Dear Friends of the Bay Harbor Foundation,
The Bay Harbor Foundation has worked for nearly twenty years to address the immediate needs of the Little Traverse Bay Region, and we are fast approaching $3,000,000 in funding provided to nonprofit organizations operating in Emmet and Charlevoix Counties since our founding in 2003. As we work to meet immediate needs, we have also been striving to reduce future needs by inspiring the workers and leaders of tomorrow to reach for the training and education that will ensure their success for many years to come.
Education has long been touted as a way to increase one’s odds of earning a good income, and in 2008 we created the Bay Harbor Foundation Scholar Program to help young men and women achieve their dream of a college education. Since then, we have distributed more than $660,000 in scholarships through this program and have supported 197 undergraduate college students. More than 80% of these students have come from Emmet and Charlevoix Counties and many have returned to the area after college to pursue their careers.
We are proud of the success of our grant awards and scholarship programs, and are now working to further address community needs by creating a vocational scholarship program, which will help young people and adults working in Bay Harbor who wish to “reskill” or “upskill” so that they can obtain better jobs in critical fields. The importance of these trades programs cannot be overstated, and they present a wonderful opportunity to those who long for a well-paying job, but lack the time or resources to pursue a four-year degree.
Our work can’t succeed without the generous support of donors like you. Over the last two years we have been working hard to find additional ways to keep our overhead low so that you can be certain that your gift will have the greatest possible impact on the needs of the Little Traverse Bay Region.
Please help us continue our work and expand our mission now and in the future.