Providing Amazing Opportunities

Students engaged in learning at Ag Adventures.

The Gerber Foundation announces grant awards
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The Gerber Foundation is pleased to announce that over $170,000 was awarded to local organizations serving youth in their second grant round of 2019. Funding was provided for 38 programs or projects with 8 grants provided to new partners. 

New partnerships broaden the reach of the Foundation while engaging local youth in unique educational and health initiatives. New recipients included: Operation Warm to provide new winter coats for children in their “Warm Welcome to the Library” program, Trout Unlimited for a girl’s STEM program called STREAM Girls, Health West for their BOOM Youth Leadership Project, North Star Reach for camp scholarships for children with serious medical conditions, National Inventors Hall of Fame for the Camp Invention STEM Program in Muskegon County, National Kidney Foundation for an early childhood nutritional program called Regie’s Rainbow Adventure, Grant Christian School to improve STEM education, and Camp Quality Michigan to provide camp scholarships for children with cancer.  

Several grants were provided to the Newaygo County 4-H Council for their Marine Biology 4-H SPIN Club, 4-H Teen & Leader Trainings, Ag Adventures, and 4-H Exploration Days.  Summer camp scholarship grants continue to make up a large portion of the fall grants with funds provided for summer camps, science camps, or leadership workshops. Recipients included Camp Casey, Camp Pinewood, Camp Henry, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Camp Pendalouan, Camp Newaygo, and Hospice of Michigan’s Camp Good Grief. Local FFA groups also continue to receive support to send students to the annual Washington Leadership Conference.

Grants were also provided to the NC RESA FIRST Robotics team, United Way of the Lakeshore in support of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Muskegon and Oceana Counties, Junior Achievement of the Lakeshore to promote financial literacy for Kindergarten students in Newaygo County, Girls on the Run in Muskegon County, Hand2hand and Kids Food Basket to provide afterschool and weekend meals for children in need, TrueNorth Community services for a variety of youth programming, and the City of Fremont for the annual Shop with a Cop program.  

“These organizations each provide amazing opportunities for our young citizens as they develop and grow into adulthood and we are continually grateful for all of the work they do.” noted Catherine Obits, program officer at the Gerber Foundation, “We are pleased to be able to support them as they continue their work.”

The deadline for the next round of West Michigan Grants is March 15, 2020.  For more information or to apply, go to www.gerberfoundation.org.