Here’s your chance to give away $500 to a worthy cause. Visit the Community Foundation’s Facebook page and name your favorite charity. Tell us why you think they make St. Clair County a better place. Be brief, but compelling, because we will choose one lucky person to help us grant $500! Post by noon on Feb. 14 to qualify.
I’d like to share a caring word about a nice lady that seems to get so many people involved in oh so many community events throughout the year… Cindy Babisz of Algonac. If any one could give a realistic view on who would need this $500. give away, it would be her! She really knows “what IS really going on in her community”! I like to keep an eye on her as she is truely a gifted guiding light.
Toast Masters is an n.p. organization that’s open to all ages and helps to encourage us all to build our confidence in public speaking (or in just speaking out loud). I feel a little $$ would help this organization reach out to the community to let them know that they exist and that they can help those that would attend their meetings. The $$ could also pay for the workbooks they use. My vote’s for The Toast Masters!
Pine River Elementary School is a great place to learn! Everyone here works extra hard to provide the best education for our students. We really could you the funds to purchase leveled books for our language arts lib..The more you read the more you know, the more you know the more you grow!
STUDIO 1219 deserves consideration for everything they do to promote art and culture in Port Huron. A great showplace for local art, art instruction and special events. Every year they become more important as a tourist attraction, as well as an important benefit to our community, and St. Clair County.
I would like to nominate Port Huron Northern School, JSA Club (Junior States of America). It is a fresh club, just started this year, about teaching kids about Democracy and how to learn to discuss issues, disagree but still be friends. they have 42 members, and they meet every other week.
I nominate St. Clair County KnowHow2Go College Access Center Network. KH2GO’s mission is “to create a college-going culture in our community, our schools and our families.” KH2GO provides programs for students and parents that help them successfully navigate the path to college or post-secondary training. To date, our workshops, seminars and other events, with over 8,000 attendees, have positively impacted students and families in our community.
Pine River Elementary could really use the grant for their reading program. Pine River staff and students are very active in the community with events supporting the food bank and Kids In Distress among others.
I would like to nominate SONS Talented Tenth Program. This program is helping students to not only think about and improve their futures, but also getting them involved in the community. They are not knocking on doors selling junk, but definetly could use money to help the students. Children really are our future and with how our city is doing right now, having our younger generation involved in making it a better place will help with not only the current situations, but hopefully will help them to see Port Huron is a great place to live and these kids will come to stay here to raise their families. By also encouraging them to attend colleges, these kids we hope will stay here will be educated adults, which again will help the city.
I would like to nominate Enter Stage Right, a non-profit community-based theatre company. Children, teen, and adults find a “home” when they join in the activities of theater production both behind the scenes and on stage. Working on a shoestring budget this grant could certainly enhance their upcoming productions as well as the summer festival - Will on the Water.
Help Enter Stage Right bring the arts to everyone!
this group manages to teach children through senior adults. It entertains substantial numbers of people It reawakens long dormant skills and goals. Enter Stage Right has done this for me, among others. I had not acted since high school in 1955 & 1956. Now my wife and I are deeply involved with acting, the steering committee, and other civic support events as voluntary participants such as today’s Thomas Edison museum anniversary celebration.
We loved our Will on the Water shakespearian festival last year and scheduled again for this year. This group merits all the help it can receve.
I nominate the Financial Literacy Coalition (FLC, pronounced Flick for short)! The nonprofits involved in the Coalition are: Community Action Agency, Michigan State University Extension Service, City of Port Huron Neighborhood Housing Commission, and Blue Water Habitat for Humanity.
The purpose of this coalition, as the name suggests, is to provide education around financial literacy to those in St. Clair County who are struggling to manage the money they have. These non profits all understand first hand the urgent need to bring this type of education to those who: juggle multiple jobs just to survive, pay more in rent than it would cost them to own a home, have heavy credit card debt, and/or can never seem to get out of debt.
The Valentine’s Day Giveaway gift of $500 would be excellent seed money to help FLC to print instructional materials so they can begin to offer the financial literacy education many St. Clair County residents so badly need. Helping residents to gain financial literacy gives the entire county better financial health.
Eddy Elementary all the way! Eddy is filled with wonderful teachers who are very dedicated to their students succeeding. Winning this Valentine’s Day gift would allow the teachers to obtain supplies that would enhance their students’ learning.
Enter Stage Right! Great local theatre company!
