S.A.Y. Detroit was formed by author and columnist Mitch Albom as a result of a story he read during the Detroit Super Bowl week in February, 2006. The story noted that the homeless in Detroit would be given a special Super Bowl “party” to keep them off the streets for the big weekend, but would be put back on the streets come Monday morning. Albom was disturbed by this and went public with a plea to do as much for the homeless the rest of the winter as the city was willing to do for a weekend. He spent a night in a shelter to call attention to the issue. The response was overwhelming, and enough money was raised to increase hours of shelter operation, buy a van, hire a medical professional, purchase beds, and much more.

Soon, S.A.Y. Detroit (which stands for Super All Year Detroit) was a fully formed 501© (3) charity. It now distributes money to shelters in Detroit for projects specifically designed to help the plight of those in need. Its projects to date include the building of a state-of-the-art kitchen at the Michigan Veterans Foundation shelter and a day-care center at COTS for children of homeless women. The new Medical Clinic is its latest undertaking, and was made possible largely through the generosity and hard work of Cooper Standard Automotive and its CEO, Jim McElya.

Donate to S.A.Y. Detroit at www.saydetroit.org