What happens when you merge high culture, urban revitalization, gourmet food, free flowing drinks, lots of really good looking people, and Detroit?

BravoBravo! happens.

And man, did it happen. Oh my gosh, that was a darn good party.

Last Friday, the Detroit Opera House hosted it's annual BravoBravo! Fundraiser and it was a raving success. A success to the tune of over $205,000 cash money raised. Put that money in the bank, baby.

First of all, it was a sell-out. 2,300 people, partying their butts off, and literally hanging from the balcony. Second, I didn't know so many good looking people lived around here.  Third, it proved in my mind that the only reason why Detroit doesn't have the stuff other big cool cities have is that we don't try enough. Because when we do try, we do it right.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend two very special fundraising events. They both made me realize that caring people are not a silent minority and that change can happen if we want it to.

The first event, the Keith Hamm Foundation's annual fundraiser, was a truly amazing night (I went this past Saturday night).  Here's a little background.

Last year I wrote about Quicken Loans VP Mark Miller being named the Michigan Lymphoma and Leukemia Society's Man of the Year for organizing the Keith Hamm Foundation, dedicated to the discovery of a cure for blood-borne cancers. Mark and his close friends created the Keith Hamm Foundation as a lasting memorial to Keith, who died of cancer last year.

This year's fundraiser was a great success and generated over $20,000 for cancer research.

Last Friday, I took the day off to participate in a Read-A-Thon at Savage Elementary, my alma mater in Belleville, Michigan.

I attended Savage about 13 years ago for my 5th grade year. Like I told the kids I read to, it was the place where I realized what I loved to do – write! The teacher who inspired me is still there – Mrs. Larabell. She was also the person who guided my particularly odd memory and encouraged me to put it to use in spelling bees. She eventually accompanied me to the spelling bee district finals for elementary schools, where I took 3rd place. It was one of my prouder moments.

I wasn't the only Quicken Loans team member there – veteran reader, one of my good friends and President’s Club Banker Jim Woodworth also read to several classes. He’s in the picture above with me. And no - I’m not that short, Jimmy is just that tall.

Great article from Salon.com exposes all the energy sucking appliances that live in your home and cost consumers a reported $7 billion annually to live in stand-by mode.

Microwaves, computers, TV’s and video devices are among the guiltiest culprits. When you leave your computer at the end of a day’s work, do you shut down the computer and monitor? Probably not. When you power off your TV after you’ve reached your reality show fill, is it really off? No. According to Salon, a typical house hosts around 50 electronic devices that could be quelled instead of sneaking dollars out of your wallet.

Instead of waiting for manufacturers to make “greener” devices, start cutting back with what you have now. You can buy smarter outlets and surge protectors that power all your stuff off, even if you forget. Unplug your microwave when you take your food out. Cut back on the number of cable boxes in your home. Even reducing the brightness of your TV or computer monitor can save some serious kilowatts.

Making the habits is the key to saving real energy and money. Like with most worthwhile “green” efforts, the combined effort of all the conscientious consumers is what will begin to make a significant DIFFerence.

by Tim Pulice

Spring has arrived, not only because the calendar says so, but also because my 4-year-old daughter Zoë says she’s ready once again to “help Mommy plant flowers.” Her enthusiasm reminds me that it’s the perfect time of year to support a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving lives and communities through gardening.

Based in Washtenaw County, Michigan, Growing Hope  works diligently in the area - collaborating with neighborhoods and community groups, schools and families, and primarily serves under-resourced and disadvantaged populations.

Some might say community theatre is a dying American institution. I’m here today to tell you it is alive and well.

My Sunday afternoon was spent at the North Rosedale Park Community House enjoying an ice cream social and DIFF Master Clay C in a lively performance of Smokey Joe’s Café. It was a musical revue with nearly 50 songs including: Jailhouse Rock, Don Juan, Stand by Me and Love Potion #9. The video above showcases Clay in all his glory as he adeptly demonstrates that he can both sing and clap on beat.

Whopee!!! All our voting for the Colgate-Palmolive and Starlight Starbright Children’s Foundation paid off! Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit won the 2 fun centers - by a very close margin of just over 1%!

Our last post was a little misinformed, but in a good way. All contending hospitals actually receive a fun center. The one who wins the voting gets 2 fun centers. So this really is a win-win situation! An awesome, DIFF-worthy move by Colgate-Palmolive and Starlight Startbright Children's Foundation.Thanks for all your clicks, loyal DIFF readers - you rock!

