Keweenaw Report Your Source for Local News and Sports
Houghton, Michigan—The Houghton Skatepark Project has been awarded a $3,000 grant from the Funding Youth Initiatives (FYI) donor-advised endowment at the Keweenaw Community Foundation (KCF). The award was presented to Alex Aho of the Houghton Skatepark project by Bernadette Yeoman-Ouellette of FYI and Jim Vivian, the Executive Director of KCF, at the East Houghton Waterfront Park. The City of Houghton has committed to donate a parcel of the park for the skatepark.
Donor-advised funds are established at the bequest of a donor wishing to provide flexible capital for charitable activities while retaining the ability to make annual grant recommendations to specific projects or interest areas. The FYI endowment is committed to increasing opportunities for youth in the community.
“There is a pressing need in our community to increase opportunities for youth to engage in fun and constructive activities,” said Yeoman-Ouellette. “That is what Funding Youth Initiatives is all about; that is why we exist.”
A group of local community leaders formed in mid-late 2015 with the common goal of helping construct a public concrete skatepark in Houghton. The group is formed of volunteers working in coordination with the city, local businesses, and organizations in the interest of providing a professionally-built, free-to-use, and universally appreciated asset to the community for decades to come. The group’s plan is to build a phase-centric park, with the first phase covering approximately 3200 square feet and costing $125,000. Second–and potentially third–phase additions will be smaller and cost less.
Individuals looking to make donations to the Houghton Skatepark or Funding Youth Initiatives endowments can do so online at www.keweenawgives.org. All contributions to a permanent endowment of KCF qualify for a Federal Tax Credit.
For more information on the Houghton, MI Skatepark project, please contact houghtonmiskatepark@gmail.com or visit its website at www.houghtonmiskatepark.org.
