‘Speak the Difference’ fundraiser caps year-long partnership with Key2Finesse
Ann Arbor, MI – Key2Finesse, a student-led nonprofit organization, has generated $75,000 for the Gift o
f Life Foundation through a year-long partnership. 
The Gift of Life Foundation supports Gift of Life Michigan and its mission of honoring life through organ and tissue donation. The funds will be used to further the foundation’s mission to promote organ and tissue donation education and awareness and provide financial support for transplant recipients and the social workers at Michigan Transplant Centers.
“We are so grateful for this collaboration,” said Susan Rink, Chief of Philanthropy and Foundation Programs for Gift of Life. “These funds will further our mission to promote organ and tissue donation education and awareness, while also financially supporting transplant recipients and the social workers at our Michigan Transplant Centers.”
Key2Finesse is was founded in 2015 by high school students Esha Ghosalkar and Chintan Maheshwari with the goal to create future leaders. It promotes public speaking and other life skills and puts on several events every year, including confidence building and public speaking workshops and career exploration symposiums. Their largest event, the Speak the Difference fundraiser, is composed of a variety of different competitions including essay writing, poetry, art, coding, multimedia, and public speaking.
Through the Speak the Difference fundraiser and other events, Key2Finesse has generated more than $130,000 since 2015 for charitable causes like The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), Gleaner’s Community Food Bank, Easter Seals, and more. Key2Finesse teams up with a different charitable organization each year and selected the Gift of Life Foundation in 2020.
The Speak the Difference event took place virtually on Dec. 13. With help from sponsors like Ally Financial Services, the NVIDIA Foundation and more, students from Troy, Canton, Northville and Novi raised $75,000 for Gift of Life – a new record for the five-year-old organization.
“The Gift of Life Foundation has been an amazing non-profit to partner with during this unconventional year known as 2020,” said Kanal Patel, a member of the Key2Finesse board. “From the very start, they have been incredibly helpful in aiding our efforts and educating us on the importance of organ and tissue donation. As high school students behind the face of Key2Finesse, having such a respectable organization believe in us definitely motivated us to accomplish what we did.”
“The idea of hosting a fundraiser with 50 volunteers and 10 board members seemed nearly impossible back in March,” added Krish Ghosalkar, who also serves on the Key2Finesse board. “Despite all the odds, we were able to transform the lives of countless organ recipients while also inspiring so many to join the registry. We couldn’t be more proud.”
You can find a complete list of winners at key2finesse.com.
Dorrie Dils, CEO of Gift of Life Michigan, said she was appreciative of the collaboration.
“We are truly grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with these talented young people,” she said. “This has been a wonderful partnership and we appreciate all the hard work that went into this event and for everything they’ve done for us this year. We were fortunate to have been selected from so many worthy causes.”
