Community Foundation for Mason County awards over $64,000 in recent grants.

 Community Foundation for Mason County awards over $64,000 in recent grants. 

LUDINGTON — The Advisory Board of the Community Foundation for Mason County recently approved grant awards to a variety of community organizations in support of projects throughout Mason County. A total of $64,040 was awarded from Unrestricted and Field of Interest Funds through the competitive application process, overseen by numerous volunteer committees.

Highlights of the grants include:

• The Ludington and Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce received a grant of $7,500 to support the Mason County Growth Marketing Campaign, which aims to raise awareness about professional opportunities in the area and informs housing/mixed-used developers of development opportunities in Mason County.
• Sable Points Lighthouse Keepers Association was awarded $3,000 by the Gerald and Dorothy Heslipen Fund and the Community Foundation for Mason County to support the 150th birthday celebration of the Big Sable lighthouse. The funds will provide the opportunity for the public to go on two-hour cruises on Lake Michigan in the Appledore V, a tall wooden sailing vessel exemplary of those which sailed Lake Michigan from the 1840s through the early 1900s.
• The Mason County Walleye Association received a grant of $6,000 from the Community Foundation for Muskegon County to support the expansion of the Walleye Food Pond, which rears the fingerlings used to restock Hamlin Lake for the purposes of recreational fishing.
• The West Shore Blades Figure Skating Club received a grant of $1,500 from the Stanley Kleinstein Youth Recreation Fund to support the program startup of West Shore Blades, an organization which provides figure skating instruction through the Learn to Skate USA program, a subsidiary of the US Figure Skating Association. The organization prepares skaters for both figuring skating and hockey.

Grant applications are accepted twice each year, once in the spring and again in the fall. Nonprofit organizations interested in seeking grant support from the Community Foundation are encouraged visit https://mason-foundation.org/grants/past-grant-awards/ for additional information about the process.  A complete list of spring 2017 grant awards is available at https://mason-foundation.org/grants/past-grant-awards/.