FranChoice Helps Hungry Detroit-Area Kids at Recent Conference

Despite tough economic times, companies continue to find ways to give back and support the community. At their recent national conference, FranChoice, the nation’s premier network of Franchise referral consultants, partnered with Gleaners, the largest community food bank in Michigan, to fill backpacks with groceries for Detroit area children. FranChoice donated more than $15,000 in groceries and supplies to feed local children in need.

Detroit was chosen as the location for this year's conference because it is the hometown of Lori Kiser-Block, President of FranChoice, who was thrilled to show off her favorite city. "Most of our conferences are held in vacation cities but Detroit is rich with history and has produced a number of famous citizens," said Lori. "Holding our semi-annual conference in Detroit has been a goal for me since joining FranChoice and I enjoyed bringing our group to middle America for a change."

Additionally, the conference theme, “Dreams to Reality,” seemed an apt goal not only for conference attendees but also for the greater community. "We are all aware," said Lori, "that the country is facing difficult economic times and this is certainly true in Detroit, where there has been a significant loss of jobs. When we heard about the number of school children who were going hungry, we knew immediately that we wanted to help."  

Part of each FranChoice conference involves team building events to help attendees from around the country develop closer working relationships.  The company frequently incorporates a charitable aspect into these activities. In Detroit, 165 conference attendees were divided into teams to shop for food at local Kroger stores, then the teams filled 500 backpacks with nutritious, kid-friendly food items. Gleaners will then distribute the filled backpacks to charities who will give them to teachers. When a teacher dismisses the class for the weekend or a holiday, a backpack will be discretely given to any child who would otherwise go without food until the next free school meal. 

“The mission of the event was to create a meaningful, memorable and heartwarming experience for each attendee and develop a team building activity built around an altruistic goal,” said Lori. “The franchise industry is at a great advantage when it comes to uniting for a common cause because of the success of Franchising in general, and the desire of the individuals to give back to the communities they serve,” Lori added. This year FranChoice had 150 representatives from about 50 of the country’s top franchise companies, including a number of companies headquartered in Michigan.  

The charity-focused team building events are always well-received by conference participants. Comments from the Detroit meeting included these: "I personally loved this. I made some new friends and felt good in the process." "This was incredible. I have NEVER attended a conference where we did something like this. I loved it!" "The best team building event ever. This was a 10!"

The backpack program follows FranChoice charitable team building events from two previous conferences.  The 2007 effort benefited Denver-area soldiers deploying for Iraq.  500 soldiers received packs filled personal care items, snacks, music, movies, magazines and hand made cards.  In 2006, the FranChoice team built and donated 50 bicycles to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Scottsdale.

One of the most exciting parts of being a franchise consultant," said Lori, "is that we get to help people realize their dreams of business ownership. We love seeing the success business ownership brings to franchisees. We also realize that success is better when shared with those less fortunate and that's why we all feel good when we do something for others. Annual meetings are perfect opportunities to build strong relationships with one another while contributing to a local charitable organization.”