CFNEM BlogSpot

We at the Community Foundation don’t know much about Dee Brown Perry.  What we do know is that she cared about education and felt it was important, and that she had an affectionate connection to Alcona Community Schools.  Until the summer of 2006 we didn’t know who Mrs. Perry was, but she knew us.  And she knew that the Community Foundation was a safe and smart way to support education in Alcona, forever. 

When Mrs. Perry passed away, she left the bulk of her estate (an incredibly generous $1.3 million) to establish a CFNEM endowment fund for scholarships to Alcona High School graduates.  Just this week our Executive Director presented 21 Alcona students with a combined $43,700 in scholarships.  Mrs. Perry had a cause she cared about, and she made sure it was addressed.

Without doubt, the Dee Brown Perry Scholarship Fund was established with one of the largest gifts CFNEM has ever received, but most of our 370 funds began with much more modest gifts.

We also have a donor who cares very much about Alpena Regional Medical Center, and chose to establish a fund specifically to purchase new equipment for the hospital.  A cared-about cause was successfully matched with a way to support it, and since then the fund has helped ARMC purchase hyperbaric chambers with a $162,000 grant.

If there is an interest, cause or a specific nonprofit that is truly special to you, we encourage you to support it.  Browse through a list of our funds – maybe someone else cared enough about the same thing and has already created a fund for that purpose.  You could add to it.  The option to establish your own fund exists, too.  We’re here to help you make you charitable giving as effective as possible.  Let us assist you in figuring out how to support what you care about most.