Starting Your Own Fund 

Is there a local agency that you have always wanted to support? Would you like to give back to your hometown high school? Is there a cause that you wish you could support for many years after you are gone? Is there someone that has made a difference in your life and you want their name to be recognized into perpetuity? 

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, the Saginaw Community Foundation can help you meet your goals. Whether you set up a scholarship, donor advised, agency, or special project fund, the Foundation can help your aspirations take off running. We help you create a plan tailored to your vision to create a better community. 

Take a Deeper Look

Take a look at how some Saginaw County residents have established various funds at the Saginaw Community Foundation.

SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Classmates remember slain student by creating memorial fund
Four Saginaw High School classmates start a scholarship in honor of slain student

After graduating from Saginaw High School, Daniel D. Smothers planned on pursuing a degree in education to give back to his community. 

The 18-year old's full-ride football scholarship to McPherson College in Kansas would have helped him accomplish his goal of becoming a teacher. Five months shy of graduating from high school, Smothers (pictured) was shot and killed at a New Year’s Party January 2, 1999. 

"Daniel was a very motivated student who placed a high priority on education," remembers classmate Tifani Hall, 27, of Saginaw. “He was a person who was always giving back with a smile on his face.” 

In honor of Smothers, Hall and classmates Jamila Smith, Shyvonda Thompson and Kelli Bond, are creating a $20,000 endowed fund at the Saginaw Community Foundation, which will provide $1,000 scholarships to graduating Saginaw High School seniors. They plan to develop the entire fund within three years. They have collected their first $100 donation from Charles McNair, Smothers’ principle from Morley Elementary. Now they are seeking donations from the community and students and staff from Smothers’ former school, including Morley Elementary, Webber Middle and Saginaw High Schools. 

”We wanted to find a way to honor Daniel, especially since we are having our 10-year reunion next year (2009),” Hall said. “It’s really important that we establish the funds to give back to students. Daniel would have wanted it that way.” 

To donate to the Daniel D. Smothers Memorial Scholarship, make checks payable to the Saginaw Community Foundation, 1 Tuscola, Suite 100, Saginaw MI 48607.

COMMUNITY INITIATIVE FUND

Saginaw County Spelling Bee organizers seek funding to keep bee alive 
Organizers turn to the Saginaw Community Foundation to start new fund to hold bee 

Canceling the 34th Annual Saginaw County Spelling Bee was not an option for event organizers in 2009. 

Even though The Saginaw News, who sponsored the bee for 32 years, was not able to fund the March event, organizers were determined to raise funds and seek volunteers to keep the $10,000 annual county bee running. They hope to raise enough funds to create an endowed fund at the Saginaw Community Foundation so the organization can eventually sustain itself. 

“Even though we were devastated to hear that our main sponsor could no longer fund the spelling bee, the catastrophe became a very exciting and wonderful opportunity,” said Tina Leslie of Bay City, a spelling bee organizer and 7th and 8th grade teacher at Saginaw Arts & Sciences Academy in Saginaw. “This whole process has taught us how to fundraise and we have so many volunteers who want to help and take responsibility. The Saginaw Community Foundation and the Public Libraries of Saginaw have been wonderful with their support. They did everything to make sure that we didn’t lose the bee.” 

Numerous local organizations and businesses stepped in to donate funds in order to hold the event and send one Saginaw County student and a chaperone to the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Among those donors included Hemlock Semiconductor, who donated $5,000; Citizens Bank, $2,000; and the Freeland Parent Teacher Organization, who contributed $500. 

“We didn’t want the students to miss out on the spelling bee this year,” said Renee Johnston, president and chief executive officer of the Saginaw Community Foundation. Her organization will act as the fiduciary and will manage the donated funds on behalf of the Saginaw County Spelling Bee. “We want to make sure that there are opportunities available for students in the community. We have had students from Saginaw County who do extremely well at the national competition.”
 
Individuals who want to donate to the Saginaw County Spelling Bee can send donations to the Saginaw Community Foundation, 1 Tuscola, Suite 100, Saginaw MI, 48607.