The Greenville Area Community Foundation (GACF) announced granting $6,000 of the $12,000 needed to keep the Greenville Transit Bus operating between Eureka Township and the City of Greenville. That grant along with $1,000 from the anonymous donor and $5,000 that the Eureka Township Board will keep the buses moving for one more year.
The GACF offered to help fund the service for a year if the Township would also cover some of the costs. “Hopefully by then, there will be a plan in place to provide county-wide transportation,” said Eureka Township Supervisor Les Lillie. “We appreciate the GACF’s offer to help fund this service for township residents if we were able to come up with some of the money.” Many in the county are already struggling with lack of employment in the area; high cost of gas and other living expenses so making public transportation available for at least one more year was good news to many. “The Township Board decided it was worth spending some of the reserve especially if we could leverage it with the foundation’s money,” Lillie said.
GACF Chair Emeritus Lee Renterghem, himself a Township resident, brought the issue to the GACF Board last December after reading in The Daily News that bus service would stop at the end of 2007. The City of Greenville had the arrangement with the Township to provide the service for $1,000 a month to help cover the costs of the buses, the drivers, fuel and upkeep. It was a great collaborative service for residents of both entities but it was going to disappear because of funding issues. “Pro-active grants have been on our agenda in the past and this seemed like the right sort of opportunity to be pro-active about," said Renterghem. The GACF Board agreed that people being able to move between the City and the Township for another year was crucial to the economic well being of the community.
Renterghem worked for weeks gathering input from the Township and the City as he tried to determine whether the bus service really was a necessity. But after reviewing driver’s logs and seeing the Transit was used to help parents get kids to and from school, to get to and from work themselves, to keep doctor’s appointments, to get groceries and in some cases just go to a movie ... the decision was easy. But the foundation couldn’t cover the total bill because the grant money for 2008 had already been committed. In the true collaborative spirit, Renterghem approached Eureka Township Supervisor Les Lillie and asked what could be done to work together and meet the challenge from the donor who had already stepped up to cover one month.
“Besides being more pro-active in our grant making, becoming more involved in our area’s economic development is one of the current goals for GACF,” explained Amy O’Brien, who is in charge of grants and scholarships at the foundation. “We can’t give a grant to individuals or to a for-profit entity but we can award a grant to the Township. We are glad that Lee’s passion for and hard work on this issue, as well as the Townships reconsideration was rewarded with a solution that will benefit so many.”
GACF Grant Committee Chair Dr. John O’Donald further explained that the community foundation Board realized since Electrolux left the area that grant making had to be more flexible and in tune with the current needs in the area. Some of those needs right now include food, shelter and transportation. “Although the municipalities levy taxes that help cover some of these basic services, we know that the tax base has changed significantly too leaving the City of Greenville and Eureka Township in need of support,” said O’Donald.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of this issue,” said George Bosanic, Greenville City Manager. “It’s not that we wanted to stop offering the service to Eureka Township residents we just couldn’t ask the Greenville tax payers to foot the entire bill.”
Both Lillie and Bosanic indicated that they would do everything possible to work with the county-wide transportation committee to come up with a plan that would help meet this need all over Montcalm County. “If nothing happens then private donors and the GACF might be expected to step up and rescue the green and white buses one more time,” said O’Donald. “Helping cover the cost of this service every year isn’t an option for us so we hope the transportation committee will find a way.” But Renterghem’s antennae will be back up looking for other ways the community foundation can make a significant impact on the area. “That’s our mission,” he says.
The Greenville Area Community Foundation (GACF) and the Spectrum Health United Memorial Foundation were pleased to announce that an endowment fund had been started to support local health care. The United for Health Endowment is being held at the GACF so donors may benefit from the State of Michigan Community Foundation Tax Credit as well as all other charitable state and federal tax deductions that may apply.
Although Spectrum Health United Memorial has its own foundation that has been very successful at raising money for the capital campaigns at United Hospital in Greenville and Kelsey Hospital in Lakeview; providing the opportunity for donors to give to an endowment had not been an option until now. “The Spectrum Health United Memorial Foundation Board discussed the options available to our broad donor base and determined that the endowment option was missing”, said Foundation Executive Director Shirley Hayes. “We chose to pursue that option with the Greenville Area Community Foundation because of the additional tax credit that would benefit our donors and because our other collaborative experiences with GACF have been very satisfying.” “We knew we would be entrusting endowed gifts from our donors with a proven organization right here in our community,” she said.
The United for Health Endowment Fund has been set up at GACF to track gifts earmarked specifically to support the United and Kelsey hospitals. “We liked the fact that GACF was already working with the Lakeview community by administering their community foundation’s family of endowment funds so we knew that both of our hospitals would be recognized and supported by this one endowment fund,” explained Dr. Rocky Hansen, Spectrum Health United Memorial Foundation’s Board Chair. Health care is very personal and people seem to like to give back to the facility that cared for their family member or even themselves. “We’ve been told that being able to give a financial contribution to the facility that treated the family member is like a special thank you gift back to the doctors, nurses and health care professionals that provided such excellent care during the hospital stay”, said Hansen.
The mission of the Spectrum Health United Memorial Foundation is to save lives by advancing the health and well being of individuals and families through philanthropy. The mission of the Greenville Area Community Foundation is to enhance the quality of life. “What better fit for the health and well being of all than for the two organizations to meet their missions through the United for Health endowment that in turn will provide monies back to the Spectrum Health United Memorial Foundation to support the various programs and projects of the Greenville and Lakeview hospitals, “ said Hayes.
“We are very pleased to strengthen the collaborative efforts of both foundations through this endowment fund,” said GACF Board Chair Dr. Pete Blinkilde. “Health care is something that will touch each and every one of us at some point in our lives and we need to work together to make sure that facilities right here in our communities are here for us when that time comes,” he said.
For information about giving to the United for Health Fund contact Shirley Hayes, Executive Director of the Spectrum Health United Memorial Foundation at 616.224.6416 or via email at Shirley.Hayes@spectrum-health.org ... or Alison Barberi, President & CEO of GACF at 616.754.2640 or via email at alison@gacfmi.org.
.