The Denton Main Street Association is encouraging everyone this month to share the love by donating to charity. Every Thursday, businesses are donating ten to fifteen percent of their profit to the charity of their choice. So far, there are over a dozen local stores that are involved in Share the Love this year, each with their own reasons for giving back.

Salted Sanctuary Soap is a local shop in Denton that sells natural skincare products. Kimberly Bien, the owner of the shop, chose Denton County Friends of the Family, an organization that provides service and help to victims of sexual and domestic abuse.

“I chose to support DCFOF through our Share the Love event because of the many services they offer to victims of domestic violence,” Bien said. “Everyone deserves to be safe.  DCFOF provides prevention education as well as emergency services such as clothing, food banks, emergency, and transitional housing, counseling, and more.”

Massage on the Square, a massage parlor off of East Oak Street, chose to donate to CASA of Denton County, an organization that provides volunteers for children and teens in the foster care system. Molly Robers, the owner of Massage on the Square, has adopted from CASA, giving her first-hand experience on what CASA has to offer for families who are wanting to adopt.

“My husband and I have adopted six of our kids from the foster care system,” said Robers. “Five of them had CASA workers, one from Denton County. CASA workers have such an impactful voice in the court system. When the Mainstreet Association asked downtown businesses if they wanted to participate in Share the Love, I knew immediately which local nonprofit I wanted to support.  If nothing else, I hope it brings awareness to what an important job CASA of Denton County does.”

Jimmy Tritt, owner of J.T. Clothiers, chose to support Monsignor King Outreach Center, an organization that supplies “assistance, care, and comfort” to homeless people in Denton. The outreach center collaborates with other local organizations to help provides meals, shelter, and services for the homeless.

“I think it’s a wonderful organization that’s helping the homeless,” Tritt said. “It’s a great organization that needs all the support they can get.”

Chestnut Tree has participated in Share the Love ever since it opened. For this year’s collaboration, Suzanne Johnson, owner of Chestnut Tree, decided to make it a team effort when it came to choosing the right organization to donate to.

“This year, one of the business owners suggested we do a donation to charity instead of a product discount,” Johnson said. “We were thrilled as it was something different and would help the Denton community. I wanted the employees to be a part of the selection process for picking a charity.  So I put it to them and they chose the Denton Animal Support Foundation.”

Beth Marie’s supports many communities year-round and chose Serve Denton as their charity of choice. Serve Denton is one of the largest nonprofit centers in Denton and its mission is to team up with other nonprofit organizations aimed at helping people become self-sufficient. Whether it be youth, women, or families that are homeless, Serve Denton helps people learn to support themselves.

There are not one, but three businesses that chose to share their proceeds with the Denton Music and Arts Collaborative, each with their own reason for their support. DMAC is an organization that financially supports visual and performing artists’ healthcare.

Swash Labs, an advertising agency in Denton, is one of the many businesses that share their proceeds with the arts.

"An organization like the Denton Music and Arts Collaborative has a mission near and dear to our hearts as creative professionals: to improve the quality of life for the musicians and artists in our community. Their focus on health care is particularly important to us, and we love what they do to help local creatives get covered and stay well."

Mellow Mushroom chose to support DMAC because the restaurant found they had a few things in common with the organization.

“The Denton Music and Arts Collaborative's mission fits with our giving mission which is primarily geared toward supporting the arts in Denton.  When we first opened in 2011, we opted to narrow our focus of giving in order to maximize our ability to help. In this case, as Denton is such an arts-influenced community and the scene is so valuable and vibrant, we felt this was a good opportunity to mesh the two. We have friends and colleagues who founded this organization and we fully support their mission and want to help promote awareness of who they are and what they do.”

The third local business supporting DMAC is East Side Denton. East Side Denton chose to share their proceeds with DMAC in honor of Andy Knapik, who passed away last January.

Knapik passed away due to heart failure. He was a founding member and vice president of DMAC, pursuing an MBA in Non-Profit Management from UNT. There is not a member of the music and arts community that won’t miss him or his support.

Another local business that wants to support artists is More Fun Comics and Games, managed by Tim Stoltzfus, who is excited to donate his business’ proceeds to Hero Initiative. This organization gives financial and medical support to comic book artists. Because of this organization, any artist can bounce back after being out of work due to medical reasons.

“Hero Initiative is a charity that helps comic creators in need to handle hardships in life,” Stoltzfus said. “Most comic creators, especially older ones, have little to no savings or significant retirement, so Hero Initiative is there to step in and help them in their time of need. It's a cause important to me because of the joyful and insightful work they have brought to the world.”

Traci Davis, owner of Garden Gate chose to support the Denton Animal Support Foundation because of her love for pets and animals.

“I thought it might be fun and so many people love their pets -- I have four dogs so I obviously love pets and I would love to give back to the community,” said Davis.

A lot of business have shared their proceeds with local charities, but Denton Brewing Company decided to give back to charities that support third world countries.

“…We chose Orant this time because it's also important to look elsewhere and not forget those in need in other places. Orant is centrally focused in Malawi, Africa, which is one of the poorest countries in the entire world with a massive population of people in extreme need. Their work focuses mainly on orphans, vulnerable children, and women. Orant also has one of the highest percentages of money going to the end user, which is so important. We are very excited to be donating our portion of the Share the Love funds to them!” said one of the founders of Denton Brewing Company.

Brandy Nowicki, partner and trainer at Camp Gladiator, chose to share her proceeds with Refuge to Women because of its mission to impact the lives of many people, just like Camp Gladiator’s mission. She has also begun volunteering at Refuge as well.

“We want to bring awareness to Refuge for Women,” she said. “We believe in the mission of Refuge to help the healing of women and provide opportunity for them to live out their dreams free of their past. Like Refuge, Camp Gladiator’s mission is to positively impact the physical fitness and ultimately the lives of as many as possible!”
It’s great knowing that there are local businesses willing to give back to nonprofit organizations far and wide. It’s because of the Denton Main Street Association that people are able to donate and I don’t think they get enough credit for what they do. If you feel inspired by any of these stories, please go to https://www.dentonmainstreet.org/share-the-love to learn more about the organization.

Header image courtesy of Denton Main Street Association.

Header designed by Kylie Phillips.