I’d love to nominate Enter Stage Right, a non-profit theatre company that does so much to bring the arts to the community. Having been involved with them for the past year, I continue to be impressed by the talent and passion they possess, as well as their ability to work as a cohesive unit to accomplish their goals.
Enter Stage Right is an amazing theater group. This company takes the time to make every child and adult feel special. It helps them to bring out their inner creativity and let their personality shine!! My daughter Lillian’s self esteem has grown tremendously with all of the plays that she has been in through this company. Her sweet 9 year old heart loves to feel success with Enter Stage Right. The small theater company is like a close knit family. I have loved and enjoyed the productions they put on in the community. Will on the Water was a spectacular free performance in the community for people to come and enjoy! I know they hope to be able to do this for the community again this year! Who doesn’t love to see laughter and imagination light up in a child’s eye? With adults in the company it still gives them hope to dream and be anyone. Enter Stage Right could truly benefit from this money to help keep the drama and arts alive in the community. In the age of technology, the theater has a hard time competing. Please help to keep the arts alive!
I would like to nominate the Peoples’ Clinic for better health. This outstanding organization cares for the most needy, providing them quality care and prescriptions. Last June, the State of Michigan honored the Peoples’ Clinic for being a leader in providing services to the poor and underserved.
Enter Stage Right is a dedicated group of extremely talented, dedicated, and patient individuals who put on fabulous productions. I have personally witnessed some of the amazing results they’ve achieved working with all children, young adults, and older individuals. Regina Spain and “Miss Elaine” are two energetic, very knowledgable, creative ladies who are gifted with the ability to bring out a level of performance individuals didn’t even know they possessed.
Yes, I would like to nominate Enter Stage Right for the $500 grant. Personal handicaps are not an issue as EVERYONE is truly included.
As a Canadian who visits Port Huron often for arts and culture events, I have been most impressed with your local theatre company, Enter Stage Right. Their Will On The Water Shakespeare Festival was a terrific day for young and old alike. Shakespeare devotees and the non-Bard fans had a great time and a great educational experience. I am astonished by the quality of what this little troupe can do on a nearly invisible budget. The arts are a leading indicator of social health, so let’s give Enter Stage Right and the local community a valentine for continuing health.
I’d like to nominate ‘Enter Stage Right’, the greatest theatre troupe in Port Huron. With a little support they can do great things. They are a fairly new organization but have worked hard and met with great success in pulling off last year’s Will on the Water Festival. Willfest is a celebration of Shakespearan work and the joy of exposing great literature to children and the non drama nerds who hated being forced to read that stuff in high school. I hope the community continues to rally for them and give much needed support.
I would like to nominate Mary Gave from Downriver Helping Hands. She has gone way out of her way to help out the families of St. Clair County. She not only provides clothes and household items to the families, she also provides food to all the hungry families. Whether they are unemployed or even employed but struggling to just make ends meet. I know that she spends countless hours to make sure that Helping hands stays open to help people and has food to feed the needy. I have even witnessed her giving her own coat to a lady at one of their food trucks because they didn’t have any in her size to give her. To me that is a lady that deserves to be recognized for all that she does the community. I do know that they get by with just donations from other caring people in the community. I feel that she would put that $500.grant to good use.
I would like to nominate “julie’s Kids” for the Valentine’s Day grant. Julie’s Kids is a benevolent organization founded by counselors and our social worker in Yale Public Schools that provide opportunity and hope for families in need. It provides coats for kids, Thanksgiving Meal Baskets, Christmas gifts for those who would likely go without, and assists families with the “fundamentals” at a time when they need it most, among other things. Julie’s Kids operates on the premise of “Paying it Forward”; hoping that these individuals will make it their mission to do the same for others when they are able. Most importantly, it affords the families their “dignity” while moving forward. The organization is self-funded and all monies received from donors goes to the cause. The entire Yale community family help make this a cornerstone in helping our own. Truly this organization operates “from the Heart”...how fitting it would be to receive the Valentine’s Day grant.
I would like to nominate a wonderful program in St. Clair County called K.I.D.S. (Kids in Distress). This non-profit organization comes to the aid of our local children who have been unexpectedly removed from their homes. K.I.D.S. provides personal hygiene products and clothing for those children in need. They assist children experiencing domestic violence, eviction, family crisis, child protective services, home fires, or temporary emergency care by police. What a wonderful local program!!
Enter Stage Right is a grand local theater group with great women, Elaine & Regina pursuing a promotion of theater. Their” Will on the Water” production last summer was an outstanding avenue to make known the works of William Shakespeare. Current funds from this Valentine grant would help them with this summer’s Will festival. Let’s help them out!
