11/10/2025

The Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan (CFNEM) and its Affiliate Foundations are joining hundreds of community foundations across the country in celebrating National Community Foundation Week, November 12–18, a time to recognize and raise awareness of the critical role community foundations play in strengthening local communities.

Since its founding year in 1974, CFNEM has worked to inspire and facilitate charitable giving that creates lasting, positive change across northeast Michigan. Through the generosity of local donors, the Foundation now manages more than 540 charitable funds and has awarded over $63 million in grants and scholarships to support human services, education, health, environment, the arts, community improvement, and more.

CFNEM is also working alongside other community foundations bordering Lake Huron through the Lake Huron Forever initiative to improve and ensure the health of our lake, which affects so much of our daily lives. In the youth community, the Foundation’s Youth Advisory Councils, or YACs, have led grantmaking for programs affecting their peers, all while learning the important role philanthropy plays in a community’s overall success. On October 24^th, more than 120 YAC members from across the region attended a regional youth philanthropy conference in Alpena to collaborate and learn with other councils.

“National Community Foundation Week is an opportunity to celebrate what makes our communities strong — people coming together to invest in a better future,” said CFNEM Executive Director Patrick Heraghty. “Every grant we make and every fund we manage represents someone’s vision for a stronger, more vibrant northeast Michigan.”

Community foundations are independent, public entities that connect donors’ passions with community needs. Across the United States, more than 900 community foundations help build and steward local philanthropic resources to improve lives and address the most pressing local issues. CFNEM and its three affiliate foundations serve Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Iosco, Crawford, Ogemaw, and Oscoda Counties.

Throughout the week, CFNEM will share stories on social media and highlight local grant recipients to showcase the impact the Foundation has on the communities it serves.

“Community foundations are built by and for the community, and we are honored that in 2025, that generosity allowed CFNEM to award a record for impactful grants and scholarships,” added Heraghty. “National Community Foundation Week reminds us that lasting change starts right here at home.”

For more information about CFNEM and how you can make a difference in your community, visit cfnem.org.

About the Community Foundation

CFNEM is a charitable organization committed to providing people who care about the future of our area with unique and effective ways of supporting their community now, and for generations to come. Led by a volunteer board of local citizens, the foundation oversees a group of permanently endowed funds from a wide range of donors. Gifts of all sizes from individuals, families, businesses, and agencies are invested in a balanced, well-managed portfolio to build endowments, enabling support for students and local community nonprofits now and forever.

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