Here’s a donation drive that will get the attention of NASCAR fans in southeast Michigan:

Michigan International Speedway has announced that fans can take their personal vehicles around the race track for free in exchange for participating in a toy drive and food drive.

A snippet from MIS’s announcement:

Michigan International Speedway is collecting goods to benefit two local charities by hosting a lap around the racetrack from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, weather dependent. Guests may take one lap in their personal automobiles around the historic two-mile oval in exchange for a new, unwrapped toy or bag of food that will be donated to Toys for Tots in Jackson, Mich., and the Food Pantry, in Brooklyn, Mich., respectively.

The last public track drive at MIS was in 2005, so this is a rare treat. All the details are at mispeedway.com.

A Bloomberg report picked up by the Toledo Blade is reporting that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is issuing guidelines to retailers on how to handle shopping crowds on the day after Thanksgiving.

Here’s the OSHA news release.

A snippet:

“Crowd-related injuries during special retail sales and promotional events have increased during recent years,” said acting Assistant Secretary for OSHA Jordan Barab. “Many of these incidents could be prevented, and this fact sheet provides retail employers with guidelines for avoiding injuries during the holiday shopping season.”

Bottom line: if you are a Black Friday shopper, be prepared for changes in how the shopping traffic will be routed through your favorite stores.

Woman’s Day magazine for Dec. 1 has a story about The White Envelope Project, which inspires others to give to charities during the holidays.

The concept started with a holiday tradition by one family that was featured in a 1982 Woman’s Day article. That article is the genesis behind giving101.org, which is a national charity referral and campaign site.

I think this idea would go over well with my local readers in Monroe, Mich., because community service is a significant part of the local culture. The pageant queens really do attend dozens of charity events every year, many of the local college scholarship applications expect students to list their community service hours, nearly all the civic and social clubs have at least one fundraiser or volunteer campaign going at any given time, and schools frequently have projects taking place such as canned food drives or greeting card projects for veterans.

If you’d like to start a charity gift custom among your friends and family in lieu of exchanging more traditional gifts, here are some tips:

• Treat this as a teachable moment. When my daughter was in grade school, a family friend gave her a $20 bill — but it wasn’t hers to keep. The friend gave her the money when I was in the same room and explained he wanted the money to go to “the poor box” at our church. (This friend knew we were a church-going family and he was a minister for another congregation.) So at the next opportunity, I showed my daughter exactly in our church where the “poor box” was stationed. When she dropped the funds, I told her about the various efforts that the money goes to.
• Put as much thought into selecting the cause or charity gift as you would a traditional gift. If this is a Christmas charity gift, don’t look at the causes YOU believe in. You want to support the causes the RECEIVER believes in. Maybe you have some clue from current or previous charity efforts such as a pageant platform, a Boy Scout Eagle project, a Girl Scout Gold Award project, a fraternity’s designated charity or a civic club’s outreach efforts. Otherwise, look to their interests for clues: An eco-friendly friend, for example, would enjoy a donation to a “green” charity in his or her name. And a book lover would appreciate a donation made to the Friends of the Library.
• Don’t pull a surprise switch. If a charity gift is above and beyond the usual gift exchange, that’s one thing. But if this donation will be in lieu of gifts, you’ll want to discuss the concept among the friends and family before everyone goes crazy shopping for retail gifts. The person you are gifting also might give you a suggestion as to which charity or philanthropy they would like to support.

Hickory Farms, which is based in Maumee, Ohio, and has stores in southeast Michigan and northwest Ohio, has announced a special collection of food gifts that can be shipped at no charge to APO / FPO military addresses.

Sven at the Michigan Job Search Blog at MLive has found some technical issues with the emergency unemployment extensions that longterm jobless Michigan residents are counting on / hoping for.

A snippet:

There’s another problem with the unemployment extensions signed into law earlier this month: The legislation does nothing to address the fact that all of the Emergency Unemployment Compensation benefits program all expire at the end of the year. …

The tight deadline for applying for the two additional EUC benefit tiers makes it unlikely that many Michigan residents will qualify for the full 20 weeks of added benefits.

