Between Mar. 11 – June 10, 2016, Saginaw Community Foundation (SCF) granted $201,173.50 supporting 95 programs and projects via its designated, donor advised and competitive grant processes.

“Every person who has supported the foundation – whether through donations, volunteering or advocacy – has helped us give much needed support to area programs. It’s people like you who truly help make an impact in Saginaw and make our community a better place,” said Reneé Johnston, president and CEO of the foundation. “We strive to grant funds to support programs that will make a difference in our communities.”

Programs managed by a variety of organizations were supported, including Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance, Lawn Chair Film Festival (Old Saginaw City, Inc.), and Saginaw Intermediate School District. During this most recent grant cycle, grants awarded were funded by The Dow Chemical Company Foundation Community Donor-Advised Fund, the Dow Corning Donor Advised Fund, the SCF Unrestricted Fund, the YWCA Fund for Women & Children, as well as various designated and donor advised funds.

Currently, SCF manages 25 unrestricted funds, 66 designated funds and 51 donor advised funds.

A $20,000 grant was awarded to Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance for its Great Lakes Bay Region Middle School Mathematics Project. In response to the well documented demand for people with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills, the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance is leading a comprehensive effort to build STEM strength across the region as a means of powering community prosperity. The Middle School Mathematics Project will strengthen the foundational skills needed to build STEM excellence by offering education-enhancing tools to students and teachers. Funding will allow Saginaw County schools/classrooms to apply to the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance/STEM Network to take part in one of several programs within the following three categories: 

student math programs, professional development programs, and creative programs. Funding for this grant was provided by the SCF Unrestricted Fund and the Saginaw County Child Development Fund.

The Lawn Chair Film Festival (Old Saginaw City, Inc.) received a $10,000 grant to be used for its Save Our Screen (S.O.S) Initiative project. The Lawn Chair Film Festival has been providing free movies under the stars during the summer in the heart of Saginaw’s Old Town community since 2003. The grant provided by the SCF Unrestricted Fund and the Neighborhood Revitalization Fund will be used to assist with replacement of the large, retractable movie screen as well as modern projection and audio equipment for the Lawn Chair Film Festival. It is estimated that 6,000-8,000 people attend the film festival annually.

A $9,500 grant was awarded to the Saginaw Intermediate School District to be used to assist with the creation of a nature-based preschool located at Hartley Outdoor Education Center’s Murphy Farm in St. Charles, Mich. This program, scheduled to open in September, 2016, will serve 17 children and their families from the local area providing all elements of a nature-based preschool, including daily outside time, nature walks, and a classroom environment rich with nature-based activities and materials. A nature-based preschool includes all components of a quality preschool environment, yet every area, indoors and out, is infused with nature. Funding for this grant was provided by the Lulah C. McMullen & Family Endowment Fund and the YWCA Fund for Women and Children.

Organizations interested in applying for a grant through SCF can learn more at our Grants page, or contact Kendra Kempf, program officer, at (989) 755-0545 or via email. 

The following SCF funds provided designated and donor advised (non-competitive) grants, Mar. 11 – June 10, 2016:

Citizen’s Bank Corporate Advised Fund – $5,000

Saginaw Community Foundation Inner Circle Sponsorship

The Dow Chemical Company Foundation Community Donor-Advised Fund – $18,000

East Side Soup Kitchen – $5,000 (After-School Program) 

Girls on the Run Saginaw Bay (Underground Railroad, Inc.) – $5,000 (Program Support and Expansion) 

Underground Railroad, Inc. – $8,000 (Civil Legal Services for Victims of Domestic Violence) 

Dow communityGives – $7,000

Chesaning Community Schools – $1,000 (Chesaning High School Key Club) 

Freeland Community School District – $1,000 (7th Grade Class) 

Merrill Community Schools – $1,000 (Merrill High School Leadership Group) 

The Rage 13U Travel Baseball Team – $1,000

Saginaw Public Schools – $1,000 (Arthur Hill High School Baseball Team) 

Saginaw Public Schools – $1,000 (Arthur Hill High School Quiz Bowl Team) 

Tri-City Heat Elite Basketball 8th Grade Red Team – $1,000

Heroes for Kids Fund – $3,930

Roethke House – $3,930 (Child on Top of a Greenhouse Language Arts Review Camp) 

K.P. Karunakaran Family Foundation Fund – $1,102

Bharatiya Temple of Flint – $501

Saginaw Township Soccer Association – $500

Eternal Mother Temple, Pontiac, Mich. – $101

Lucille & James Martineau Family Fund – $1,500

Saginaw Arts & Enrichment Commission – $200 (to purchase fertilizer, compost, and plants for the Perimeter Garden at the Andersen Enrichment Center) 

Saginaw Choral Society – $800 (80 music folders) 

Saginaw Art Museum – $500 (Great Lakes Bay en Plein Air Festival) 

Nexteer Steering the Future Fund – $10,000

Castle Museum of Saginaw County History – $2,500 (History on the Move) 

Saginaw Valley Historic Preservation Society – $1,500 (Carrington “The File” Painting Project) 

Invent Now – $3,000 (Camp Invention) 

New Beginnings Enrichment Center – $3,000 (One Week, One Street) 

Maria Elizabeth Paquette Eternal Memorial Fund – $300

Nouvel Catholic High School – $300 (Maria Elizabeth Paquette Scholarship) 

SCF Unrestricted Fund (Capacity Building) – $607.50

CAN Council Great Lakes Bay Region – $607.50 (Capacity Building for Performance Evaluation Development & Process Management)  

