HEY Radio Wins! (Finally!)

The fifth time was the charm this past Wednesday for Muskegon Community Radio (Hey Radio), which won our donations for the first quarter of 2018. They plan to use the donations to buy and have installed a backup generator to keep the station on the air during power outages.

Other nominees this quarter were Family Promise of Muskegon County, which has won twice but most recently in 2013, and our June 2014 winner The Arc Muskegon.

Come join us in June and put your name and favorite local charity in the mix!

$10,700 to Step Up

We've given $10,700 to our December 2017 selection, Step Up, bringing our total donations to $260,200. This fine group, which also earned our donations in March 2016, works to provide mentoring, housing, educational guidance and a community with accountability to young adults ages 18-24, primarily those who have aged out of foster care.

Other nominees in December were Family Promise of Muskegon County, which was our second recipient way back in March 2012 and earned our donations again in September 2013, and Muskegon Community Radio (Hey Radio).

A Quarter of a Million Dollars!

Donations to our latest winner, The Hope Project, are still rolling in, but they have already raised the total contributions we've made to local charities to $250,000!

If you're already a member and send in your $100 every quarter, thank you! -- and bring a friend to our December meeting! If you're not yet a member, head on over to our Join page and sign up today! Just one hour and $100 every three months makes a big difference right here at home, and you can help us roll that total up even faster.

Hope Project Wins September '17 Donations

The Hope Project, which won our donations in December 2015, has won again in September 2017. These good people raise awareness about human trafficking and help victims heal. Check them out at hopeprojectusa.org or at their Facebook page.

Other candidates this quarter were Muskegon Community Radio and first-time nominee USS LST 393 Veterans Museum. If you're looking for a worthy cause to donate time or money to, try any of these three or the dozens of other local charities on our Recipients page.

June '17 Donations Go to Kids' Food Basket

Our donations this quarter go to the Muskegon branch of Kids' Food Basket, whose mission is to attack childhood hunger to help kids learn well and live well. Their strategy for fulfilling that mission is simple too: They feed kids. Over 800 kids every weekday in Muskegon and Muskegon Heights. 

Other nominees this quarter were Canteen 450, which serves coffee, water, sandwiches and snacks to firefighters and other first responders at emergency scenes, and our December 2015 winner the Hope Project, which works with the victims of sex trafficking.

Hope to see you at our next meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, at the Sherman Bowling Center. Come join us as we cross the quarter-million-dollar threshold! 

YMCA's "Pool School" Earns Our March '17 Donations

The Muskegon YMCA wins our donations this quarter for their Safety Around Water program. Also known as "pool school", this program teaches water safety to third-graders around the county. That's an important topic in a community like ours where our "swimming pool" is a Great Lake and where drowning is the number two cause of death among children in the county, and we're proud to support them.

Other nominees at our March meeting were Muskegon Community Radio and the Muskegon-Oceana Community Action Partnership.

We'll be very happy in our new home, the Platinum Room at the Sherman Bowling Center. The facility is terrific, the sound system perfect, and the staff are very friendly and helpful. We're very grateful to General Manager Don Veltman and Event Coordinator Danielle Samuel for donating the space, without which we could not continue to do our good work. Stop in and bowl a line sometime to say thanks!

Sacred Suds Wins a Nail-Biter

Our March 2013 winner, Sacred Suds, won our donations again this quarter as we kicked off our sixth year of supporting local charities -- by one vote.

Sacred Suds,  project of Community EnCompass, provides laundry and shower facilities to those in need. They also offer hot and cold meals and a technology center with computers, printers and internet service, and volunteers provide tax preparation services during tax season. They plan to use our donations to help put a new roof on their building and buy some new commercial washers and dryers to replace aging ones.

Our worthy runners-up this quarter were The Arc Muskegon, our June 2014 winner, and first-time presenter Muskegon Community Radio.

Remember, our next meeting is March 8, 2017, in our new venue, the Sherman Bowling Center (map).