Go see what he’s talking about.

Did your Michigan high school or college student get a letter in the mail this week from the governor about the status of the Michigan Promise program? My daughter did.

Anyone who falls in that demographic knows the background of this program and the impact that state budget cuts are having on it.

But if you are wondering what that letter is all about, The Detroit Free Press is reporting on Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s efforts to revive the Michigan Promise Scholarship program.

I remember hearing some buzz about this earlier in the season – but couldn’t pin it down until today. Apparently, there really is a national shortage of canned pumpkin. Libby’s Pumpkin has confirmed it on the Very Best Baking web site.

So it would be smart for you to count up now how many cans of pumpkin you will need for Thanksgiving and Christmas treats, and buy the cans when you see them rather than waiting until baking day. The Detroit Free Press has checked in with some grocery stores in the region to see what the local supplies are like.

In the meantime, the Libby’s site is suggesting other options for holiday treats such as strawberry cheesecake pie.

Do you scoff at “department store prices?”

I think you need to look at the sales fliers that were in today’s newspapers for Kohl’s and Elder-Beerman. You’ll find some nice stuff suitable for Christmas gifts, winter wear or holiday feasting preparations that will be on very nice sales prices this weekend.

• Kohl’s has power hours from 3 p.m. to midnight Friday Nov. 20 and 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Look for slippers and slipper socks priced between $5.99 and $14.99, girls’ holiday dresses priced starting at $13.50, a four-piece luggage set for $54.99 and all Kitchen Aid bakeware 50 percent off.
• Elder-Beerman’s Friday and Saturday bonus buys deals include Fownes teddy gloves at $7.50 a pair, Sweater Project juniors’ jackets and vests at $17.97 and Izod casual pants for him at $19.97. Assorted kitchen electrics for $19.99 on Friday and Saturday include blenders, water kettles and coffee grinders.

This post is for my readers in and near Flat Rock, Mich.

Homeless and needy families in the Flat Rock, Mich., area can get a free turkey supper with all the fixings Tuesday at the Flat Rock Family Cafe.

The meals will be served from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the restaurant, 27517 Telegraph Rd., Flat Rock. It’s the 25th year that the Steve and Susan Stylianou family has offered the free meals for the less fortunate at Thanksgiving.

The following notice is for my readers in Monroe County, Mich., and is on page 8B of  today’s edition of The Monroe Evening News.

Soroptimist International of Monroe County, Mich., invites local women to apply for monetary awards to help them in pursuing higher education.

The following awards are available:

• The Violet Richardson Award honors a 14- to 17-year-old for her commitment to make the world a better place through volunteer activities. This is a $1,000 award; the deadline to apply is Dec. 1.
• The Women’s Opportunity Award gives women the resources they need to improve their education, skills and employment prospects. Eligible applicants must be women who provide the primary financial support for their families and who are enrolled in or have been accepted to a vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate degree program. This is a $1,000 award; the deadline to apply is Dec. 15.
• The Virginia Wagner Educational Award honors a woman who is pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in her chosen field. Emphasis is put on scholarship and effort toward education. This is a $1,000 award; the deadline to apply is Jan. 15.
• The Soroptimist Ruby Award: For Women Helping Women (formerly The Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award) acknowledges women who, through their personal or professional activities, work to improve the lives of women and girls. Honorees are ordinary women who have worked in extraordinary ways to benefit women and girls. This is a $500 award to the charity of the honoree’s choice; the deadline to apply is Dec. 1.

Applications for all awards are available by calling Soroptimist member Peg at (734) 242-4935.

Soroptimist International of Monroe County is a part of Soroptimist International of the Americas, a volunteer organization for business and professional women who contribute time and financial support to community-based projects benefiting women and girls.

Inquiries about membership in the Monroe chapter may be directed by calling Lori at (734) 241-6015 or Barb at (734) 243-0489.