| Organization information | |
|---|---|
| Organization Name | Friends of the Blue Star Trail |
| Please tell us the amount of funding you are requesting Aware to raise for your organization from the Aware annual fundraising event. | $7500 |
| If your organization received Aware funding in the previous years, how many clients were serviced and/or how many services were provided with those funds. If you receive Aware funding this current year, how many clients will be serviced and/or how many services will be provided with these funds? | Have not previously requested funding |
| Please provide a listing of the Officers and Board members of your organization. | Clark Carmichael, President |
| Your Contact Information | Kevin Martin |
| Phone | 415-730-2566 |
| Email hidden; Javascript is required. | |
| Scoring Criteria | |
| 1. Description of the Organization (maximum 5 points, please limit to ½ pages) | The Friends of the Blue Star Trail (“Friends”) is a Michigan 501(c)(3), non-profit corporation formed over 10 years ago, based in Saugatuck-Douglas. The mission of the organization is to facilitate the construction of a 20-mile shared use trail from Saugatuck to South Haven (the “Trail”), which will connect to existing trails north into Holland and south to the Kal-Haven Trail. The Trail has been recognized as a priority project by MDOT. The Trail will be owned by the municipalities through which it runs, which are also the applicants for crucial grant funding. The Trail is a community undertaking. As our many supporters and municipal officials have recognized, and as various government studies have shown, trails such as this have many positive health, safety, and economic effects on local citizens, students and athletes, tourists and businesses. Recent local surveys and master plans have identified more and improved trails as one of the top priorities for parks and recreation funding. |
| 2. Funding Request (maximum 35 points, total, please limit to 1 page) | Friends seeks $5000-7500 in funding from Aware to subsidize the retention of a part-time administrative assistant, its first paid staff. Since its inception in 2010, Friends has been a 100% volunteer organization of local citizens. All board positions, promotion, database and financial management, fundraising, and major events (with hundreds of participants) have been run by volunteers. As you can imagine, the tasks can be daunting, particularly now that the project has advanced to the point that we are managing several sections of trail at different stages in Saugatuck City, Saugatuck Twp., Douglas and South Haven. We expect this new administrator to have a significant impact. The person will help coordinate many tasks, thereby freeing board members to spend more time exploring much-needed funding sources and keeping local citizens and stakeholders informed and supportive of the Trail. We are pleased to say that a major Friends supporter has agreed to match the amount of any Aware funding, up to $7500, thereby DOUBLING the impact of your award. |
| 3. Funding Justification (maximum 40 points, please limit to 1 page) | Funding from AWARE would partially fund our part-time administrative coordinator, whose compensation is expected to be in the range of $25-35,000 annually. The balance of the new coordinator’s compensation will be paid from our general operating budget. 100% of our funding comes from our annual TOAST fundraiser, our Lakeshore Harvest Ride (500+ riders exploring local shops, wineries and galleries), and private donors. (The grants to actually build the Trail are paid to the municipalities, not the Friends.) We currently have in hand the funds to pay this balance, so do not anticipate the need to return funds to Aware. 95% of the funds raised by Friends have gone directly to paying engineering fees and contributing the major share of the local match required for construction grants. The requested contribution from Aware would allow us to keep this percentage above 90%. Organizations that have financially supported Friends include: Saugatuck-Douglas Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), Lakeshore Women Who Care, Saugatuck Douglas Area Business Association (SDABA), and the Rotary Club. |
| 4. Summary | Friends of the Blue Star Trail is presenting Aware members with a unique opportunity to DOUBLE THE IMPACT of your gift. One of our supporters has offered to match the amount of a gift from Aware, up to $7500. Friends seeks this funding to subsidize the contracting of an administrative coordinator, our first paid staff person, to help us deal with an expanding workload. The Blue Star Trail is a planned 20-mile shared use path that will connect the Beeline Trail to Holland with existing segments of trail in Saugatuck-Douglas down to the Kal-Haven Trail in South Haven. Most of the construction funds come from federal and state grants but significant matching funds and engineering expenses are also required. The Trail will benefit Aware members, students and athletes, other residents, and visitors with professionally designed space for walking, running, cycling and rollerblading. Work on the Saugatuck City and Township section of the Trail, as well as a shorter section in South Haven, are expected to be completed by the summer of 2025. Meanwhile the engineering and grant applications for the next section, from Wiley Rd. south to M-89, are well underway. The new coordinator is expected to take over many of the tasks related to our fundraising events and future capital campaign, thereby freeing our volunteer Board members to spend more time working with the engineers and municipalities as well as major donors. Thank you for considering our request. |
| Application Agreement | This is an application, otherwise known as a Request for Funding (RFF), from
West Shore Aware. This RFF is a request from your organization to Aware, for Aware to host a
Fundraising Event for your organization. By completing this RFF, your organization is requesting to be considered by Aware’s membership for an Aware fundraising event to be held during the summer of this year, also known as the White Party.
If your organization is chosen for a fundraising event by the Aware membership, your organization will agree to the following terms and conditions for the said fundraising event. 1. Aware will be given and provided full credit for the fundraising event in all of you organization’s publicity and advertising for said event, to include but not limited to event posters, newspaper advertising, handouts, radio and television advertising for the event, and organizational announcements concerning the event. 2. Your organization will only use the funds raised by Aware from said event for the purpose described in the RFF submitted to Aware. 3. Your organization understands that West Shore Aware is a philanthropic organization of LBGTQ+ individuals and their supporters, and that the funds your organization receives from Aware will be coming from the West Michigan lakeshore community. 4. The funds received from Aware as a result of the fundraising event will be net, after expenses for said fundraising event are paid. 5. Aware may use the name of your organization in its own advertising and publicity as a recipient of funds.. 6. Your organization will supply Aware with written approval to hold, or be part of a fundraising event held by Aware. 7. West Shore Aware reserves the right to audit any organization that receives funding to determine whether the funds were used as described in its RFF. 8. Your organization will allow West Shore Aware to use you organization’s name on the West Shore Aware website. In addition, if your organization has a website, you will link that website to the West Shore Aware website and allow West Shore Aware to link to your organization’s site. West Shore Aware’s web site link must remain on your web site for a full year from the date of the monetary disbursement. Failure to do so will disqualify you from requesting future funding. Once you have completed the RFF and agreed to the aforementioned, please submit it. Please sign this document below, indicating acceptance of the aforementioned terms and conditions. By signing the document, you acknowledge your organization is a registered 501(C) 3 Charitable organization. |
| Signature | |
| Date | 04/22/2024 |
| Ready to Submit |
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