Optimist Club of Saginaw “Ed was an true optimist,” said Louis Diechman, member of the Optimist Club of Saginaw and the “Officer Ed” Nowaczyk Scholarship Selection Committee.   When Edwin F. “Officer Ed” Nowaczyk passed away in 1985, the Optimist Club of Saginaw, of which he was a long-time member, wanted to do something to remember

Saginaw Leadership Cares People have a variety of reasons to choose to give. It could be a personal connection with a cause or it could be a shared philosophy. For some it’s hearing a story of need and a compulsion to reach out and help. For others, it’s simply knowing a gift will perhaps provide

Zachary Schmid and Amanda Jovanovich When it comes to supporting community foundations for Zachary Schmid, it runs in the family. Schmid, a recent transplant to our region, hails from St. Clair, Mich. where his mother works for the Community Foundation of St. Clair County as a development director. “For the longest time I have heard from my

Getting Off to a Great Start:  Scholarships for high-quality preschool benefit children in the Great Lakes Bay Region   Ken and Phyllis have been married five years and live in Saginaw. They have two children, ages 1 and 3. The family rents a small home in the city and despite Ken’s job working in a

Being a Champion GRANTEE: Saginaw Intermediate School District AMOUNT: $13,000   High school guidance counselors are overloaded. Reduced operating budgets in our schools have made doing more with less the status quo. Counselors help all students in the areas of academic achievement, personal/social development and career development. Helping students adequately prepare for college is a

Helping Children GRANTEE: CAN Council Great Lakes Bay Region     AMOUNT: $50,000   Crammed onto a corner lot in the City of Saginaw, the CAN Council Great Lakes Bay Region occupied an undersized office building and a centuries-old two-story house separated by a small parking lot. The buildings lacked adequate security and privacy for

Serving Families GRANTEE: Saginaw-Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity AMOUNT: $12,000   “You are my angels. You do the most beautiful work. You’ve changed my life … my world.” – Freeland homeowner   During the summer of 2014, Saginaw-Shiawassee Habitat for Humanity held its annual Neighborhood Revitalization in four areas across Saginaw County: Buena Vista Township, Birch

Continuity of care GRANTEE: Covenant Healthcare AMOUNT: $4,979.64   Angela Dinninger, physical medicine and rehabilitation manager at Covenant HealthCare, had an idea and a vision. “I had an idea for an exercise program specific to our oncology patients. I was taking a class and had a project to write a grant. Upon completing the project,

Like so many others in the late 1930s, the young black Americans who would become known as the Tuskegee Airmen were full of patriotic zeal and eager to serve in the military as WWII intensified in Europe and Asia. What set them apart was that they wanted to fight the enemy from the air as

In the northeast corner of Saginaw, middle and high school students are getting a jump start on a career. Thanks in part to a grant we provided, The Greater Michigan Construction Academy brought its Jump Start program to the First Ward center in the summer of 2013 at no-cost to participants.   The 12-week program,