I would like to nominate the St. John River District Hospital – Patient HOPE Fund. I feel that that the Hospital fund provides a priceless benefit for St. Clai County residents.
The Patient HOPE fund at St. John River District Hospital, supported entirely by donations, helps those with limited financial resources or insurance coverage that have immediate needs – medical or otherwise – after a hospital stay. Any donations to this fund will help support patient needs such as:
Outpatient diabetic education for those without insurance who are unable to afford the education needed to control their disease.
Prescriptions for our patients who are in desperate need without coverage.
Necessary medical equipment (such as wheelchairs, walkers and tub benches.)
Financial support for basic living needs such as food, electricity and gas cards to ensure that the patient is in a safe environment, nutritional needs (needed for healing) are met, and transportation for medical appointments are kept.
Any donations to the St. John River District Hospital’s Patient HOPE fund will help our patients live healthier, more productive lives.
This would help provide essential care to those in greatest need that may not be able to afford any other care.
Thank you for your consideration.
I nominate the organizers of Animal Mania, an annual animal health and education fair cosponsored by Vetquest 4H Club and the MSUE office. The goal of Animal Mania is to bring the 4H experience to city kids and low-income families that might never have the opportunity to get out to Goodells County Park for the fair, but that could enjoy a day of animal related experiences at McMorran Arena, easily accessible by public transportation. Our goal is to keep this a totally FREE event so it’s never out of someone’s price range to attend. Each year over 100 volunteers bring in everything from pigs and lambs to horses to dogs and chinchillas and parrots, as well as dozens of educational hands-on learning activities. Last year we hosted over 1500 people at the day long event. Any funds received go towards rent for McMorran and to purchase educational items and door prize/giveaway items. This year’s event is in one month, March 12, and additional funds would come in very useful as we run into our last month of planning.
I would like to nominate the non profit theater group Enter Stage Right. It is an amazing group that welcomes people of of all ability levels and makes everyone feel worth while and capable of taking part in their productions. They do amazing things, while helping all of the people involved to grow and do things they never imagined possible!
I would like to nominate The Port Huron Musicale which is a nonprofit service organization whose mission is to open the world of music to people in the Blue Water area by providing information, education, awards, advocacy and support. The $500 would be used to provide financial assistance to talented, motivated and disciplined music students with financial need.
It would be an honor to nominate Downriver Helping Hands, Parker St. Marine City. This non-profit organization is available to all St. Clair County residents, assisting with food baskets, home items and clothes. People in the community donate their household items, furniture,gently used clothes and canned goods to Helping Hands who then open their doors four days a week so that residents in need of assistance are able to benefit for no cost to them. Helping Hands also sponsors Free Food Trucks on a monthly basis to residents in need of fresh fruits, vegetables and canned goods. They spoonsor a Free Thanksgiving Dinner for those in need on Thanksgiving and ionclude children’s toys and adult presents with Christmas food baskets. All services are confidential, with volunteers as staff, directed by Mary Gave.
I would like to nominate the non profit Marine City Music Festival Inc. An amazing group ov volunteers that work hard all year round to put together a fantastic weekend event that benifits our local community.
Eddy Elementary in St. Clair is a great place for kids! We school of choice to Eddy because the teachers there are so dedicated to making sure all kids learn. What a great place to eb!
I would like to nominate the Eddy PTO. The Eddy PTO both supports Eddy Elementary in St. Clair but also donates to many community causes. These include Kids in Distress, St. Mary’s Food Pantry, SCHS Senior All Night Party, and funds the annual Maddie Trudel Memorial Scholarship. This is on top of all the support they provide for teachers and students of the school. There goal this year is to restore the baseball field on Solis field. This would help fund that worthy cause.
I will nominate Blue Water Center for Independent Living in Port Huron Michigan. The center helps people with disabilities and also people that are in need of ramps to leave their homes or modifications to their vehicles or just a wheelchair. Due to funding sometimes it is impossible to get all the funding necessary to help these people that are disabled. People do not realize how many people are disabled and in need of help especially people that are under 60 years. The reources to help them are just not out there. Thank you Carol Simpson.
I am recommending Sanborn Gratiot Memorial Home that for over 60 years has been providing a safe and affordable place for seniors to live. Many of the seniors who come to Sanborn are low to very low income and not able to pay the full cost of care. Sanborn accepts what the seniors can pay and it is a challenge finding the financial resources to cover the difference. Sanborn Home believes that we must support the seniors of our community who have contibuted so much during their lifetime.
