Lowell Area Community Fund

Mission, Purpose, Area Served, and Areas Funded

The Lowell Area Community Fund gives grants to organizations that assist in fulfilling its mission to assure community cooperation and participation that supports a healthy, dynamic community. The fund places an emphasis on broad educational initiatives, but also supports initiatives in the areas of arts & culture, community development, environment, health, human service, and recreation in the Lowell area. The Lowell area is currently defined as the City of Lowell, the Township of Lowell, and the Township of Vergennes.

Grant Instructions, Deadlines and Application Information

The Lowell Area Community Fund gives grants to organizations that assist in fulfilling its mission: to assure community cooperation and participation that supports a healthy, dynamic community. The fund places an emphasis on broad educational initiatives, but also supports initiatives in the areas of: Arts & Culture, Community Development, Environment, Health, Human Services, and Recreation.

Examples are projects that:

• Encourage and promote community involvement
• Represent an innovative, start-up effort
• Obtain the necessary additional funding to implement and maintain the project
• Yield substantial community benefit
• Have non-profit, 501(c)(3) status
• Serve a broad segment of the community
• Promote cooperation among agencies
• Address needs of the Lowell area
• Address quality of life issues
• Promote civic and community pride
• Strengthen or improve agency self-sufficiency or efficiency

While the Lowell Area Community Fund encourages creative and innovative projects, it generally does not support:

• Political projects, or those that are primarily cause-related
• Individuals
• Religious organizations for religious purposes
• Profit-making activities

Grant applications are accepted three times a year on the third Friday of April, August, and December.

For more information, please contact Kate Luckert Schmid, Program Director, at 616.454.1751, extension 117 or email her at kluckert@grfoundation.org.

Recent Grants Approved

February 2012

• YMCA recieved $13,020.00 to educate and empower Lowell Area Seniors (ages 55+) in health and wellness practices, enabling them to create lifestyle changes and increase quality of life.
• Lowell Area Schools Education Foundation recieved $20,000.00 to fund innovative projects that support and enhance education in the Lowell Area Schools.
• Lowell Area Schools recieved $54,000.00 to help families prepare their preschool children to enter school healthy and ready to learn.
• Lowell Area Historical Museum recieved $7,200.00 to hire a temporary data entry person to enter artifact/donor information into the Museum's Permanent Collection Database.
• Lowell Area Arts Council recieved $23,000.00 to support the financial cost for LowellArts! to provide its programs, events and services to the greater Lowell community and West Michigan for calendar year 2012.
• Greater Lowell Chamber Foundation recieved $15,412.00 to provide one year of funding to publish monthly ad, Greater Lowell Community Calendar, Kaleidoscope and new on-line community calendar.
• Greater Lowell Chamber Foundation recieved $13,500.00 to provide financial support for the 2012 Lowell Showboat Sizzlin' Summer Concerts.
• City of Lowell recieved $12,500.00 to enhance the ability of City Hall to store and maintain public records, make them available to the public electronically, and provide enhanced electronic communications to the greater Lowell community.
• City of Lowell recieved $15,000.00 to assist the Arbor Board with implementation of its annual tree plan.

November 2011

• Lowell Area Arts Council recieved $2,250.00 to the Thebes Players who will produce and perform the youth theatre production of Magician's Nephew for youth grades 2-5 at Lowell Area Schools and provide 3 evening performances for the general public.