Michigan Gateway Community Foundation is a collection of endowed funds from which we make grants for charitable purposes. One of the major activities this time of year is scholarships to graduating high school seniors headed to college next year.

We serve south Berrien and Cass counties, and manage a total of 42 scholarship funds covering seven area schools. In 2015, we will award scholarships totaling $55,300 to 61 high school seniors. We will also renew 30 college students from our area who received renewable grants, making the total recipient count 91 students and a dollar amount of nearly $96,000.

This is all possible because of wonderful community support.

First, donors who care about the young people in our towns have established and supported permanent scholarship funds totaling $1,850,000 through their financial gift to the Community Foundation.

Second, citizens of the communities volunteer their time to review applications, interview students, and select recipients based on the criteria of each individual scholarship. This is a demanding, but extremely rewarding effort on the part of many people.

Third, our school staff and teachers advise, encourage and push students to apply, providing letters of recommendation, coordinating interviews between students and committee members, and organizing the award presentations for the students and their families.

To all who support our scholarship endeavor each year, the Foundation gives a big “thank you.” It isn’t possible for the good work of Michigan Gateway Community Foundation to happen without you.

 

Robert N. Habicht, President/CEO, Michigan Gateway Community Foundation