Robert E. Stark & Martin H. Stark Foundation Fund – $34,000

American Society for The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) – $500          

Anti-Defamation League – $500        

B’nai B’rith International – $500

Boy Scouts of America – Woods and Water Council – $500 

Boys and Girls Club of Saginaw County – $500       

Children’s Zoo at Celebration Square– $500

City Rescue Mission of Saginaw – $500       

Covenant Healthcare Foundation – $500      

Delta College Foundation – $500 (Karen Macarthur – Teaching Chair)         

Delta College Foundation – $500 (Peter Boyse President’s Scholar Program Endowment) 

East Side Soup Kitchen – $500

Emmaus House – $500

Field Neurosciences Institute – $500

First Ward Community Center – $500           

Friends of the Animal Shelter – $500 

Friends of the Public Libraries of Saginaw – $500    

Girls Scouts of Mitten Bay – $500     

Hidden Harvest – $500

Historical Society of Saginaw County – $500

Hospital Hospitality House of Saginaw – $500

Humane Society of Saginaw County – $500 

Japanese Cultural Center – $250      

Junior Achievement of Northeast Michigan – $250   

Mid Michigan Children’s Museum – $500      

Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, Saginaw Chapter – $500   

NAACP Saginaw Branch – $500

Paralyzed Veterans of America – $500         

Parkinson Research Foundation – $500       

Pit & Balcony Theatre– $500 

Pride in Saginaw – $500        

READ Association – $500     

Saginaw Area Fireworks – $500       

Saginaw Arts and Enrichment Commission – $500  

Saginaw Community Foundation – $500 (FORCE Youth Advisory Committee)       

Saginaw Community Foundation – $500 (Heroes for Kids) 

Saginaw Community Foundation – $500 (Inner Circle)          

Saginaw Community Foundation – $500 (Library Foundation Fund) 

Saginaw Community Foundation – $500 (Lucy R. Allen Cornerstone Club) 

Saginaw Community Foundation – $1,000 (Robert E. Stark & Martin H. Stark Scholarship Fund) 

Saginaw Choral Society – $500  

Saginaw County Business and Education Partnership – $500         

Saginaw County Sports Hall of Fame – $3,000                                   

Saginaw Crime Stoppers – $250       

Saginaw Future – $1,000  

Saginaw Habitat for Humanity – $500

Saginaw YMCA Strong Kids Campaign – $500

Saint Mary’s of Michigan Foundation – $250 

SVSU Foundation – Dr. Benjamin Stark Biology Scholarship – $1,500  

SVSU Foundation – Watrous/Stark Endowment – $3,000

Temple Beth Israel – $500     

The Jewish Welfare Federation of Saginaw Fund – $1,000  

The Salvation Army – $500   

United Negro College Fund – $500   

United Way of Saginaw County – $500          

United Way of Saginaw County – $500 (Ramp/Mobility Program) 

Wolf Family Foundation Fund – $1,500

YMCA of Saginaw – $1,500 (Strong Kids Campaign) 

The following organizations received grants to support programs/projects via various competitive grants available through SCF:

American Chemical Society Midland Section – $6,000

(from the Dow Corning Donor Advised Fund)
Support ACS Programming Supplies

Boys and Girls Clubs of the Great Lakes Bay Region – $8,000

(from the Dow Corning Donor Advised Fund)
LEGO Education in Clubs

The Diaper Alliance – $10,000

($9,000 from the Lulah C. McMullen & Family Endowment Fund; $1,000 from the YWCA Fund for Women & Children)
Keeping Babies in Saginaw County Clean, Dry, and Healthy

Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan – $5,000

($3,250 from the Mental Health Fund; $1,750 from the YWCA Fund for Women & Children)
Saginaw County Community Outreach

Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance – $20,000

($19,033 from the SCF Unrestricted Fund; $967 from the Saginaw County Child Development Fund)
Great Lakes Bay Region Middle School Mathematics Project

Lawn Chair Film Festival (Old Saginaw City, Inc.) – $10,250

($9,646 from the SCF Unrestricted Fund; $604 from the Neighborhood Revitalization Fund)
The Save Our Screen (S.O.S.) Initiative

Major Chords for Minors – $8,000

(from the Dow Corning Donor Advised Fund)
Music for Youth

Merrill Community Schools – $8,000

(from the Dow Corning Donor Advised Fund)
Welding Program

Michigan Technological University – $3,000

(from the Dow Corning Donor Advised Fund)
2016 Dow Great Lakes Bay STEM Festival

RISE Educational Consulting – $2,500

(from the Lulah C. McMullen & Family Endowment Fund)
RISE & Shine Summer Program

The New Ezekiel Project – $5,000

(from the Lulah C. McMullen & Family Endowment Fund)
Road to a Better Saginaw (RABS)

Saginaw Intermediate School District – $9,500

($6,888 from the Lulah C. McMullen & Family Endowment Fund; $2,612 from the YWCA Fund for Women & Children)
Murphy Farm Nature Preschool

Saginaw Valley State University – $8,484

($7,084 from the Carl Werth, Sr. & Ruth Werth Memorial Fund; $1,400 from the YWCA Fund for Women & Children)
SVSU Advocates for Latino Student Advancement in Michigan Education (ALSAME) Conference

Saginaw Valley State University – $5,000

(from the SCF Unrestricted Fund)
SVSU Cross Country Trail

Tittabawassee Township Fire Department – $7,000

(from the Dow Corning Donor Advised Fund)
Operation Public Fire Awareness