Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Twinkle Town festivities and congratulations to Haneen Matt for winning this year’s tree decorating competition! As the winning tree’s charity partner, ChadTough Foundation received a $10,000 donation from Gardner White to support their mission to raise funds for research in the fight against DIPG. In addition to ChadTough, all charity partners received a donation to their cause from us.
To further support all of the event’s wonderful charity partners, we held a tree auction from December 14th through December 17th where the public had the opportunity to bring home one of the incredible Twinkle Town entries and 100% of the funds raised went directly to each tree’s charity. With your support, nearly $50,000 was donated to non-profit organizations in our community!
View the highlights from Twinkle Town’s kickoff event in the video below and continue scrolling to see details of all of our beautifully decorated trees from this year’s competition.
Modern Vintage
Creator: Haneen Matt
Charity of choice: ChadTough Foundation
Decorated by Haneen Matt, the Modern Vintage tree features the sweet faces of children impacted by DIPG, a form of pediatric brain cancer. This tree is both stunning in its design and heartfelt in its tribute. ChadTough Foundation’s mission is to inspire and fund game-changing research to discover effective treatments for childhood brain cancers like DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma) and DMG (diffuse midline glioma), while offering direct help to families currently in the fight.
Saturday Morning Cartoons
Creators: Fox 2‘s Taryn Asher, Roop Raj, & Brandon Hudson
Charity of choice: Kids-TALK Children’s Advocacy Center
Decorated by FOX 2’s Taryn Asher, Roop Raj & Brandon Hudson, the Saturday Morning Cartoons tree is super playful and fun! Did you know the first Saturday morning cartoon was The Mighty Mouse Playhouse and aired in 1955? This tree pays tribute to cartoons and toys through the years and is sure to take you down memory lane! FOX 2’s charity of choice is the Kids-TALK Children’s Advocacy Center. Kids-TALK CAC focuses on the safety, social and emotional health, and stability of children and families throughout Wayne County. Kids-TALK CAC offers comprehensive services in coordination with a network of experts to guide suspected victims of abuse and trauma through the investigation, assessment, treatment, and prevention of child maltreatment.
Whimsical
Creator: Sarah Schneider
Charity of choice: SCAMP
Decorated by Sarah Schneider, the Whimsical Tree was decorated with SO-MUCH-LOVE! This tree is warm, colorful, playful, inspiring, and homemade with care! Sara’s charity of choice is Clarkston SCAMP, a five-week summer day program developed and designed for children and young adults with special needs covering a wide variety of both emotional and physical diagnoses. The camp offers music and art therapy, field trips to a large variety of venues, beach/boating days, gross motor activities, and socialization with both their peers and within the community.
Peace, Love, and Rescue
Creator: Mr. Fluffypants, Michigan Humane Ambassador
Charity of Choice: Michigan Humane
Decorated by Mr. Fluffypants, Michigan Humane, and Fleur Detroit, the Peace, Love, and Rescue tree is equal parts gorgeous as it is representative of our pet community. Michigan Humane was founded in 1877 and is the oldest and largest nonprofit animal welfare organization in the state. Each year, Michigan Humane achieves 100% adoption of more than 8,000 healthy and treatable animals through compassionate care, community engagement, and advocacy for humane treatment.
Feeding Detroit
Creator: Mike Duffy from WXYZ
Charity of choice: Forgotten Harvest
Decorated by Mike Duffy, WXYZ & Forgotten Harvest, the Feeding Detroit tree is exquisite. Not only does this tree represent the warmth and cheer of the holiday season, but it was designed with the theme in mind. Dried fruits, herbs, spices, wheat, and grains are just a few of the personal touches this team incorporated into the design. Mike’s charity of choice is Forgotten Harvest. Forgotten Harvest is a non-profit food rescue organization that collects food that would otherwise go to waste and delivers it free of charge to organizations feeding the hungry in Metro Detroit. Their food helps bridge the income gap for tens of thousands of people, allowing them to secure some basic life necessities for themselves and their families.
Michigan Made
Creator: Amyre Makupson
Charity of choice: Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Michigan
Decorated by Amyre Makupson from CBS News Detroit, the Michigan Made tree is filled with Michigan love! One-of-a-kind ornaments designed, crafted, and created by local Michigan brands, small businesses, artists, students, and schools. Truly inspiring! Amyre’s charity of choice is the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Michigan, which is the premier source of information and support for Michigan residents living with dementia and their families and caregivers. The Alzheimer’s Association offers a broad range of free programs and services, funding for Alzheimer’s and dementia research, and advocacy efforts on behalf of Michiganders.
