2023 Grant Awards

In 2023, our Board of Trustees approved $207,205 in grants to the following organizations and entities:

  • 5Loaves2Fish Northern Michigan: $3,000 from the General Endowment Fund to provide healthy meals, served weekly, to food-insecure individuals living in Leelanau County — and particularly in Leelanau Township.

  • Friendship Community Center, Inc. (Suttons Bay): $25,550 to help fund Leelanau Investing For Teens (LIFT), The Center’s flagship youth program, for students of Northport Public School during the 2023-24 school year. $15,550 was allotted from the Foundation’s General Endowment Fund and $10,000 from the Youth Endowment Fund.

  • Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum: $9,100 from the General Endowment Fund to help cover the costs of purchasing a new diesel marine boat engine for a repurposed US Coast Guard motor launch.

  • Housing North (Year 3 of 3): $10,000 from the General Endowment Fund for the Leelanau County Housing Ready Program Director position.

  • Leelanau County Cancer Foundation: $10,000 grant from the General Endowment Fund to help fund economic relief grants to families with cancer diagnoses.

  • Leelanau Christian Neighbors (Lake Leelanau): $356 grant from the Youth Endowment Fund to help purchase manual can openers for families who receive canned goods from the organization’s food pantry.

  • Newton’s Road (Traverse City): $1,500 grant from the Youth Endowment Fund to purchase and distribute 20 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) kits for the elementary school library at Northport Public School.

  • Northport Arts Association: $6,000 from the General Endowment Fund to expand outreach and program offerings of the Northport Clay Studio to a wider audience.

  • Northport Performing Arts Center:

    • $2,175 from the General Endowment Fund to help defray the costs of producing 'Academia Nuts', a dinner theater performance and event.

    • $12,566 from the Koenig Community Arts Center Endowment Fund to support and expand NPAC's annual programs.

  • Northport Public School:

    • $26,870 - annual disbursement from the Northport Community Arts Center Endowment Fund to help cover the operating costs of the school’s community auditorium.

    • $17,200 (Year 2 of 3) from the General Endowment Fund to help cover the operating and maintenance costs of the former Northport Children’s Center.

    • $2,782 from the Youth Endowment Fund to assist in the expansion of a technology program for students.

    • $1,000 from the Youth Endowment Fund to support the National Honor Society’s “Fill the Bus” program, in which students receive essential school supplies and gifts through the start of the new year.

  • Northport Youth Sailing School: $1,295 from the Youth Endowment Fund to provide seven full scholarships to youths of Leelanau Township for the sailing 2023 summer program. YAC also recommended this grant for approval.

  • Northwest Education Services (Traverse City): $188 from the Youth Endowment Fund to provide teacher and student vouchers for grades K-5 for a Pop-Up Farmers Market at Northport Public School.

  • The Omena Historical Society (OHS): $7,000 from the General Endowment Fund to help cover the renovation costs of exterior spaces at the Society’s building in Omena.

  • Peninsula Housing (Suttons Bay): $25,000 grant from the General Endowment Fund to help fund the purchase of an affordable home in Northport, as part of Peninsula Housing’s land trust program.

  • Saving Birds Thru Habitat (Omena): $1,623 - annual fund disbursement from the Saving Birds Thru Habitat Endowment Fund.

  • Trinity Church (Northport): $4,000 from the General Endowment Fund to help offset the costs of replacing furnaces and central A/C units in the church’s building spaces.

  • Village of Northport: $40,000 from the General Endowment Fund to help replace outdated playground equipment at the Bay Front Park in Northport.