News & Stories

Northern Michigan’s clean water is no accident. Discover how the Benzie Conservation District and its partners are planning, monitoring, and educating to protect our region’s waters for generations to come.

We're celebrating our 2025 Youth Advisory Council graduating seniors. We're grateful for their service to our community!

A decade-long vision became reality in Kalkaska, where community collaboration and grant support helped reroute the North Country Trail and build a new trailhead—bringing nature closer to downtown.

With more than $900,000 awarded through the Larson Endowment, we're fueling student success and community impact across our region—supporting education, health, the environment, and more.

In a time of political gridlock, leaders from Northwest Michigan showed what’s possible when communities unite behind shared goals—bringing a strong, bipartisan message to Lansing in support of housing, rural development, and more.

What happens when youth leaders, donors, and nonprofits unite around a shared goal? Healing. Through equine-assisted learning and nature-based therapy, rural youth are gaining tools to navigate life’s challenges—thanks to a powerful partnership rooted in compassion, collaboration, and community care.

Thanks to community collaboration and a shared vision for inclusion, Dream Team Northern Michigan transformed aging baseball dugouts into accessible, welcoming spaces—proving that when a community comes together, everyone gets to play.

Beyond grantmaking, we're putting out assets to work through impact investing—partnering with local financial institutions to strengthen our region’s housing, small businesses, and economy with a $2 million commitment that’s already helping turn big ideas into community change.

From Little Queer Libraries to year-round community events, local LGBTQ+ organizations are creating spaces of safety, joy, and connection thanks to grassroots leadership and community support, including through our diversity, equity, inclusion grants.

From food access and historical preservation to arts programming and environmental protection, over $685,000 in grants from our designated endowments are providing sustainable support for impactful work across the region.