Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club Awarded Grant

Hancock, Michigan – Keweenaw Community Foundation (KCF) announced that $6,000 has been awarded from the Portage Health Foundation (PHF) Community Wellness and Outdoor Recreation Fund to Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club (KNSC) for improvement and expansion of the Maasto Hiihto River Trail.

The purpose of this project is to improve and expand the River Trail for a longer season and better experience, which would in turn promote more year round physical activity. The $6,000 grant made available by KCF will go along with $3,000 in KNSC match to hire an excavating firm to both improve and expand its River Trail. The trail is located on land recently acquired by the City of Hancock to the northeast of Tomasi Road along Swedetown Creek within the Maasto Hiihto cross country ski area. During the summer of 2017, KNSC completed approximately 500 hours of volunteer service to remove trees and brush to open the corridor for the trail expansion. Stumps and rocks will need to be removed and the trail surface smoothed to allow for both early and late season grooming in both the existing River Trail and its new extension. In addition, a few steep grades will need to be moderated to allow the greatest number of skiers to comfortably ski this beautiful extension. The Maasto Hiihto and Churning Rapids Trails are open to cross country skiers, snowshoers and snow bikers, and is dog friendly. The timetable for completion of the trail grading will be by August 31, 2018. Highlighting cross country skiing as a way to improve health through increased physical activity will take place at all events which will be listed on the KNSC webpage (www.keweenawnordic.com) and social media throughout the year.

The mission of KNSC is to promote the sport of cross-county skiing, snowshoeing and snow biking in this region and to support the health and wellness of both youth and adults. KNSC seeks to attract a target population of area residents and visitors by providing quality cross country skiing and smooth trail surfaces are needed to allow for quality, long season, trail grooming.

KCF welcomes partnerships in the Foundation and urges interested parties to share this information with their constituents and all sub-groups within their organization. Tax deductible contributions may be made to the PHF Community Wellness and Outdoor Recreation Fund (or to any of KCF’s 80+ other funds) online at www.keweenawgives.org. All contributions to a permanent endowment of KCF qualify for a Federal Tax Credit.

For more information on giving or grant opportunities, please visit the KCF website (www.keweenawgives.org) or email mail@k-c-f.org. To be placed on KCF’s request for proposals list, please email your contact information to mail@k-c-f.org. You will be notified when grants become available.