Image courtesy of SAY Detroit
Detroit Pistons owner and Platinum Equity founder Tom Gores made a powerful play for Detroit’s underserved communities, pledging $350,000 to SAY Detroit during the nonprofit’s star-studded radiothon. The announcement, delivered by Pistons Front Office Associate Dwane Casey, electrified the 13th annual event hosted by WJR-AM’s Mitch Albom, whose nonprofit has championed housing, healthcare, and hope for the city since 2006.
Casey, who joined the Pistons organization as head coach in 2018, announced that Gores is allocating $100,000 of the $350,000 donation to provide mental health resources to kids at the SAY Detroit Play Center.
Casey highlighted that Gores strongly supports mental health.
“That’s one thing with the Pistons that we started to do was make sure our players and our employees have access to mental health experts,” Casey said.
“We have quite a few on staff right now. That’s just the kind of guy he is, to make sure that our kids are provided for, too. The mental health piece is so important to our community.”
Albom applauded the focus on mental health.
“That shows an incredible understanding of some of the problems in inner-city communities,” Albom said.
“That is just extraordinary, not just in terms of its size, but in its foresight.”
Albom announced that the commitment helped the radiothon raise more than $2.2 million this year.
Since its first broadcast in 2012, the annual radiothons have raised more than $16 million. With this year’s pledge, Gores will have donated more than $2.1 million in connection with the radiothon since 2017.
Gores in the past several years has partnered with the SAY Play Center to create programs that teach children about philanthropy, entrepreneurship and media, and other life skills.
“We know how generous Tom is and not just from large gifts at the end of a radiothon,” Albom said.
“He has come out to the SAY Play center and he has met with our kids. He takes a vested interest. Tom has been kind enough to make some sizeable donations to our organization every year. We are grateful for his support.”
In 2023, Gores donated $250,000 to SAY Detroit, with an added $100,000 allocated for kids to advise on the still-to-be-constructed Rouge Park Community Center on Detroit’s west side. He challenged the kids to create a plan to support the project.
The children settled on a mural project that will brighten up the new Rouge Park facility. This project is still being planned and will be completed next year to fit with the center’s development plans.
For more information or to donate to SAY Detroit charities, please visit www.saydetroit.org.
