One evening, Carl Lovejoy, our Chief Development Support Officer here at Moosilauke Visions, had a chance encounter with a stranger while on his back deck. On instinct, he invited this unfamiliar passerby to sit and chat. Little did he know that sparking this conversation would lead to a beautiful new business partnership.
Carl was speaking with an E-motion employee. He hadn’t heard of the organization but quickly found out it was a nonprofit with the mission to work with families and individuals suffering from grief. E-motion brings people on similar paths together for programs called “Movement Communities.” Each session in the program begins with group therapy and ends in aerobic exercise – hence the “motion” part of “E-motion.” The exercise section can be anything from a simple run or fitness class to prepping for a charity walkathon or training for a marathon.
Then, when Carl discovered that E-motion was still in the early stages of establishing itself as a nonprofit and they weren’t quite sure what their next move should be, he was thoroughly surprised. Moosilauke Visions itself had just started with the very purpose of helping nonprofits get off the ground, continue growing, and ultimately become sustainable. Now Carl knew he had to meet E-motion’s Founder and Project Director, Myra Sack.
So, he asked Myra if she would give a presentation to himself and Jay Wolter, the President and Founder of Moosilauke Visions. Thankfully, she agreed. During this Zoom call, Myra told the story of her daughter, Havi, who passed from a neurodegenerative disease in 2021. Havi’s life and death taught Myra and her husband Matt the importance of community, movement, and countless other lessons. Myra created E-motion to honor Havi and help other couples cope with child loss.
After hearing Myra’s presentation, Carl and Jay felt immediately called to support E-motion. Jay proposed that they gift the organization a $30,000 grant for general operations, but Carl decided to add a twist. So, E-motion received an initial $15,000 outright, but Moosilauke Visions also challenged the organization to raise another $15,000 from other Upper Valley sources. Also, the second part of the agreement is that E-motion must clearly promote their participation in this Moosilauke Visions challenge. Once E-motion hits its goal, Moosilauke Visions will then match the funds raised with an additional $15,000. We are thrilled about this win-win-win situation that will benefit us and E-motion, and provide opportunities to strengthen even more Upper Valley organizations, which is another priority of ours.
Carl’s amended proposal also accounted for how he planned to work closely with E-motion during the fundraising process. That’s what Moosilauke Visions is all about – not just offering our treasure but also our talents. We share our experience-backed knowledge to assist mission-focused nonprofits like E-motion in seeking out great opportunities along their journeys and ultimately succeed at achieving their goals. Simply put, we help people who help people. From the start of this story, it was clear that E-motion and Moosilauke Visions were fated to be a perfect fit.