June

2023

FROM THE DIRECTOR

During May I had the great privilege to be part of some impactful events; I am so grateful. Each year ACCF staff visits up to ten area school districts during their senior awards nights to hand out scholarships. This year I attended Plainwell and Otsego. There are two things that struck me – the incredible generosity of our community and the love (and pain) of lives lost too early. At these scholarship nights, there are many families handing out scholarships to honor their loved ones that were taken too soon. In Otsego, I sat next to a family giving out the “Becca Galloway "Heart of Gold" Scholarship”. Becca’s Dad shared her story with me. It was full of love and incredibly gut-wrenching at the same time. Her family, like so many, has come together to ensure that her legacy lives on. If you or your child received one of these scholarships – please take a moment to understand the love and loss that created the opportunity.  

The other event I love each May is driving the float in the Plainwell Memorial Day parade filled with Veterans; this is my third year. The overwhelming gratitude and respect that parade watchers show is profound – hats off, standing, clapping, saluting, and saying thank you to these veterans. All gave some, some gave all.  



The common themes through both experiences is love, sacrifice and acceptance. When we look around us – there are so many good people – doing so much good. As we celebrate Pride Month, let’s practice more love, acceptance, gratitude and less intolerance, hate.  

Stephanie Calhoun

Executive Director

Each year, June 1-7 is National CPR and AED Awareness Week.

We were proud to support Hopkins Fire Department through a 2023 Legacy Grant. This grant will allow for a CPR Training Mannequin for Hopkins Area Fire Department. The addition of this now locally owned mannequin improves the ability for the Fire Department to train not only their personnel, but other local organizations as well, increasing public safety.  

HUMANS OF ACCF

This month we have not 1 but 4 special Humans of ACCF, TAG team members who recently graduated! We are grateful to have had each of them on the TAG Team and look forward to seeing all of the great things they will accomplish. Read more to learn more about their experience with TAG and their future plans! Congratulations!

Elyse

While I was in TAG I gained a new perspective on our county as a whole and our individual communities, while also building and strengthening social skills.

Marissa

TAG has been a big part of life in helping me grow my leadership skills as well as grow my understanding of what people need help with.

Ryn

I learned to work as a team, and how much impact I can have in the community.

Drew

ACCF’s TAG program gave me experience working with others, evaluating the impacts of money, and immersed me in a community of other change making kids.

The future of the TAG Team is looking bright (and cute!). But until these cuties can join the TAG team we are looking for students from Wayland and Hopkins to represent their communities!

The TAG team (Teens Aiding Growth) is the youth component of ACCF. Main activities of the group include:

• Community Service (visiting and serving community non-profit organizations)
• Recommending annual TAG Grant awards for Board approval (around $55,000 per year)
• Leadership development and team building opportunities (through Council of Michigan Foundations and others)
• Adopt-A-Family at Christmas time from Sylvia’s Place (purchase and wrap gifts for the whole family)
• Review and award TAG Scholarship(s) annually (1-3 students, and amounts vary each year)

If you are, or know of a student interested, fill out this membership request form by August 20th!

Pride month began on June 1st and is celebrated for the entirety of the month. Pride month commemorates the ongoing pursuit of equal justice for the LGBTQ community. The ACCF holds two funds that support the LGBTQ community.

Pride Celebration Garden Endowment Fund

The Pride Celebration Garden is a gift from Carl Jennings and Lawrence W. Gammons. The Garden is dedicated to Carl Jennings, Lawrence Gammons, and the Douglas Dunes Resort, which they created in 1981. The garden is a place to for people to gather, remember, and enjoy.

You can support the Pride Garden and the LQTBQ community by purchasing a memorial plaque in honor of a LGBTQ loved one. Memorialize their presence and contributions to the Saugatuck-Douglas communities while providing for the long-term upkeep of the Garden.

The Pride Celebration Garden is a gift to the community. You can also give to the Pride Celebration Garden Endowment Fund to maintain the Garden in perpetuity.

West Shore AWARE is a philanthropic organization of gay men and women and their allies living in Saugatuck/Douglas and the greater West Lakeshore community. The organization is dedicated to increasing the positive influence and public awareness of the contribution that gay men and women make to the community in which they belong.

West Shore AWARE embraces all those within the community, who are friends to and support the gay and lesbian men and women of the area. The group annually awards Saugatuck high school seniors with West Shore Aware scholarships. 

The ACCF is proud to announce the start of a new scholarship, the Allegan Pride in Freedom Scholarship.

This scholarship opportunity is available to members of the LGBTQ community and allies that are Allegan County residents for any post-secondary education endeavor. The application deadline is June 20th, 2023.

Thank you to our donors, pantry partners and community partners who made the 2023 cereal drive possible. Our pantries are busy reporting totals. We look forward to sharing results in the upcoming weeks. Cereal-ously, thank you!