Businesses in downtown Appleton have been raising money all week for the Giving Hope campaign. It's expected that thousands of dollars will be raised this weekend for the American Cancer Society one sale at a time.
The hustle and bustle in downtown Appleton is typical for a Saturday. But today dozens of shops will capitalize on that foot traffic for something bigger than sales.
"We've been participating in the Giving Hope promotion all four years that we've been around," says Toni Watry the owner of The Vintage Garden downtown.
"I’m doing ten percent of my sales for the entire week. Some do ten percent for a day, some do the purchase of a certain item," adds Monika Austin the owner of Beatnik Betty’s Resale and Butik.
"For every rose sold we're donating a dollar back to Giving Hope and it's just nice to be able to give back to the community," adds Jenny Hintz an employee at Crazy Sweet.
Appleton Downtown Incorporated will collect thousands of dollars of proceeds raised over the week and then give it to the American Cancer Society for patient support and research.
"I mean everybody seems to have a connection to cancer unfortunately so it's a great way to be able to show support," says Watry.
"In my family alone we've had a bunch of family and friends that have been battling cancer and have won their battles and a couple that have lost as well," adds Hintz.
And while the campaign wraps up today, the giving demonstrated by these mom and pop shops downtown goes to show that profit can't trump, a community rooted with deep ties to one another.
"I've been very, very lucky. People have paid it forward to me over the years in different ways so I look at it as a way to pay it forward to other people," adds Austin.
"That’s why we love being downtown and love being a part of Appleton," says Watry.
If you want to find out more about which businesses raised money for the American Cancer Society just check out the link below for more details.
Appletondowntown.org