Go figure - I thought I was joining these social networks to share pictures & get "poked" by people I knew in kindergarten and now can't remember for the life of me. Sure, let's be "friends!"

As reported by ABC News, Facebook was recently the catalyst for a life saving event - two former schoolmates found each other and one found another chance at a healthy life. Karl Celestin is donating a kidney to a friend he lost touch with over a decade ago - Ricardo Manier.

While being hospitalized recently when his kidneys virtually stopped working, Manier reconnected to his old friend through the social networking site. The men became fast friends again and Celestin offered to donate a kidney when he learned of Manier's health. The two are also now planning to attend med school together in the fall.

That's certainly social networking at it's best. I wonder if I could count on my Facebook buds for the same compassion should I need it - any takers?

The last time I got a salad from Whole Foods, it confused me a bit. Gone were the traditional plastic containers I was used to filling up at $6.99 a pound.

Instead, 2 strangely colored vessels awaited which I could only compare to a very soft cardboard. Cardboard. Eating out of cardboard?  Whatever. I was in a hurry and hungry. Tried not to give it too much thought.

Then, a couple weeks ago, I read an article in Detroit's Metromode which talked about the companies 'round town changing up their carry-out containers from traditional Styrofoam to something a little more earth friendly. They listed a few restaurants that had made the change and linked to a local company that was providing the "green" containers. I obligingly clicked through to find  Michigan Green Safe and those quirky little brown bowls again.

Take a quick minute out of your day to go vote for your local hospital to receive a fun center from Colgate-Palmolive and Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation!

Here at the Quicken Loans headquarters, we're rooting for Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit. We're currently in 2nd place with 28% of the votes. Voting ends February 29 and you can vote everyday, so get to work!  Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak was recently lucky enough to be awarded with one as well.

Congrats to Colgate-Palmolive and Starlight Starbright Foundation - what a way to make a DIFFerence!

We've recently gotten  e-mails from people both in and out of the United States that shared some stories. They're short & sweet, so we've compiled a few here for your reading enjoyment. As always, if you've got something DIFFtastic to say, put it in writing and e-mail it to Info@WhatsTheDiff.com.

In random order:

"Music is What Counts" by Bonni Tuttle

My husband is a repair tech of musical instruments. One of the educational reps had brought in a Baritone sax that had been mishandled by a student. The teacher was in disrepair to get the instrument repaired for there was an audition that was being held for a musical school in New York and one of the students at the high school needed the bari sax for the audition. The part that was broken (one of the pins) had to be ordered and wouldn't be in for 2 weeks. The teacher needed the instrument repaired by that Saturday. My husband made a pin to fix the key that was broken and no one could tell the difference. My husband hand delivered the instrument to the High School and did not charge for the repair. The student promised to take better care of the bari sax in the future.

Normally, when I get e-mails from my mother, it's a fluff forward warning me that if I break the chain, I will have bad luck for the rest of my life or some all caps correspondence bearing the familiar panicked "WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED ME?" Gotta love her.

So last week when she sent me an e-mail that started off with something about Christmas cards and "warming people's hearts," I quickly skipped past it to in an effort to stay focused on actual work. A short time later, I returned to it to find something quite amazing.

She was telling me about a seventh-grade girl named Destiny Eadie from Belleville, Michigan (where I'm from) who has been featured in the Ann Arbor News,  been honored by the Marines and most recently received an award from The United Way and Chuck Gaidica, Channel 4's weatherman.

I moved from Michigan to South Carolina last year. While my family is dealing with the usual adjustment issues, I’m also confronted with lots of stereotypes – Yankees, Southerners, dialects, and who eats what. It’s been an experience with a lot of surprises. I’m really enjoying watching all these nasty assumptions fall apart. Really, it’s for the best that they do.

According to Infoplease.com:

It took 15 years to create the federal Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Congressman John Conyers, Democrat from Michigan, first introduced legislation for a commemorative holiday four days after King was assassinated in 1968.

Michigan. Yeah. That makes me proud.

What makes me not-so-proud:

2005: South Carolina becomes the last state to make MLK Day a paid holiday for all state employees. Until now, employees could choose between celebrating it or one of three Confederate-related holidays.

