Impact100 Traverse City announces 2024 grant finalists

TRAVERSE CITY — The women of Impact100 Traverse City recently named the local nonprofit finalists that will compete for three $116,000 grants in September.

The finalists were selected after an application and review process by the Impact100 TC Focus Committees which include arts & culture, education, environment, preservation & recreation, family, and health & wellness.

The selected recipients include the Bay Community Theatre, the Northwestern Michigan College Foundation, the Thompsonville Area Revitalization Project and the Friendship Community Center.

The three nonprofits receiving the most member votes at the Impact100 TC annual meeting on September 25 will equally share the $348,000 raised this year.

“It is a true accomplishment to be named as an Impact100 Traverse City Finalist!” Impact100 TC President Lindsay Raymond said. “These organizations are chosen after a detailed assessment of their initiatives’ transformational impact, sustainability, and financial viability. They are selected from a field of quality applicants, and this honor tells our community that they are doing great things and are worthy of funding. We are so proud of them.”

Impact100 TC generally strives to select five finalists annually, one for each focus area.

This year, its review process yielded four exceptional finalists, demonstrating a commitment to funding organizations that meet its eligibility criteria and requirements for impact, capacity and sustainability, ensuring that its members’ investment will make a lasting difference.

ABOUT THE WINNERS:

• ARTS & CULTURE
• • Organization: Bay Community Theatre
  • Initiative: Enhancing theatre experience with new projection technology
  • About: Ever since its founding 5 1⁄2 years ago, the Bay Community Theatre has been on a journey of transformation. The 75-year-old Bay Theatre was set to close in late 2018 when the community rallied to “keep the lights on!” and created the non-profit Bay Community Theatre. Since its founding, “The Bay” has been open 364 days a year, served as many as 17,000 visitors each year, and held countless special movie and live events for students, seniors, families, various local non-profits, the Native American community, and many more. Our mission is to bring people together to enhance the appreciation and access to cinema and performing arts and to protect the historic Bay Theatre building. With funding from Impact100, the Bay Community Theatre will replace its obsolete and unreliable film projector with new projection technology. This investment will be critical to furthering our mission to serve thousands of patrons from Leelanau, Benzie, and Grand Traverse counties for years to come. This new technology will also allow us the flexibility to redesign the theatre’s “front of the house” as well as address important issues identified in recent research.

• EDUCATION
• • Organization: Northwestern Michigan College Foundation
  • Initiative: Bringing 3D printing homes to NMC and the community
  • About: Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) is seeking funding to purchase a 3D printing arm. This 3D printer will revolutionize the construction industry in our region by leveraging cutting-edge technologies to construct homes more efficiently, with smaller teams, and at an accelerated pace. NMC’s ultimate goal is to tackle the current labor shortages and affordable housing crisis and create a brighter future where technology is fully harnessed. NMC is committed to helping students acquire specialized technical skills that will set them apart in the job market, with innovative problem-solving techniques, as well as leadership and entrepreneurship skills to equip them for success. NMC will implement a revised curriculum focused on innovation with emerging technology utilizing the first 3D home printer in Northern Michigan. At NMC, they aim to meet this need by introducing students to the latest advancements in construction technology and pushing the boundaries of innovation.

• ENVIRONMENT, RECREATION & PRESERVATION
• • Organization: Thompsonville Area Revitalization Project
  • Initiative: Thompsonville Junction Trailhead Project
  • About: The mission of TARP is to undertake projects that will enhance the quality of life for all people in the greater Thompsonville area. TARP’s keystone project is the creation of a bicycle trailhead and an ADA-compliant visitor’s pavilion and campground at the historic Thompsonville Junction. TARP’s vision is that this project would initiate a transformational change in the Thompsonville area community. With the successful completion of the trailhead project, Thompsonville would become an important node on the recreational trail map that is evolving in Michigan and attract runners, wheelers, walkers, bicyclists, and bicycle campers. The pavilion could be utilized as an outdoor education setting for students in the local preschool and learning center and the Benzie Central school system, as well as a venue for programs of other non-profits, and public outdoor meetings and functions. By commemorating Thompsonville’s past, this project would establish a path for the community’s future.

• FAMILY
• • Organization: Friendship Community Center
  • Initiative: Leelanau Investing For Teens (LIFT)
  • About: Leelanau Investing For Teens (LIFT) is the only no-cost, out-of-school program for 6th through 12th graders in Leelanau County. Over 400 middle and high schoolers join LIFT programming 230 days a year to connect with community mentors and participate in activities that support their development and mental health. Housed within three school districts, teens spend over 2,725 hours in LIFT’s dedicated classrooms annually. LIFT’s well-loved out-of-school time spaces are the image of thrift and creativity. Tabletops rest on milk crates, couch covers hide stains, and malfunctioning spring-loaded recliners can send an unsuspecting teen flying. Inspired by research on the impact of the physical environment on mental health, LIFT is updating its classrooms for the first time as a necessary investment in the well-being of local teens. LIFT will simultaneously purchase a 12-passenger vehicle to increase accessibility to its programs by providing participating teens with transportation to and from its out-of-school time activities.

Impact100 TC is an all-women, all-volunteer 501(c)3 nonprofit serving Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Leelanau counties that has granted over 2.1 million since its inception in 2017. After the Annual Meeting this year, that total will reach over 2.4 million.

Each member provides an annual $1,000 donation that is collectively granted in $100,000 increments to support regional nonprofits with transformational funding. Impact100 has over 60 chapters across the United States and beyond that have awarded more than $123 million to nonprofits in their communities since 2002.

Impact100 TC invites new and returning members to support the nonprofit community by committing to 2025 membership by year-end.

To join Impact100 TC or for more information email info@impactTC.org , call 231-499-5672 or click here .