax return deductions!

You have worked all week to make a difference in your community, to make memories for your family, and to make the most of pre-New Year’s Resolution calorie consumption bliss. Today, I’m asking you to do one last task that can make a difference now and for generations to come. I’m asking you to help end domestic and sexual violence. Maybe that seems impossible to you. But I ask you to consider the changes we have witnessed in this past year. Some are calling this a watershed moment for the voices and rights of survivors.

The Michigan Coalition to End Domestic and Sexual Violence has been working diligently, with community partners, with our member programs, in the hallways of the state and federal legislative bodies, and even with our credit union microloans partner to empower Michigan’s survivors.

We are working to train social workers and legal advocates, to educate university students and staff, to inform private employers, to provide technical assistance and fund development support to domestic violence shelters, and to fight for strengthening laws to protect survivors while fighting against proposed laws that could have dangerous consequences survivors.

Will you help us end domestic and sexual violence? Click here to donate today: https://portal.mcedsv.org/donate

Thank you!

Sarah Prout Rennie, Executive Director