I want to suggest that a donation would be well utilized at the Sanborn Gratiot Home. It is a place in our community that offers a caring and compassionate “home” to their elderly residents. Many of the people residing there do not have many options due to their finances and poor health. Sanborn will accept what they have to pay and will cover the difference. The building is old, and thus needs constant updating and maintenance.
I am recommending the ‘Read All About It’ project. This project sends staff from St. Clair County Community Mental Health into early elementary class rooms throughout the county to teach children about accepting other classmates who may have physical or mental differences. The project includes reading a book (which is then donated to the school library) and then completing many hands on activities. Recently, the staff person who makes these visits was in a car accident on the way to a school presentation, and many of her games and hands on demonstrations were destroyed. This grant could help replace what was lost and benefit many students.
I nominate The Blue Water Center for Independent Living. The BWCIL has a vast variety of programs that assist individuals with disabilities in many aspects of their lives. Independent living skills training provides instruction in the skills necessary to function successfully in the community. Nursing Facility Transition supports Medicaid eligible nursing home residents who wish to live independently in the community; to name a couple. The BWCIL believes that disabilities are a normal part of life, equal access to all aspect of life and community. The BWCIL advocates for individuals with disabilities who have been denied rights or services.
I would like to nominate B-WARM, or Blue Water Area Resucue Mission. They exist to give homeless people a place to stay. They take in people that have no place to sleep, sometimes for a night, sometimes for much longer. They get no federal funding, and are trying to raise money to buy the building that they are currently leasing. The people who run it, Arnie and Debbie Koontz, stay up with their clients all night and have not gotten paid for it (in the15 mont they have been doing this). Everything they have has been donated (beds to food to computers). Yhey are setting up a day program for those who want to turn their lives around, to help with job skills, life skills, personal enrichment, etc. B-WARM was started to meet the desperate need of homelessness in the Port Huron area. Please help them continue to do just that!
My nomination is to the Mackinac Island Honor Troop 50001 of the Girl Scout of Southeast Michigan(Port Huron) Council. For the past 22 years, this troop, of 60 girls representing the Blue Water area has traveled to historic Mackinac Island each summer to provide their service at venues such as the Fort, Governers’ Mansion and many histoic homes and sites on the Island proudly serving as volunteers to our State park organization. This year, their uniforms are in need of replacement and this donation would greatly help them out!
I would like you to consider the Macinac Island Honor troop from the Port Huron Girl Scout Council. My daughter has been a member of this troop for 6 years and watching the girls mature and gain self confidence after each trip to the island is remarkable. Many girls from St. Clair County look forward to this week of service to make an impression on visitors to the island. This year, however their 22 year old uniforms make this somewhat of a challenge. Any help to off set costs that would have to be paid by the girls would be appreciated. They really do make great representatives of their community! Since inception this troop has been comprised of several hundered girls that have taken the leadership skills with them to become productive adults.
I would like to nominate The Blue Water Center for Independent Living. The Center for Independent Living (CIL) in an organization that assists people in the community who have disabilities. There are many CILs throughout Michigan that offer a wide range of services. The Blue Water CIL here in Port Huron offers GED services, employment training services, and a wide range of information and referral services, linking information, referrals, and ideas for people with disability-related issues and challenges. The CIL staff works in all high schools in St. Clair County training graduating seniors, with IEPs, in life skills necessary for their transition from school to the workforce or post-secondary training. The BWCIL promotes self-determination as essential to our dignity as human beings and helps people with disabilities achieve that end. It is a great organization.
I nominate the Community Action Agency. We would ike to offer a Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Support Group. Many area agencies would like us to do this also. Grandparents are often isolated in their unexpected role but have no way to find other grandparents to learn from. The CAA would have a location and facilitator but we need funding for gas cards, childcare porviders on site and resource materials.
This group is expanding daily and the grant would touch many lives.
Thank you for offering this possibility and for your generosity to our community.
The Anti-Bullying Initiative at St. Clair Middle School is making many positives changes in the lives of many students. The grant money would support the great work we have started and be used to enrich this growing program.
I nominate Eddy Elementary 5th graders who annually host a hot cocoa sale in honor of Maddie Trudel, a former Eddy student who passed away from cancer. The Eddy 5th graders organize themselves into a business, with the help of their teacher, Sue Day. They have students who work in promotions, sales, accounting, and on the assembly line. The money raised from the sale of the hot cocoa cones funds the Maddie Trudel scholarship which is awarded each spring to seniors at St. Clair High School who attended Eddy during their elementary years. This year, the students raised enough money to award three scholarships! The project is great because it teaches students about business, keeps the memory of Maddie Trudel alive, and helps students to fund their college or trade school tuition. We are proud to have this project at Eddy Elementary!