Rustic Cozy
Creators: Rhonda Walker, Jason Colthorp, Ashlee Baracy, Kim Degiulio, Priya Mann, Nick Monacelli & Darnell Blackburn of Local 4 News
Charity of Choice: Sparky Anderson’s CATCH Charity for Children
Decorated by the Local 4 News team from 4:30-8:30, the Rustic Cozy Tree is a true representation of cozy, love & warmth. In addition, Rhonda Walker, Jason Colthorp, Ashlee Baracy, Kim DeGiulio, Priya Mann, Nick Monacelli, and Darnell Blackburn took their task seriously and decorated in full costume – their Christmas Jammies! Their charity of choice is Sparky Anderson’s CATCH Charity for Children. CATCH is dedicated to improving the quality of life for pediatric patients and their families at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Henry Ford Hospital. Through an ongoing series of special fundraising activities and the development of a board-designated endowment fund, CATCH provides for children whose special needs might otherwise fall through the cracks.
Impactful Touchdowns
Creator: Calvin Johnson Jr.
Charity of choice: Calvin Johnson Jr. Foundation Inc.
Decorated by Calvin Johnson Jr. and community, the Impactful Touchdowns Tree is equally beautiful and inspiring. The Calvin Johnson Jr. Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit dedicated to the education, training, and social development of at-risk youth. They promote causes such as supporting those less fortunate, pancreatic cancer research scholarships, graduating senior football athlete scholarships, health and physical fitness awareness, and providing financial support to nonprofit organizations.
Winter Wonderland
Creators: Keith Bynum + Evan Thomas, HGTV’s Bargain Block
Charity of choice: Humble Design
Decorated by Keith Bynum + Evan Thomas of HGTV’s Bargain Block, the Winter Wonderland tree is such a joy to explore and exudes the true essence of winter! Humble Design is a Pontiac-based non-profit that helps those transitioning out of homeless shelters by providing furnishings and design services. Their goal is to turn empty houses into clean, dignified, and welcoming homes by custom designing and fully furnishing home interiors for individuals, families, and veterans emerging from homelessness.
The 6mas Tree
Creator: George Nikollaj of 6 Salon
Charity of choice: C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital
Decorated by George Nikollaj, Stylist and founding member of 6 Salon and Dynfly, The 6mas Tree. This tree is gorgeous and truly represents all the feels of the holiday season! George’s charity of choice is The C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital at the University of Michigan. C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital has led the way in providing comprehensive, specialized health care for children. Their mission is to integrate clinical care, education, research, and advocacy to advance the health status of children, women, and their families and communities statewide.
Chic Glam
Creators: Tatianna & Jonathan Merritt
Charity of choice: Give Merit
Decorated by Tatianna Merritt and Jonathan Merritt, the Chic Glam Tree is beautifully executed with stunning decor and comes complete with its own special holiday scent! Tatianna and Jonathan’s charity of choice is Give Merit. Give Merit is a non-profit that exists to enhance and extend educational opportunities to underserved youth through innovative enrichment and mentorship activities. Its mission is to provide resources and opportunities for these youths to embrace education and become world-class citizens, with a goal to motivate each student to graduate high school and attend college.
Elegant
Creator: Kimberly Dobine
Charity of choice: Money Matters for Youth
Decorated by Kimberly Dobine, the Elegant Tree exudes the true essence of elegance. This tree sparkles and shines from all angles. Kimberly did not leave one detail untouched. Kimberly’s charity of choice is Money Matters for Youth. MMFY is a Detroit-based financial literacy program for children that teaches the basics of economics and financial responsibility. Their goal is to provide a program that is committed to fostering the social, emotional, and cognitive growth of young people while preparing them to have professional and personal success all while giving back to their community.
Birdland
Creator: Ben Sharkey
Charity of choice: Michigan Foster Care Closet
Decorated by the ever-so-talented Ben Sharkey, the Birdland tree is full of character, charm, and hidden notes of love! Ben’s charity of choice is the Michigan Foster Care Closet. The Michigan Foster Care Closet is a non-profit based in Washtenaw County that provides clothing, shoes, toys, linens, nursery furniture, strollers, car seats, school supplies, hygiene products, safety equipment, and more to foster children and their families FREE of charge. MFCC gives foster children a sense of value and control in their lives so they can feel confident and accepted.
For The Love Of Sports
Creators: Rick Mahorn + Family
Charity of choice: Gleaners Food Bank
Decorated by Rick Mahorn and his family, the For the Love of Sports Tree represents athletes across all sports, in an elegant and beautiful way. Rick’s charity of choice is Gleaners Community Food Bank. Gleaners is a Detroit-based non-profit organization that works to solve hunger in southeastern Michigan. They provide food to more than 400 partner soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, schools, and other agencies across the region, and supplement the efforts of those partners by offering direct service drive-up grocery distributions.
