Safe Harbor of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin
By Marie Bell
For the last 5 years HUG has incorporated a ‘give back’ component to our HUG Conference. Each year we select a charity that is close to the community of our hosting Conference property. In 2019, we selected two charities. One that was close to the property’s community and one that was close to our own HUG community.
Our first charity was Safe Harbor of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Safe Harbor provides services to reach out to those affected by sexual assault and domestic abuse; provide support to those in crisis; and to educate individuals, families and the community, with the tools needed to empower them to live lives free of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
Our second charity was for Matt Webb, a previous HUG Board Member and huge support to the HUG community at large. Last July, Matt was involved in a life changing road biking accident. Though it is unclear what the long-term prognosis is, Matt is currently partially paralyzed. The proceeds of this donation will go not only to Matt’s medical expenses, but also to his family to be able to prepare for life at home.
During the conference we held a basket raffle to fund this charity effort. We had a wealth of HUG attendee and Vendor Sponsor basket donations! The end result was a fund raising effort that yielded $3,630. Springer Miller Systems donated an additional $920 to bring our total to $4,550. We were able to send $2,250 to Safe Harbor and $2,300 to Matt Webb’s family. We are overwhelmed by the success of this HUG ‘give back’ effort. The HUG Community is such an amazing group of caring people that gives so much of themselves everyday for their guests, their communities, and to HUG. Thanks fellow HUG’gers!