By Kriste Gaither

Recently I paid my dues to society and purchased a Smart Circle Card to a local salon. The card allows you to choose from several companies participating in the charity and pick one that you feel you would most use.

Naturally I jumped at the chance to get a discount on a massage, facial, and haircut, plus I knew I was helping out a cool charity. The card afforded me 4 visits to Salon Valenti in Livonia.

So I called them up to schedule my first visit. I will admit to being slightly nervous that they would treat me like a "discount" client, but that certainly was not the case. They explained how to use the card and set me up with an appointment within a week.

By Mark Messing

I like to think that everyone tries to recycle.  But what about the stuff that won’t fit in your recycling bin?  A tuna fish can is one thing, but where do you go when you’ve finished your spring cleaning, and you have a couch to get rid of?  Most of the time these types of things end up on the curb.  Unless they are picked up by someone else, they end up in our landfills, even if they are fully functional.

Next time you have something you don’t want, you know someone else can use, and you are certain you won’t get any money for, just post it on Freecycle!  Freecycle has want/offer listings for things that are totally free.  All you have to do is find a way to pick it up.

What a difference this could make!

I didn't want to write this post. I've known for a few weeks I would have to, but I couldn't even start it.

My coworker and my friend – in fact he was one of the coolest guys I've ever known – died Wednesday afternoon after a long battle with cancer.  He was 44. That's way too young.

Jarrett "Spiderman" Knyal (or Jarrett "Cockroach" Knyal – depending on what day you talked to him) was one of the most inspirational people I've had the pleasure of working with.  He understood me when I said "I can't eat at P.F. Chang's, since no Chinese people eat there."  My other coworkers usually stare at me with blank faces when I say stuff like that, but Jarrett understood.

Well, anyway, to do a tribute for such a great person, to try to put in words what he meant to me and the impact he had on me, where do I start?

I guess when I first met him.

Say what you will about me, but I’ve always had an oddly innate feeling of animosity towards a certain maize & blue football team. I just don't like U of M football.You may be thinking “Ah, she is a Spartan fan!” Sort of. Not really. Only if they’re playing U of M.

My family and I are rarities in the state of Michigan. Our team of choice has had a particularly awful year, the worst I can remember. Notre Dame’s Fighting Irish ended 3-9 and made my father and brother scream at the television more than I care to divulge. But the sign of a true fan is the continuing support, even in a crappy season. I stand by my boys in blue & gold.

But Notre Dame’s shameful season is not the subject of this post; I’m here to announce publicly that I rooted for U of M yesterday and still feel okay about it today.

I’ve heard that adopting a child is a trying process, but can’t even imagine what adopting a child from Iraq, a country in the midst of war with us, would be like. Top that off with the fact the child lives with cerebral palsy and you’ve got an adoption case to send nearly any social services office into a tizzy with the paperwork alone.

But maybe the impossibility of it all is why things worked out for Capt. Scott Southworth and his adopted son, Ala’a. Maybe “against all odds” is just the recipe needed to make it work.

In September 2003, Scott, a single, 31-year old American soldier first met Ala’a when he was 9 in an orphanage. Scott’s military police unit visited the orphanage often, so much so that, Ala’a became attached to Scott and began referring to him as “Baba,” which is Arabic for “Daddy.” As Ala’a continued to grow, the nuns who ran the orphanage informed Scott that Ala’a would soon be moved to a government run facility due to his increasing age and size.

I’m a huge fan of social networking with sites like Facebook and MySpace. It allows me to keep in touch with and share with my friends and family. We’ve even embraced it as a company with our Yahoo! Answers profile, the blog and multiple profiles on those sites.

But I’ve never seen a site with more of a conscience than Caring Bridge. Caring Bridge is a social web service that connects family and friends during critical illnesses, treatment or recovery.

I was introduced to it by a very good friend of mine whose family member was dealing with cancer. Her name is Joyce. By just providing my e-mail, I was able to log-on to Joyce’s page and get updates from her journal or leave a note of encouragement in the guestbook. You can also share photos or links. Caring Bridge is a great way to keep in touch with a large amount of people, because when you are sick, you may not feel up to phone calls or visitors.

The kind hearts & culinary minds of one of our IT teams has filled the bellies of Quicken Loans team members with a massive bake sale.

