Sunshine Toyota Hosts Roofsit For the Homeless Friday in Battle Creek

Fourteen years ago, during a meeting at the Battle Creek Radio Stations on Golden Avenue, the staff were talking about the next project to do for the community.  One of the morning show personalities on 104.9FM came up with the idea:  “Let’s do a roof sit to raise money for the homeless shelter.”  So far, the effort has raised a half-million dollars and, despite COVID-19,  we’re still at it!

This Friday, June 26th, radio personalities from “95.3 WBCK” and “104.9 the Edge” will take to the airwaves live from the roof of Sunshine Toyota on the Magnificent Motor Mile in Battle Creek.  The goal has been set at $60,000.

The broadcasters work all day on Friday, encouraging people to phone in at 788-0988. Volunteers will be answering phones and taking pledges from 6 am to 6 pm on Friday.

“We’ve done the Roofsit at six different locations“, said Tim Collins, 95.3 WBCK Morning Show Host and Director of Content at Townsquare Media.  “We started at the Haven of Rest downtown and even did it on top of a Behnke semi-trailer one year.  This year we’re really happy to be in the Magnificent Motor Mile on Dickman Road, on top of Sunshine Toyota.   Gary Minneman, Jr. has been a great supporter of the event in the past and was a tremendous host last year.”

Inasmuch House serves women and one or two-parent families with children who are experiencing the crisis of homelessness, providing emergency shelter, meals, and services to help families get back on their feet and back into permanent housing.  Executive Director Daniel Jones says this year’s event will look a bit different.   “For safety reasons during the pandemic, we won’t be able to put our bucket brigade volunteers on the streets, and we’re going to have fewer people up on the roof at any one time.  We couldn’t do our hot dog sales at Sam’s Club either, so we’ll be counting on people calling in to donate what they can.”

Collins says they’ll be practicing social distancing on the roof, but will still be able to do interviews, albeit 6 feet apart.  “We won’t have food up there this year, and it won’t be a roof party like it has in the past.  But we felt that the shelter is such an important part of our community, especially this year, that we had to go ahead with it anyway.”

Pray for good weather!roof-sit-2020-battle-creek/

• Who: 95.3 WBCK, 104.9 The Edge, Inasmuch House Volunteers, and Sunshine Toyota.
• What: Raising $60,000 during the 14th Annual Roofsit to Benefit the Haven of Rest’s Inasmuch House.
• When: June 26th from 6 am-6 pm
• Where: Up on the Roof at Sunshine Toyota, 1355 W Dickman Road, Battle Creek, Michigan
• Why: Inasmuch House is Calhoun County’s only shelter for homeless families,
• How: Call 788-0988 to donate, or you can drop a donation at Sunshine Toyota, or donate online.