LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – A woman from Lansing is working to make the city a better place by building a community center for children on the city’s north side, but she needs the public’s help to do it.
“It’s a big challenge, but I believe that with a community like Lansing, I think that we can make it happen,” said CeCi Bordayo.
Bordayo grew up in the capital city.
“This is the space where I learned to play drums, learned to play piano, became a singer songwriter,” said Bordayo.
She’s a member of Maranatha Assembly of God Church on North Street. Right now there’s an empty building next door that the church owns.
They were planning on selling it until Bordayo came up with an idea to renovate the building, fix up the ceilings and parking lot, and turn it into the Pass It On Community Center.
“They told me they would give me the building, so I’m super, super excited. They will hand over the deed once I get those two things done,” said Bordayo.
The goal is to give kids a safe place to learn and grow on the city’s north side.
“They try something out in high school or college and they realize they don’t like it, so they change careers, but what if we could come alongside them and help them develop and choose their career based on what their talent is and based off what they love to do?,” said Bordayo. “I’m seeing chefs, I’m seeing architects, I’m seeing singer songwriters, business owners.”
But of course this costs money, so Bordayo is asking for donations.
“We have this mission if every one in our city gave one dollar, we would reach half of our goal,” said Bordayo. “Our biggest thing is trying to help create community cultivators where they can come back and now pass on to the next generation what we’ve passed on to them.”
If you’d like to donate to the Pass It On Community Center, click here.
Bordayo also said she recently spoke with the mayor of Lansing who challenged her that if she gets this building done by October, it can be used to host the 2021 State of the City address.