This past year, the Peoples’ Clinic for Better Health celebrated its 20th anniversary of serving the community. A $500.00 grant from The Community Foundation of St. Clair County would help the clinic meet the needs of their current patients in providing a simple basic human need: access to health care. It would help with the cost for programs offered such as prescription medication for patients, diagnostic testing, education and disease management.
The Peoples’ Clinic for Better Health has been reaching out to find new and enhanced ways to serve those is greatest need. To meet demand, the clinic opened its doors to the uninsured one more day each week by offering four days of clinic hours; providing even more health, social work, prescription assistance and referral services. We also developed a new call in appointment process so the very ill aren’t waiting outside the building in the early morning hours. Their goal continues to focus on offering a quality health care option for members of the community.
Although the economy appears to be steadier, we still face double-digit unemployment with businesses and organizations continuing to cut back on benefits and new individuals continuing to hit the rolls of the uninsured. Now, more than ever, we must support those agencies that provide services to the most vulnerable among us.
Please consider the Peoples’ Clinic for Better Health for this Valentine Gift.
I would love to nominate Kids In Distress Services, Inc. (K.I.D.S). K.I.D.S is a non-profit organization with tax exempt status whose sole mission is provide children from 0 to 18 years of age with clothing and personal hygiene items FREE of charge. K.I.D.S was created to help children unexpectedly removed from their homes ( entering foster care, shelters, left homeless, fires or when one or both parents are left without a job). K.I.D.S. has helped more than 14,000 children in the St. Clair County area alone this past year. Not only would the $500.00 help K.I.D.S., it would also help more than 60 other agencies that kids provides a services to.
Hear at K.I.D.S. we believe that “it takes a community to save a child” so please vote for us!
The best way to make St. Clair a better place, is to start with the kids! My vote is for Eddy Elementary because the staff truly cares about kids and continually teaches students to be smart and caring in their actions toward one another and the community!
Without a doubt, I would have to say Blue Water Shrine Club
for the hundreds of families they have, and continue to help.
Thank you Community Foundation of St. Clair County for your kindness and readiness to always help community organizations, the arts, urban renewal, recreation, education and so many other projects. Over the years you have helped The Harbor/Wings/Cypress Place. We are so appreciative of the support and assistance you have given us. It makes such a difference in the lives of homeless youth and those youth who need a chance to build a foundation as they enter adulthood.
Our local American Red Cross celebrates Juneteenth each year, the national recognition of the ending of slavery in the United States dating back to 1865. The focus of this important local celebration is community education about the importance of an adequate and diverse blood supply. The event also encourages minorites to join the organ donor list and the bone marrow registry to better represent these populations. Among this education is a family fun celebration provided at no cost to the community. A $500 grant to support this would be a life saving and changing investment in our community.
I’d like to nominate the PoHo Robotics team. The combined PHHS/PHNHS robotics team is in its first season. It has approximately 20 students and 10 mentors. They have been working 3-4 nights a week and all day Saturdaysfor over 5 weeks learning to design, build, and program a robot. They will compete against other schools in the state of Michigan in March. One event is in Flint and one event is in Waterford. Despite their amazing efforts at fundraising, they are still in need of funds to purchase more supplies for their robot, to pay for their entry fees to the competitions, and other miscellaneous items. What I think is most outstanding about them, is they are a diverse group of young men and women who are taking their education in the classroom and actually applying it to a real world application. They have visited a robotics company in Marysville and various shops around the county to understand how these machines reallly work in manufacturing facilities. It is awesome!
I would like to nominate the St. Clair County Community Baby Shower committee. This event has been coordinated and put on for 20 years by a dedicated group of agencies and individuals. We are in the process of planning for the 21st event which will be held on May 5, 2011. This event helps to provide pregnant women and their support system with much needed education and contact with agencies and resources that we have available in our county. We have been able to provide books, CD’s, thermometers, Boppy breastfeeding pillow, car seats, breastpumps, cribs and other baby items to our county expectant parents strictly from grants and donations from year to year. These parents need these items to help ensure that their baby is Safe from the Start, healthy happy and smart!! Thank you, Jennifer Smith, chairperson CBS committee.
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