Who we are and What we do!

You may be familiar with the Cadillac Area Community Foundation, but you may not know all that it does. The philanthropic impact of the Community Foundation is evident throughout Cadillac's neighborhoods, health and social service agencies, cultural organizations, educational institutions, youth organization, economic development projects, and other community groups. Working through local nonprofit organizations, the Cadillac Area Community Foundation has been making our community a better place to live since 1988. No one person has the resources to provide solutions to all the challenges faced by a community this diverse. However, by combining the financial and human resources of many individuals, we can make a significant difference. Working together by pooling resources is the basic idea of a Community Foundation. Founded in 1988, the Cadillac Area Community Foundation is Cadillac's permanent philanthropic endowment. A nonprofit, tax-exempt, public charity, the Community Foundation receives gifts from individuals, families, businesses, foundations and other organizations eager to make a difference in the future of our local community. These funds comprise the Community Foundation's assets, most of which are part of the Community Foundation's permanent endowment (pools of funds invested for the future of the community) and are used to support local, nonprofit organizations through grants and technical assistance. The Cadillac Area Community Foundation's purpose is to promote philanthropy and provide stewardship and leadership to enhance the use of community resources to meet the needs of our citizens. To learn more about the Cadillac Area Community Foundation, read our newsletters or view our annual reports, please visit our website at www.cadillacfoundation.org.

Youth Committee Makes Fall a Busy Time

Things have been hopping at the Foundation! We have our new youth committee members in place, and the Fall Regional Training took place on October 11th at Eagle Village. We will post photos and more information about this training event once the photos are ready.

The Youth Committee also participated in the Cadillac Business Expo on October 8th. Committee members designed booth and a game to draw interest to their booth, and then spent the day meeting community residents and business owners, and sharing information about the youth committee and the work that they do in the community.

We hope to post the youth perspectives on these events in the coming week. Stay tuned!

Mobile Food Pantry a Success

Cadillac Area Community Foundation Trustees, and Executive Director Linda Kimbel, joined with other community volunteers last Saturday to distribute free food to over 500 local residents. This event, sponsored by "Thanks a Million! West Michigan" brought a truck loaded with 10,000 lbs.food, provided by "Feeding America West Michigan (formerly Gleaners), to Cadillac to be distributed as 50 lb. portions to those who attended the event. The response was overwhelming; many more community members in need attended than could be served by the food that was trucked in.

According to Foundation Executive Director Linda Kimbel, "To wait in line in the pouring rain for hours was testament to the incredible need in our community. People were so patient and understanding when informed that there was not enough food on the truck to serve everyone in line.

As a result of the incredible need in our community, trucks will return September 3rd and 8th to serve those who were unable to receive food last Saturday.

Another Perspective on Youth Leadership Training

"MCFYP this year was really great! It was filled with fun filled activities for everyone and was led by a bunch of warm hearted people. Personal favorite activities in my opinion included the Extreme YACcer challenge, introduction games, and the time management class. What made it especially great however, was that our YAC received a certificate for being one of the top "Great Grants." In the future (next year perhaps), I invite more YACs to also attend for a great and all expense paid for trip!"

-Miles Kamaloski

A Rain Garden

The Cadillac Public Library Rain Garden is in the ground and growing well. This garden of native plantings will help to reduce pollution in Lake Cadillac by collecting run-off water from the library parking lot before it runs into the lake. An on-site informational sign explains the concept of this rain garden and how it works, and an informational brochure is available inside of the library building.
This project has stirred a great deal of interest in the community regarding rain gardens as a solution to run-off pollutants that enter our lakes and rivers system. For more information about how you can help protect our local waterways visit the Muskegon River Watershed website at www.mrwa.org, or visit www.raingardens.org.

Newsletter Available

To find out the latest news, please check out our most recent newsletter.

We will be a bit slow posting over the next week as the staff enjoys some vacation time.

Youth Perspective of Regional Youth Summer Conference

"Well, I had an amazing time at the leadership Conference, it was a ball. We did this group project that made us work together as a TEAM. It was :"Extreme YACer Challenges". We were split up into 16 different groups and then the group had to try to beat the other groups. It was a lot of fun. Stella and I met like 6 new friends and all of us had a lot of fun together. Saturday night we had a dance, and OMG you should of seen some of the move Miles and Jake were whipping out. It was funny to watch them. I think everybody had a lot of fun. I know that I had a lot of fun besides all the stairs and falling Saturday night during the dance. Ok, I was not being stupid and fell while I was dancing...I went outside with some of my new friends and it was raining and I went to go down the stairs and my flip flop slid and I fell but its all good I am fine. Other than that, it was a lot of fun. If you are going next year make sure to bring a fan because it is Really HOT. I learned a lot and I am glad I went I learned a lot about me as a YACer and YAC alone. And good job Jake and Miles in presenting that grant. I do know one thing - I wanna go back next year. It was AMAZING and it was fun meeting new people and getting to know that we are not the only YAC that is going through problems! FUN is the lowest thing that describes how great the conference was.!!!! =)"
Dalelynn