Scrumptious brownies, cookies, muffins, cupcakes, fudge and even whole cakes and pies were available for purchase (as if Thanksgiving wasn't enough to put me in a food coma). For the heartier appetite, they even served hot dogs and chili dogs. Not hungry? You can't pass up a 50/50 raffle and a raffle for Pistons tickets. They thought of everything.

The money raised is going to help less fortunate families the teams have adopted by fulfilling their holiday wish lists by providing food, clothes, toys and basic essentials. Overall, the Lakewood team here at Quicken Loans raised $1,650 from their bake sale alone to help these families out this holiday season.

And a warning to your sweet tooth, stomach and wallet - it's been promised there will be more generous teams of gourmet chefs providing tantalizing treats next week to ensure a happy holiday for some additional adopted families. Stay tuned....yum!

This holiday season, Xerox is doing something that will change the holidays for the troops over in Iraq. When you visit this Web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com, you can choose a thank you card, then select the message you want the card to include, or you can create your own personal message, and Xerox will print out the card and send it to a soldier in Iraq. This is a totally free service and it only takes a few seconds to do.

Whether you are for or against the war, the reality is our soldiers are in Iraq, away from their families and loved ones for one of the most memory making holidays of the year. They need to know we support them as they continue to dedicate themselves unselfishly to make this world a better place. 2 minutes of your day today is all it will take to help create a warm holiday memory for a soldier this year. Click here to send your warm wishes.

Not only does Quicken Loans have a mini-celebrity with her own Free Press article, we’ve got an incredible, inspirational woman who spends her precious free time running a literature group called Color Online.

LaTonya, a Vendor Analyst here at Quicken Loans, started the group in 2005 which is committed to the “promotion, empowerment and political awakening of young women.” She heads an online community for book discussion and a message board for the young women to share their own writing.

Color Online has a library at Alternatives For Girls, a non-profit organization in Southwest Detroit which has been serving homeless and high risk girls and young women since 1987. They’ll even mail books to girls who don’t have the means to make it to the library. LaTonya collects returnables here at our offices to make sure the library stays stocked. She’s also started a Wish List on Amazon so that supporters can know the types of books the library needs. They also welcome gift cards and tickets to local events.

Go to www.freerice.com and do your part to eliminate world hunger while you test your English language skills.

What a cool site!

And talk about viral.  The first day the site began donations, 830 grains of rice were donated.  77,126,310 grains of rice were donated yesterday! 

FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com, and according to its site, has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

So, check it out, test (and hopefully improve) your English language skills, and get some rice in the mouths of those who need it most.  The more words you get right the more grains of rice are donated.  It's that simple. 

In this case simple is very good.

I salute the folks behind freerice.com for not only creating a great site for two great reasons, but also creating something that is actually "viral" – one of the most misunderstood and overused terms in business today! 

It’s estimated that over 1,000 Americans who fought in World War II die everyday. In an attempt to honor and awe the remaining Veterans in Metro Detroit, a local couple from West Bloomfield, Dave & Carole Cameron have piloted an effort to send WWII Veterans to the National World War II Memorial located in Washington DC on an all expenses paid one day trip.

It's called Honor Flight Michigan and it's a non-profit organization that was formed to send all WWII Veterans to see their memorial, which was built in 2004.

The Veterans don't pay for a thing on the organized trip - they're shuttled to Metro Airport, flown to DC, trekked around to the memorials and even receive breakfast, lunch and a disposable camera to take pictures.

According to Honor Flight Michigan's website, "The Memorial didn’t open to the public till 2004 when the youngest of WWII vets were pushing 80.  Today, only 3 million of the 16 million who served are still alive.Time is running out to pay them one last tribute and treat them like heroes again if only for 1 day."

What an awesome way to honor some people who did so much for our country. For information on their events or how to donate, check out www.HonorFlightMichigan.com. Anyone aware of any other cool ways to honor our Veterans? Don't forget, Veterans Day is November 11.

Being environmentally friendly was always a trait I thought I possessed, but I was lying to myself all along. I recently discovered my carbon footprint - a calculation that helps you measure how much carbon dioxide we emit through the burning of fossil fuels in our lives.

Well, my carbon footprint outmeasures my real size 9's. It seems like a simple quiz on how you live your life - asking me about the gas & energy bills for my house, my car, my air travel and even how much I shower. Then the results - I use 10.06 tons of carbon dioxide per year!! It even gave me tips at the end to help me conserve that were tailored to how I answered the questions. Most of mine had to do with the lack of recycling, which is something I've resolved to amend by researching recycling facilities where I live.

