Community Celebration Highlights Foundation Accomplishments
By Leslie Rott

Top, left: More than 120 people turned out for the Mackinac Island Community Foundation's Community Celebration Monday, August 21, at Community Hall. Among them were (from left) Sue and Bruce Miller, Candi Dunnigan, and Leanne Brodeur.

"We won"t be here 50 to 100 years from now to see the true benefits, but our funds will be here, and our foundation will be here, and, because of us, Mackinac Island"s future will have the resources it needs to survive," said Wesley Maurer, Jr., chairman of the Mackinac Island Community Foundation at its 9th Annual Community Celebration Monday, August 22, at Community Hall.

"We host these parties," he told 120 in attendance, "to share with you what we are doing and to recognize the contributions all of you are making to our community, either through implementing progressive programs, or investing money for the future, or expressing serious concerns about what is happening on Mackinac Island and where the Island is heading."

In May, the assets held by the Mackinac Island Community Foundation topped the $5 million mark, Mr. Maurer said, including more than $4 million in endowments, surpassing the organization"s goal of accruing that amount by the end of 2007. And last winter, he added, the Foundation was one of the first community foundations in the country to receive the prestigious National Standards certification from the National Council on Foundations, "which required us to have in place the best practices for operation, fiscal responsibility, investment, and grantmaking.

Top, right: Joining the festivities were (from left) Jamie Bynoe, William and Lois Lenaghan, and Jackie and Richard Bolander.

"This assures you that we are operating on the highest level of professionalism and responsibility," he noted, "because we are the caretakers for permanent funds that will long outlast all of us here this evening."

The Mackinac Island Community Foundation received its first gift in 1995, and since then, has received $2,767,000 in contributions. The endowments are invested, with only the income used for grants to other nonprofit groups, mostly on Mackinac Island, and for scholarships for Island youth.

Now with some 45 funds, designated for health, preservation, environment, animal care, and other donor interests, the Foundation has awarded $441,000 in grants since 1997, plus spearheaded a series of workshops on community development and preservation and a comprehensive study by Michigan Technological University on the spread of the invasive Norway Maple into the forest, and has served as a pass-through vehicle for fundraising projects ranging the new City ambulance to renovation of the Ste. Anne's Catholic Church's steeple.

Bottom: Community Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Bloswick and Arial Leeper, a member of the Foundation's Youth Advisory Committee, welcomed community members to the event.

Other funds are distributed for emergency relief through Island churches.

Focus for the near future, Mr. Maurer said, will be educational programs for sustainable development and preservation, continued work to protect the Island from invasive plant species, including control of the Norway Maple in the forest, education of Island youth, quality medical care, and quality of life in general.

Building the endowments today, he said, will insure Mackinac Island will have the resources it needs to survive in the future.

"I am very pleased with the attendance," said Community Foundation Executive Director Jennifer Bloswick. "It was a great night of food, fun, and friendship, and a wonderful celebration of the Mackinac Island community."

Horn"s Gaslight Bar and the Yankee Rebel Tavern, owned by Steve and Patti Ann Moskwa, contributed the food and beverages for the evening.

"This is a very exciting time at the Mackinac Island Community Foundation," Mrs. Bloswick continued. "Our endowment and funds are continuing to grow and the community is really taking an active interest in working with the foundation.

"Every single gift, from $5 to $500,000, is equally important and appreciated," she emphasized.