Small Acts, Big Impact by Do a Little Good

Meet the NoMi nonprofit doing a little good every day

By Kierstin Gunsberg | Dec. 6, 2025

If you haven’t heard of Elk Rapids’ nonprofit Do a Little Good, it probably wouldn’t surprise president Glori Crowell. When she and a few close friends started the community-focused organization in 2018, their aim wasn’t big media campaigns or gala fundraisers, but quite literally to do a little good by meeting the immediate needs of their neighbors Up North.

Those immediate needs are ones that, like the organization itself, fly under the radar—getting kitchen basics like pots and pans to our region’s tens of thousands of veterans, stocking Munson’s NICU with soft knit baby hats, or offering small scholarships to high school graduates to give them a leg up on their post-grad studies.

“We wanted to directly help people, not just donate money and goods, but never seeing any results,” says Crowell, adding that as a small org, Do a Little Good has zero paid staff, almost no overhead, and is fully volunteer-run by a rotating pool of 20 or so helpers who “love seeing the fruits of their labor” within their own communities.

Each member of the 10-person board is also responsible for a cause they shepherd from start to finish, from putting together childcare scholarships for working parents to collecting funds to pay off student lunch debt.

And whatever Do a Little Good can’t pull off alone, they team up with other community action organizations, including the Northwest Food Coalition (a group of 70+ food pantries and emergency meal sites), to fulfill their unofficial mission of helping “the adults, kids, vets, and pets of northern Michigan.”

Building The Little Free Food Library

One need that Do a Little Good is always in the process of addressing is food insecurity, a problem that’s steadily risen in northern Michigan as high food prices (and actually, all prices) stagnate and more families find themselves slipping into ALICE status. That is, Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed households that make too much for federal assistance but not enough to consistently make ends meet.

In Do a Little Good’s home county of Antrim, an estimated 25 percent of households fall into this category.

That’s where one of the organization’s latest (and largest) projects comes in. The Little Free Food Library (pictured) is under construction outside the Elk Rapids Library’s future Cairns Road location. Much larger than the Little Free book Libraries that might come to mind, this one will be walk-in sized and include climate-control features to keep snacks and meal completers fresh and safe.

Most importantly, the 24/7 pantry will be designed to remove food access barriers for everyone.

“It will be that… anyone can walk into it at any time and get the food that they need,” says Crowell, who, ahead of the project’s kickoff, participated in Feeding Mi Families, a years-long University of Michigan research study examining food insecurity across the state. That research found that discrimination impacted 46 percent of families using food assistance.

When the Little Free Food Library opens, there will be “no screening requirements, no shame, and no judgement,” says Crowell, who hopes to see the pantry ready by spring. “We just had a company come in and set the forms to pour the foundation,” she says. Next up is installing electricity and an HVAC system.

“Honestly, we weren’t sure how people would feel about the 24/7 food pantry,” says Crowell. “We often hear from people who don’t believe that there are homeless people in the Elk Rapids community,” or who don’t believe there are many people who need help getting enough food.

Turns out, she was happily mistaken about community support. Folks like the giving group 100 Women Who Care–Elk Rapids stepped up to raise over $20,000 in funding for the pantry, and food donations are already coming in.

Even before officially opening full-time, the pantry has been feeding over 100 adults and children each week, offering both fresh and shelf-stable foods, plus hygiene items and other household necessities. Crowell’s team also stocks seven pantries within Elk Rapids and Bellaire schools, helping create easier access to food, clothing, and personal care items for over 200 students.

“Regardless of your family’s circumstances, every kid deserves to have clean clothes, enough food to keep them full, and all the basic needs items that everyone needs to have dignity,” Crowell says.

Season’s Needings

With so many of Do a Little Good’s projects relying on community manpower and time, Crowell says she’s continually awed by how northern Michiganders show up when asked. Over the years they’ve provided outdoor gear to keep kids warm during recess and volunteered their skills to help neighbors in need.

And, as the holidays approach, many of them are already showing up for Do a Little Good’s annual Season’s Needings project, which partners with other community organizations to spread cheer through giving. This year, they’re gathering Christmas gifts for teens.

“There are so many good programs for younger kids, but older teens can get overlooked,” Crowell says.

Working with counselors, teachers, and community members, the group anonymously identifies teens who might not receive much—or anything—for Christmas. Each student’s wishlist becomes a tag hung on a giving tree at the Elk Rapids District Library. Community members “pull” tags and shop for gifts so each teen receives something they want, something they need, and a few fun extras.

“We try to include things like a family activity and even outings for pizza and movies so that even in tough times, families can make memories together,” Crowell says.

The Power of a Little Good

As the old saying goes, many hands make light work, and it doesn’t necessarily take money to pitch in, Crowell explains.

“We tell everyone that it’s easy to do a little good, and it really is,” she says. “Purge your closets, clear out your cupboards, and donate what you have too much of.”

The demand for everyday things is especially high this time of year. “Someone might get a free turkey, but they don’t have a pan big enough to cook it in,” says Crowell. “Kids need nice clothes for school programs, and adults want to provide a holiday experience for their families so that they have dignity, and everyone can have a wonderful memory to look back on.”

But donations, she adds, should “hurt a little,” meaning, “you should be donating good food that you would like to eat and items in good condition that you would like to have.”

While margins are tight for many as we head into 2026, Crowell points to the small, serendipitous ways people have rallied for each other in her eight years running Do a Little Good: a local MSU Extension office that turned old T-shirts into reusable bags for the pantry, or kids shopping from donated “white elephant” gifts to give to someone they love, so they too can feel the joy of giving.

“Small, local acts of good do such big things,” says Crowell.

Visit DoALittleGoodNMI.org to find out how you can give a helping hand too.