I was prompted to do this by my old buddy Matt Lauer. Matt and I go way back - I've been waking up to his kind face for years. NBC and some other companies have been advocating a "Green is Universal" campaign recently and I decided to check it out. That's how I found out that I (and most of you, apparently) am not very environmentally friendly.

When I was a kid – still shiny and new – my best friend, "Small Paul" I called him, once bopped me on the head as I was giving him a funny face (one of my best facial talents was my ability to pick my nose with my tongue, but somehow that lost it's cuteness as I aged). I shot Small Paul my signature sassy look and asked him, "What was that for?"

"I was just trying to help you," he said as he pulled up his classic cotton knee socks with the colored rings around the top. "If you hold a funny face too long, your face will freeze that way."

It didn't take me too long to figure out that this act of consideration, albeit odd, was based on a false premise. Your face will not, in fact, freeze up if you hold a funny pose for too long. While Small Paul was wrong in this case, he said something else not too long after this first piece of advice that has some actual basis in science: "Smile. It's good for you."

Who doesn’t love a good bargain? Toss in a charitable contribution and helping school children in under-served countries and you’ve got a win-win-win situation for all.

One Laptop Per Child is a non-profit organization building and delivering laptops to under-served countries all over the world. OLPC was founded by Nicholas Negroponte, an MIT professor who does not consider this a laptop project. He knows this is a project founded on education.

The compact XO laptop is built for less than $200 and still has all the snazzy technology you wouldn’t expect for such a small price. It features a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless connection and Linux based operating software tailored for remote regions. The wireless range of the XO is several times longer than your average laptop. It's also more rugged, resilient and power efficient than most other laptops. It even has a display that allows the screen to switch from black and white viewing for direct sunlight to full color for indoor viewing – a feature not even on available on my fancy new laptop.

At Quicken Loans, we believe finding simpler, and better ways to do things can make a big difference in our lives and the world around us. One person who discovered that simplicity can make is big difference was Malcolm McLean.

In 1956, McLean had a great idea that ended up revolutionizing the global economy: Instead of loading and unloading a ship crate by crate, he thought it would be a lot more efficient if dock cranes were to pick up the entire trailer of a truck and place it on the ship. The idea to eliminate the previously expensive and time-consuming loading task, led to McLean’s invention of the standardized shipping container.

I consider myself somewhat financially savvy for a twenty something person. I’m not a pecuniary guru like my father, but I’ve got a 401k and little debt to my name outside of my vehicle. My Dad is smart though, man. Through years of thriftiness and wise investment moves, he's set him and my mom up for retirement and allowed them to consistently bug me about what I’m saving. He’s my version of the Rock Financial Junior Achievement Park.

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the park. The JA Park has instilled sound personal budgeting and money management skills into the minds of nearly 3,000 students during its first year.

I never imagined the cans of colorful fun I sprayed in my brother’s face would someday be used across the world to protect the lives of US Soldiers who fought to keep me safe everyday.

Turns out, a very dedicated soldier’s mom did a silly string drive and managed to gather over 80,000 cans to send to Iraq. Marcelle Shriver from New Jersey took a simple request from her son and was able to make a big difference for the troops.

Soldiers can shoot silly string about 10-12 feet into a room before entering. If it hangs in mid-air, it indicates there are trip wires inside and the soldiers should not enter. These wires are typically invisible to the naked eye.

Since the string is in an aerosol can, Shriver is working with Capacity LLC, a shipping company in NJ able to inspect and ship potentially hazardous materials, to transport the boxes to Iraq.

After a long hiatus, Grilled Cheese Wednesday returned this week and man, was it a tasty break in our workday.

Grill Master Lea Puckett manned the electric table grill and cooked those babies to a crispy-brown that reminded me of Michigan cider mill donuts (I'm sorry if you've never had cider mill donuts). 

And the taste.  The cheese melted in my mouth and filled my palate with a heavenly essence that would most certainly make Chef Emeril Lagasse say "BAM!"

And best of all, we raised money for a Texas kindergarten class that needed some character building books but had no budget. 

Never fear kiddies, Grilled Cheese Wednesdays is here!