1. A woman in Grand Rapids is having her dreams realized with her line of Greeting Cards hitting Target stores nationwide this month.
For the last five years, Shannon Cohen has been quietly building her brand, Tough Skin Soft Heart.
She started small, selling her inspirational products in hospital gift shops and boutiques. But now American Greetings is launching her card line into Target stores nationwide.
Those cards will range from around $4-$6 each. Find them in stores for a limited time starting the weekend of February 19.
2. A young girl has been helping people in Kalamazoo impacted by homelessness for the last six years.
Using skills she learned in a school project, Layla Wallace started Layla's Cool Pops. The small business makes and sells desserts, then Layla donates a portion of the profits to five Kalamazoo organizations helping the homeless.
Layla says she was inspired to help her community all the way back in 4th grade. Layla's mother is the Chief Financial Officer of the company. They were able to open a small storefront during the pandemic, and are already looking to expand.
Layla holds drives each month, collecting essentials for the homeless.
3. A state bill reintroduced in the Senate could bring back the classic plate from the '80s and '90s. It would give drivers the option to get a blue license plate or a black one for an additional $100 fee with their registration.
The bill is still in committee. The black plates were issued from 1979 to 1983. The blue plates were phased out in 2007.
4. A new, free app is making it easier than ever to find Michigan breweries.
The Michigan Brewery Map comes from Better On Draft Media and was built by a Livonia-based app maker.
The app launched last week and has a color-coded map that displays each of the 300-plus breweries across the state of Michigan. The colors indicated what's going on at the brewery: green means open, red means closed, yellow means coming soon, and blue means production only.
It's available for iPhone and Android.
5. The Salvation Army's Rescue Christmas Campaign was a big success in Kent County.
They surpassed its campaign goal of $1.3 million and are now saying thanks to everyone who helped make that possible.
The Rescue Christmas campaign kicked off in mid-November and ran through the end of January.
It was a very busy season for the Salvation Army in Kent County, serving more than double the number of families they typically do around Christmas time, and nearly 30,000 throughout the year.
