Looking for YAC Day? You're in the right place! The Community Foundation held its first-ever YAC Day on May 7, 2024. To everyone who donated to support our Youth Advisory Councils, we thank you. You helped us raise more than $39,000 for our YACs! Your donation makes a difference today, tomorrrow, and for generations to come. Read below about how the day went.
If you missed YAC Day but still want to support your local Youth Advisory Council, it's never too late. You can make a lasting donation to the fund that supports your YACs grantmaking any time of the year by using the links below to give online, or by mailing a check to CFNEM, P.O. Box 495, Alpena, MI, and include the fund below to which you would like to donate.
Kellogg Youth Fund (supports grantmaking for our Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, and Presque Isle County YACs)
Iosco County Kellogg Youth Fund (supports the Iosco County YAC of the Iosco County Community Foundation)
North Central Michigan Community Foundation YAC Funds:
Crawford County Kellogg Youth Fund
Ogemaw County Kellogg Youth Fund
Oscoda County Kellogg Youth Fund
Straits Area Kellogg Youth Fund (supports the Straits Area YAC of the Straits Area Community Foundation)
First YAC Day Raises Over $39,000 for Youth Advisory Councils
The Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan (CFNEM) and its Affiliate Foundations hosted its first-ever YAC Day on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, raising $39,031 for its Youth Advisory Councils (YACs).
YAC Day was a special day to raise awareness and grantmaking funds for the Community Foundation’s Youth Advisory Council (YAC) program. The 24-hour giving event continued to spur donations in the week following YAC Day, helping the Community Foundation to raise more than $14,000 from donors supporting their local YACs across northeast Michigan. In addition, CFNEM provided matching funds of $4,000 to each of the six Youth Advisory Councils in its service area.
Youth Advisory Councils are groups of youth ages 12-21 who are engaged in philanthropy through grantmaking, leadership opportunities, and community service. Through this program, young people throughout northeast Michigan are learning about the important role philanthropy plays in a community.
“Our YAC program has quite a reach across our region. We are honored that more than 100 individuals took time out of their day on YAC Day to support the youth of our communities.” says CFNEM Executive Director, Patrick Heraghty. “The impact of those donations will be significant for our current YAC members, and for future generations.”
Half of each donation is being permanently endowed to increase future grantmaking, forever. The other half will be used for grantmaking in the YACs next round of grants, which will be awarded in early 2025.
Heraghty added that the YAC program works to grow the next generation of givers by connecting them to their communities through philanthropy, leadership, community service, and through the grantmaking process.
YAC grants are awarded from the Kellogg Youth Endowment Funds held at CFNEM and its Affiliate Foundations. Since the local YAC programs started in 1995, YACs across northeast Michigan have awarded a combined $2.5 million to nonprofits for youth-related projects.
As a fun addition to YAC Day, “Mac the Golden Yak” was awarded to the Northeast Michigan Youth Advisory Council (NEMYAC), which includes Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, and Presque Isle Counties. Mac will spend time at each school in the NEMYAC area.