Miller Canfield Participates in 2005 Goodfellow Doll Program
For about two decades the law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. has made dressing dolls for the Old Newsboys' Goodfellow Fund of Detroit a holiday tradition. This year, attorneys and staff dressed 192 dolls to be distributed by the Detroit Police Department to girls ages 5 to 11 in Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.
The firm’s doll dressing was a team effort and contributes to the more than 14,000 dolls that will be distributed this year. Some employees sponsored dolls and dressed them in attractive clothing, others cut clothing patterns during lunch. Coordinators in Miller Canfield’s Ann Arbor, Detroit and Troy offices helped distribute and gather the dolls, which were finished in items such as blue jeans and sweaters, or in meticulously knitted or crocheted outfits made by employees or mothers of employees.
For some, participating in the Goodfellows’ spirit extends beyond the firm’s participation. Miller Canfield attorneys Clarence Pozza, Jr., a past president, and Mike Coakley and Pete Waldmeir, members of the board, have been involved in the Goodfellows for nearly 20 years, selling newspapers during the holidays and participating in other fundraisers for the charity.
“Miller Canfield is proud to contribute to the Goodfellows, which works hard to make sure each needy child receives a special message of hope and caring,” said Waldmeir. “The Goodfellows’ Christmas packages containing warm clothes, books and toys are eagerly awaited by more than 35,000 children in the Detroit area.”
“No Kiddie Without a Christmas” remains the mission of the Old Newsboys’ Goodfellow Fund of Detroit, although the Goodfellows “aren’t just for Christmas any more.” In addition to their various good-will programs, this year, the group sent 350 packages to children affected by Hurricane Katrina, which included clothes, books, undergarments and games.
The 350-attorney law firm of Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C. was established in Detroit in 1852 and has offices in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Howell, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Monroe, Saginaw, and Troy, Michigan. Other offices are located in New York City, Pensacola, Florida, Washington, D.C., Windsor, Ontario, and in Gdynia, Warsaw, and Wroclaw, Poland.