Latest Community Foundation grants support youth programs

From preschool playgroups to dancing at the Rustic Ballroom, the Charlevoix County Community Foundation’s Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) supports a variety of local programs to benefit young people. Members of the YAC, who represent six high schools throughout the county, awarded nine grants totaling $23,350 after reviewing funding requests in October.

Organizations chosen to receive YAC grants and the amount of the awards include:

• B.A.S.E.S. Teen Center
  $4,000 to purchase and install siding for the Teen Center building

• Blissfest Music Organization
  $1,000 to support a music and dance program for young people at the Rustic Ballroom

• Challenge Mountain of Walloon Hills, Inc
  $1,400 to train at-risk youth to assist with adaptive recreation programs

• Child & Family Services of NW Michigan, Inc
  $2,000 to support the Foster Family Respite program

• Crooked Tree Arts Center
  $3,450 for a Grand Rapids Ballet series at the Boyne City Performing Arts Center

• Jordan River Arts Council
  $2,500 towards the Kidz Create youth art projects and exhibit

• Jordan Valley District Library
  $2,000 to purchase calculators and movable wall panels for the after school teen program

• Raven Hill Discovery Center
  $2,000 to support the CSI: Classroom Science Investigation program

• Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan
  $5,000 to support preschool playgroups in Charlevoix County

With these recent awards, the YAC’s grantmaking total is nearly $593,000 since it began distributing grants in 1994. Money for grantmaking comes from the Youth Fund held by the Community Foundation. This fund was spearheaded with financial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and now has assets of more than $1 million.

Members of the Community Foundation YAC are Brittany Crandall, Maeve Green, and Jenna Butler from Beaver Island; Cory Mills, Parker Ameel, and Wes Roberge from Boyne City; Terra Wasylewski, Katie Fraser, and Hunter Brisson from Boyne Falls; Jonathon Way, Thomas Parrish, Rachel Boss, and Wade Werth from Charlevoix; James Brown, Courtney Jackson, and Molli Andor from East Jordan.

A charitable organization dedicated to improving and enriching life in the area, the Charlevoix County Community Foundation accepts gifts from individuals, families, businesses, and civic groups and manages them as permanent endowments. Every year, a portion of the endowments investment income is used to support programs in education, the environment, the arts, human services, health and wellness, youth activities, community development, and various civic projects. The principal of the endowment continues to grow, providing perpetual charitable capital to benefit Charlevoix County’s residents and nonprofit organizations.]

Since it was founded in 1992, the foundation’s net assets have grown to more than $21.4 million, and grants totaling over $7,843,300 have been distributed for the common good.

The foundation welcomes inquiries and grant requests. The next deadline for submitting a grant request for youth-related projects is March 1, 2008. For more information about grantmaking opportunities, or the community foundation, call 231/ 536-2440, or visit the foundation’s website: www.c3f.org

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