Article via The Beacon | Charitable giving can be powerful, says Ottawa County Community Foundation (OCCF) Executive Director Shea McGrew. It can also be complicated. The process of deciding how to give money and to whom can be overwhelming. Ottawa County Community Foundation offers the expertise and experience to help locals make those decisions so their investment in the community can have its greatest impact.
On June 19, OCCF hosted a grant awards breakfast at the Catawba Island Club, where it distributed 33 grants totaling more than $90,000 to area organizations to support special projects in the areas of education, health and social services, economic development, natural resources and the arts. Funding for the Community Grants program is made possible by the earnings from several unrestricted Community Funds and Donor Advised Funds held by OCCF, as well as numerous private donations.
The Ottawa County Skilled Trades Academy received a grant to support its mission of empowering local students with the skills and certifications to enter a successful career or to get a step up on continued education. The Skilled Trades Academy also received an additional generous grant from the Kells and Joan Pugh Fund.
The grants were accepted by Ottawa County Improvement Corporation Director of Workforce Innovation, Katherine Adams, and Business Advisory Council (BAC) Board President, Clay Finken. The BAC developed the Skilled Trades Academy.
The highlight of the OCCF event was the presentation of the Joy Roth Little Tiger Award, which was presented to BAC for its outstanding contribution to the community. Joy Roth, founder and long-time President of OCCF, passed away in July 2020, and the OCCF Board, with the support of Joy’s husband, Jeff Roth, sought to establish this special recognition to honor her legacy.
Coffee and Jeff Roth presented the award to Finken and Adams.
“The Joy Roth Little Tiger Award is given to a nonprofit that goes above and beyond in the community,” Coffee said. “Thank you, Business Advisory Council, for all you’ve done in the community.”
Jeff Roth was also grateful to BAC.
“This was very important to Joy,” he said. “She would be very happy.”
Adams and Finken talked about the award after the breakfast, each claiming the praise should go to the other.
“Clay has been an amazing leader,” Adams said. “He’s grown the council, and now we’ll have the new Hospitality and Tourism program next year.”
Finken said he “can’t say enough” about Adams.
“She is the beating heart of what we’re doing and the impact we’re making,” he said. “Joy and her vision and the Ottawa County Community Foundation have helped us succeed.”
