| Organization information | |
|---|---|
| Organization Name | Cow Hill Yacht Club |
| Please tell us the amount of funding you are requesting Aware to raise for your organization from the Aware annual fundraising event. | $5,000 |
| 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? | We have received funding in the past. These funds were used to provide assistance with electric bills for people in need in our community. These funds provided help for 8 families. If funds are granted this year, it will provide help for potentially 10-12 families. |
| Please provide a listing of the Officers and Board members of your organization. | Commodore - Mike Applegate |
| Your Contact Information | Jude Mikesell Gemmen |
| Phone | 616-813-2411 |
| Email hidden; Javascript is required. | |
| Scoring Criteria | |
| 1. Description of the Organization (maximum 5 points, please limit to ½ pages) | Cow Hill Yacht Club is a registered 501c serving vetted recipients in our targeted area of Allegan County, but more specifically in Saugatuck and Douglas and surrounding area. Our recipients find themselves in an immediate, financial need that can't be addressed quickly or at all by other government services, agencies or other charities. The recipients have often suffered an illness, loss of a job, a death in the family, an unexpected expense or a life event that has left them with limited resources. We fill approximately 3-5 requests a month. We raise funds through events like The Annual Chili Cook-Off, The Annual Bowling Event, The Star of Saugatuck Cruise and an annual golf outing. We also accept donations. Our assistance covers a multitude of situations such as rent payment, utility bills, food and gas cards, funeral expenses, car and some home repairs. In addition, Cow Hill does an Annual Back to School Project that provides book bags, clothes and school supplies to 60+ children. Our Christmas Giving Project provided 20 families this year with presents and gift cards. Additionally, we donate $1,000 to the Interurban to provide bus passes for those who cannot afford to pay. We also donate a $1,000 to Special Olympics and to Wishbone. |
| 2. Funding Request (maximum 35 points, total, please limit to 1 page) | We ae requesting $5,000. from West Shore AWARE to help with our "Leave the Light On" project. Every year, many of our recipients experience difficulty paying their electric bills, especially in the winter months. Many of them have tried to set up a payment plan with Consumer's Power but if they miss a payment by even a day, they are scheduled for shut off and are required to pay the total amount. This past year, some of these payments were for $500 or $600 dollars because they represented several months of minimum payments. We have contacted Consumers Power about this and about availability of discretionary funds, but to no avail. We have contacted The Department of Health and Human Resources, other agencies and other charities and have found that funds had already been expended or were not available. We have spent almost $10,000 in the last year for electric and propane to help these families/individuals maintain this basic necessity in life. |
| 3. Funding Justification (maximum 40 points, please limit to 1 page) | The requested funds from West Shore AWARE would help us fill many of these requests. Each year the requests for this type of assistance is constant and funds from other providers have become more and more limited. Cow Hill is a small charitable organization, with limited funds. We try to keep our assistance to $1,000, or less, but with rising electric and heating costs it has become more difficult to stretch our resources to be able to assist others with basic needs like food, clothing and shelter. We would use the W.S,A, funds to provide for a definite need in this community. We believe that no one through no fault of their own should go without electric or heat especially in the winter months. Many of these requests involve children and the elderly. Cow Hill's mission is to provide for people in need in this community. We provide people "with a hand up not a handout" We would use these funds to do just that. We do not receive any government funding or grants. We receive about 25% of our funds from personal donations and the rest from our fundraising events. |
| 4. Summary | Cow Hill Yacht Club is a 503c charitable organization serving vetted recipients in our targeted area of Allegan County, but more specifically, locally in Saugatuck/Douglas and the surrounding area. Our assistance covers a multitude of needs, which include rent payments, utilities, food and gas cards, car/home repairs, funeral expenses and other necessities. We ae requesting $5,000 for our " Leave the Light On" project to provide needed assistance for vetted families and individuals who require help with their electric and heating bills. If granted this request, we would be able to give assistance to many families/individuals in our community who because of illness, accidents, loss of a job or other circumstances are unable to pay these bills. CHYC is nondiscriminatory organization. We are a completely volunteer organization. We help anyone who fits our footprint and is in need. Our membership is open and has about 250 members. We would greatly appreciate the approval of our request and would be honored to have our efforts be supported by West Shore AWARE. We continue to be "The Little Club with the Big Heart" Thank you for your consideration. |
| 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 | 03/31/2025 |
| Ready to Submit |
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