What are your holiday traditions? Here at Michigan Creative, we have an annual holiday tradition where we host an event called Backwards Burglar. This year will be our fifth year hosting the event where our team works to collect donations from the community to help support families in need. This tradition came to fruition in 2015 by our CEO and Founder, Brian Town, in an attempt to give back and help those who may be in need.
“A lot of times we take for granted what we have, and there’s a lot of people who don’t get the Christmas morning my family has. As a creative company, we wanted to do more than donate money. Our team wanted to come up with a creative solution to give back to the community,” Town explained.
The Backwards Burglar is a tricky one. He is one that will break into your home to leave gifts inside as a surprise for those who might need a little extra help over the holidays. So far, the Backwards Burglar has been pretty successful in not getting caught, and hoping to make the fifth year the best year yet! But, to make the project a success, we need some help from our community.
We’re Breaking In!
Make no mistake. The Backwards Burglar is the good guy. He’s just in disguise. The goal of the Backwards Burglar is not to steal items, but instead, he tries his best to fill homes with holiday cheer. After gathering donations, we at Michigan Creative shop for the family in need, wrap presents, and ever so carefully break-in to their home. But, only with the help of a family member, neighbor or friend. We do our best to sneak in while the hosted family is away so that we can deliver the best possible surprise. It’s a fun and exciting way to spread the joy of the holiday season.
For our fifth anniversary with Backwards Burglar, we decided to do things a little differently! Instead of having the community nominate a family or families, we will be working with Child and Family Charities, a local Lansing non-profit organization, to help support families in need this holiday season. Due to COVID-19, we may not be able to enter homes this year, but we can still help support our community.
Child and Family Charities reaches more than 7,000 families within the community who are in need each year. They offer programs for children and families in many different situations, assisting with housing, food, child care, mental health care, drug prevention, and more. With the recent pandemic, Child and Family Charities has seen not only an emphasis on our community’s needs but also increased needs as many are facing new challenges in their lives. Michigan Creative chose to work with Child and Family Charities to help fill just a few of the many requests they have received this year.
Help us spread Christmas Cheer
We need your help! To give families a holiday full of memories and joy, we are asking for donations to help with the purchase of food and gifts for the selected family. However, the more donations we receive, the more families we can help this holiday season! Every penny will go back to Child and Family Charities to help support the Lansing community. Visit our GoFundMe here to donate.
To learn more about the Backwards Burglar, please click here.