A construction CEO. A GM automotive design modeler. A disability advocate. They come from different worlds, but this October, they are coming together around a cause they believe in, building Detroit’s future, one hard hat at a time. Since 2023, Hard Hats for Detroit has united artists with sponsors to benefit organizations focused on youth workforce development and community impact. Each year, the construction hard hat, a symbol of work and protection becomes a catalyst for opportunity.
Hard Hats for Detroit 2026, presented by Sachse Construction, opens its annual charity art auction today at October 22 at hardhatsfordetroit.com during Careers in Construction Month.
Three hard hats. Three Detroit stories. One hundred percent of proceeds to Detroit nonprofits — including SAY Detroit!
Sachse Construction is built on the belief that we have a responsibility to the communities where we work. Hard Hats for Detroit is one of the ways we live that, bringing together partners to invest in the people building Detroit’s future. Every dollar raised goes directly to that mission.
— Todd Sachse, CEO, Sachse Construction
Sachse Construction CEO, Todd Sachse, hand-built and kiln-fired a ceramic hard hat glazed in sage, crimson, and midnight blue, earth tones that flow across the surface like a city in motion. Sachse Construction, a Detroit-based commercial construction company founded in 1991 with a 30-year legacy of building with purpose, is the general contractor rebuilding “The Saint,” a $20 million conversion of the historic St. Cecilia’s gym and school into the SAY Detroit Play Center at St. Cecilia, a youth academic, enrichment, and recreation space. The same hands building that future are funding it through this hard hat. Proceeds benefit SAY Detroit, founded in 2006 by Mitch Albom. Sponsored by Sherwin-Williams.
LEARN MORE BID NOW“This ceramic hard hat is one of the most personal things I have ever built. It represents everything Hard Hats for Detroit stands for: craft, community, and the belief that what we build with our hands can change lives.” — Todd Sachse, CEO, Sachse Construction
“Building a better community takes more than materials, it takes investment in the people who will live in the spaces we create. Supporting Hard Hats for Detroit and SAY Detroit is how Sherwin-Williams lives that belief.” — Jason Lyons, Regional Account Executive, Sherwin-Williams
“To have Sachse Construction, the company rebuilding The Saint, create a hard hat to benefit it through this auction is a full circle moment that only Detroit could produce.” — Richard Kelley, Executive Director, SAY Detroit
Joining Todd Sachse in creating a hard hat are abstract artist Melissa DiVietri for Trove Market and
automotive design modeler and oil painter Tyrone Jack for Martk’d Art Belonging Labs.
