Fund for Thanksgiving dinner set up through Dayton Foundation

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By Jill Kelley, Staff Writer Updated 4:04 PM Monday, November 2, 2009

DAYTON — The table is starting to be set for Thanksgiving in Dayton: A Feast of Giving, now that the centerpiece has arrived.

Dean Ditmer, general manager of ABC 22/Fox 45, announced Friday, Oct. 23, that a fund has been set up through The Dayton Foundation that enables people to donate directly to the event formerly known as the Beerman Thanksgiving Dinner.

“People can now mail in donations, or use credit cards,” Ditmer said. “We can receive monetary and in-kind donations.”

As it notes on the Fox 45 Web site, “the fund will help sustain Dayton’s longtime Thanksgiving dinner tradition.”

The fund also allows the organizers to move forward financially for this inaugural Feast.

“It just opens up the flood gates, because we really could not do anything until this was in place,” Ditmer said.

One of the early investors in the project, Dayton digital media company Stratacache, is challenging others to contribute.

“We’d like to see other entities, both small and large, follow our lead,” said Louie Hollmeyer, vice president of marketing for Stratacache. “We want to encourage any amount of giving; it constitutes what community is all about.”

Hollmeyer added that the 501(3c) nonprofit status of The Dayton Foundation, in which all donations are tax deductible, also is beneficial for businesses who want to participate.

“From a bottom-line perspective, it is more advantageous for a company to donate to a (tax-deductible) foundation,” he said. “Our gift was not predicated on it, but some people are looking for it.”

To make a donation online, visit the Fox 45 Web site at www.daytonsnewssource.com and click on the Feast of Giving square. That will lead to a link for secure credit card donations.

To make a donation by mail, send cash or a check made payable to The Dayton Foundation and sent it to: Feast of Giving Fund, c/o The Dayton Foundation, 500 Kettering Tower, Dayton, OH 45423.

For more information about the event, visit the Web site or call the station at (937) 263-4500.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7325 or jikelley@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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