6/12/2025

The Iosco County Community Foundation (ICCF) recently awarded nine new grants totaling $20,500 to area nonprofits for programs and projects benefiting Iosco County through its Community Improvement Grant program.

New grants approved on May 28 by the ICCF Board of Directors include:

• $5,000 to Northern Michigan Children’s Assessment Center for specialized training of staff in trauma-informed care, forensic interviewing, and multidisciplinary collaboration of children impacted by abuse and neglect.
• $4,000 to Iosco Exploration Trail for the purchase of maintenance equipment for the Iosco Exploration Bike/Hiking trail.
• $3,000 to Whittemore-Prescott Area Schools to build a Hoop House on the grounds of the Whittemore-Prescott Elementary School supporting hands-on agricultural education at the school.
• $2,000 to Heritage Coast Sailing & Rowing to help pay for materials to build a boat by at-risk kids for their Boats Building People project.
• $2,000 to Huron Pines for their Community Engagement for Tawas Lake Conservation project which includes a Tawas Lake Day event, peer-to-peer virtual learning programs, and support for the facilitation of the Lake Huron Forever Pledge.
• $2,000 to Palomino Hope Equine Experience for their Horse Powered Reading project which uses horse interaction to support key literacy skills like phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, and comprehension in an engaging, hands-on environment.
• $1,000 to Huron Hockey & Skating Association to provide free skating opportunities for the community, and supplies for a back-to-school celebration.
• $1,000 to Tawas Wellness Warriors to purchase supplies used to promote resource sustainability and community well-being by inspiring and educating youth through recycling, reusable initiatives, and hands-on gardening projects that support a local, nutrient-dense diet in their “Environmental Wellness at the Collective” project.
• $500 to Develop Iosco Inc. to pay for a muralist and to purchase supplies used by the muralist and community members in the renovation of a crumbling mural in Oscoda Beach Park for their “Building Community Through Art” project.

Community Improvement Grants for 2025 were awarded from the Iosco County Community Improvement Fund, William and Marcia Hopcroft Fund, Iosco County Health Care Initiative Fund, Iosco County Spendable Tobacco Settlement Fund, Iosco County Lakes and Rivers Fund, Iosco County Arts and Humanities Fund, and Iosco County Health Care Fund.

The next deadline for grant opportunities through ICCF is with the Youth Advisory Council grant. Applications will be available at iccf-online.org in December 2025 and are due February 1, 2026.

The Iosco County Community Foundation is a charitable organization that serves as a catalyst and resource to inspire private giving for the betterment of Iosco County. Led by a volunteer board of local citizens, the foundation oversees a group of permanent endowment funds from a wide range of donors. Gifts of all sizes from individuals, families and businesses are invested in a balanced, well-managed portfolio to build endowments, enabling support for local community nonprofits now and forever. To donate or learn more about how community foundations work, visit www.iccf-online.org.