Photos courtesy of Michael Roderick's
Michael Roderick’s experience with fundraising began six years ago when he decided to climb Mount Rainier to raise money for the Christine Wilson Foundation.
Roderick lives next door to the Wilson family, who started the foundation in honor of their daughter Christine who passed away in a house fire at age 19. After coming up with the slogan, “Take it to the Top,” Roderick sold T-shirts and raised awareness about the climb within the community.
“It was really a grassroots movement, getting the word out around the neighborhood,” he says.
After such a positive experience with the Wilson Foundation, Roderick says, “I knew I was on to something by just getting a feel of doing a little fundraising for a special cause.”
In summer 2013, Roderick’s desire to continue charity work came to fruition when he founded Embrace the First Step, a non-profit organization designed to benefit local charities through athletic events and fundraisers.
“It all leads into meeting more great people.” - Michael Roderick's
He says the defining moment came to him at a football game in Ohio Stadium when he looked around and saw all the names of the donors and realized that he wanted to play a larger role in local philanthropy.
“I remember that moment like it was five minutes ago,” he says. “I thought, ‘Why don’t I do this?’ That’s how I thought of the name – I was thinking, ‘Just take the first step, just do it.’”
As an avid mountain climber, tennis player, skier and hiker, Roderick says he wanted Embrace the First Step to combine his love of athletics and philanthropy.
“I like to compete, but I also like to bring people together. I wanted to bridge the gap between generations and bring people together for a common cause, to raise money for others that are less fortunate than us,” he says.
Through ongoing fundraising efforts and events like its annual dinner gala, golf outings and, of course, the Mount Rainier climb, Embrace the First Step’s mission centers on Roderick’s concept of CAVS: helping children, animals, veterans and seniors in any way possible.
Roderick's defining moment come to him at an OSU football game.
“My goal is to spread the love around,” Roderick says.
For the past five years, Embrace the First Step has partnered with local charities and volunteer organizations like the American Heart Association, Columbus Dog Connection, the Children’s Hunger Alliance, the Fallen 15 and more.
Currently, Embrace the First Step is streamlining its fundraising efforts toward a 2019 dinner gala benefitting the Reagan Delaney Tokes Memorial Foundation, a non-profit devoted to the life of Tokes, a former student at The Ohio State University who was murdered at age 21.
“I’m very close with the (Tokes) family,” Roderick says. “It’s a tragic story, but there’s going to be a very positive movement coming out of it. I’m so passionate about this (Tokes) foundation.”
While his short-term goals are centered around the Tokes Foundation, Roderick says his long-term goal for Embrace the First Step is simply to help as many organizations as possible, building strong connections along the way.
“It all leads into meeting more great people,” he says. “And that’s priceless.”
Kendall Lindstrom is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
