When ITEC Lansing executive director Kirk Riley and Impression 5 executive director Erik Larson each learned the other was a finalist for the Capital Region Community Foundation’s Impact Grant, they said they hoped the other organization would win.
Both organizations won. And it’s a win for our community.
The State of Michigan Community Foundation Tax Credit was abolished by Gov. Rick Snyder at the end of December 2011. Originally signed into law Dec. 29, 1988, the Michigan Community Foundation Tax Credit was designed to encourage individuals and businesses to build the permanent endowments of community foundations across the state. This tax credit was intended to bring additional dollars to communities by generating new donors and encouraging more permanent endowment support rather than tempting donors to shift their dollars from other organizations.
The Consumers Energy Foundation announced it is awarding $1.25 million in grants to 10 community projects as part of the utility’s 125th anniversary celebration.
The Michigan Nonprofit Association was awarded a $125,000 grant on behalf of the Nonprofit Center at the Armory.
After many months of planning and renovating, several Lansing-based nonprofits will be calling the former Marshall Street Armory home this fall.
The historic building at 330 Marshall St. in Lansing is set to open in November 2011. The Nonprofit Center at the Armory will house the offices of the Michigan Nonprofit Association, Capital Region Community Foundation, Capital Area United Way, Michigan Association of United Ways, the Food Bank Council of Michigan and other nonprofits.
The organizations based in the Armory represent a diverse collection of Mid-Michigan’s nonprofit leaders and funders, and the shared space encourages collaboration in every sense of the word.
A grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation helped the Stoneleigh Hospice Residence add a convenience suggested by the adult son of a Hospice patient: Free Wi-Fi. The woman’s son was dedicated to staying by his mother’s side in the residence; however, the demands of his job required him to work remotely. Without Wi-Fi at Stoneleigh, he had to leave every time he needed Internet access.
So in 2009, the Community Foundation granted $1,533 to the Stoneleigh Hospice Residence to enable the installation of a free wireless network for everyone to use. Lars Egede-Nissen, Hospice of Lansing’s executive director, said it was a welcome addition for the families and patients.
A visit to the Southside Community Kitchen delivers a combination of expected and unexpected finds.
Expected: Friendly volunteers working to prepare lunch for an indeterminate number of guests at the Christ United Methodist Church on Jolly Road in Lansing. Rows of pie slices lining the kitchen counter, waiting to become dessert.
Unexpected: Round tables of eight set with paper place mats, plastic ware wrapped in paper napkins and secured with a dark green wrapper. A grand piano in the back corner of the room, being played as lovely background music. Volunteers acting as servers for the guests.
Signed into law in August 2006, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (PPA) made substantial changes to federal tax law governing charitable organizations, especially with regard to donor advised funds and scholarship funds. The Capital Region Community Foundation (CRCF) has identified certain issues raised by the PPA and has prepared the following questions and answers in an effort to inform donor advisors of the implication of these Federal legal requirements. We encourage you to contact us with any additional questions you may have about your donor advised fund.
Kevin's family established the Kevin A. Kelly Action Fund to help people in need and provide opportunities for people to be lifted up from their troubles, their challenges and their pain.
As executive director of the Michigan State Medical Society, Kevin saw the big picture, advocating for access to health care and working to envision the future of medicine.
Getting schoolkids excited about classical music might seem like a tough job. But the Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s music director Timothy Muffitt welcomes the challenge.
Through a $3,286 grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation in 2009, Muffitt and the orchestra bring classical music to thousands of kids each spring — for free.
After many years of dreaming, researching and planning, Ellen McKay and her late husband, Dale, established the Covenant Fund for Faith and Families in 1999, fulfilling their desire to create a family legacy of care and concern for others. They chose the Capital Region Community Foundation rather than setting up a private foundation because it allowed them to concentrate on their dream, rather than on administrative tasks.
Pilots often have great perspective on life, both literally and figuratively.
From 10,000 feet above, they see things those of us on the ground often don’t or can’t see. Instead of seeing the front of a building, they see the building in its entirety and the grounds — and community — surrounding it.
Views like these can shape a perspective on life, too. That seemed to be the case for Gerald and Dorothy Francis, a Grand Ledge couple who were pilots.
Adam Nevells only lived to be 17 years old, but in his short life, he had a broad impact on people as an athlete, student, Boy Scout, friend and community volunteer.
What does Cleon Mingus, a retired autoworker who lived most of his life in a small home near Lansing, Mich., have in common with Andrew Carnegie, W.K. Kellogg and S.S. Kresge?
They all were philanthropists who left behind a lasting legacy that will benefit future generations in perpetuity.
EVE — or End Violent Encounters — provides shelter and supportive services to the victims of domestic violence. Their offices are housed, literally, in a nondescript house on a nondescript street.
Thanks to a $10,386 grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation in 2009, the Beekman Therapeutic Riding Center can provide scholarships for horseback riding lessons to young people with disabilities.
Cristo Rey is the only organization in mid-Michigan with one staff member entirely devoted to helping uninsured, low-income residents receive access to free medication. Veronica Almaguer is an angel to hundreds of tri-county residents who otherwise would never be able to navigate the intricacies of all of the forms drug companies require to qualify for such assistance.
On any given day, more than 1.5 million children in the U.S. have a parent serving a sentence in a state or federal prison, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. To help a portion of those kids, Lansing’s NorthWest Initiative runs the Children With Incarcerated Parents or Relatives Program, with help from a $1,580 grant from the Capital Region Community Foundation in 2009.
Lansing's homeless and working poor can go to Open Door Ministry in downtown Lansing’s Central United Methodist Church, a day shelter that feels more like a community center. The large basement dining hall is full of activity from the moment the doors open at 8:30 a.m. each weekday. Coffee, juice, pastries and listening ears are ready for anyone in need. There’s no sign-in sheet. No one’s required to show ID or proof of need. Just come in, have a seat, take a nap in one of the recliners or catch up with friends.
The Foster Grandparent program was developed in the 1960s by Sargent Shriver and was designed to attract low-income seniors to volunteer work. Qualifying “grandparents” are given a small stipend to offset the cost of volunteering — transportation, food, perhaps a new outfit — and in return they give their time to local classrooms and students.
Food pantries across our region provide valuable help to people in need of groceries to feed themselves and their families. Add to the equation someone in the family dealing with HIV or AIDS and suddenly nutritional needs go beyond the basic to the very specific.
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