
Grants
SACF is committed to serving the charitable needs of our community and enriching the quality of life for all people in the Sturgis area through creative partnerships & engaged grantmaking. We support a broad range of programs and projects including arts and culture, community and economic development, education, health, human services, housing, seniors, and youth.
Grant Applications
The following are available through the Sturgis Area Community Foundation. If you have questions about grants, please contact us at sacf@sturgisfoundation.org or 269.659.8508.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for support, organizations and institutions must have tax-exempt status under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code or be public schools, municipalities, or other governmental entities in the Sturgis area that serve a charitable purpose as defined by IRC §170(b)(1)(A).

CONSTANTINE YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL FUND
Supports youth-related programs and projects in the Constantine area.
One competitive grant cycle per year by application only.
March 1

CONSTANTINE COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM
Supports charitable and educational programs and projects in the Constantine area.
Two competitive grant cycles per year (spring and fall) by application only.
March 1

STURGIS YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL FUND
Supports youth-related programs and projects in the Sturgis ares.
Two competitive grant cycles per year (spring and fall) by application only.
The last Friday
in March

WILLIAM & HELEN DOYLE EXCHANGE CLUB FUND COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD GRANT
Supports charitable and educational programs in the Sturgis area.
One competitive grant cycle per year by application only.
The last Friday
in May

CONSTANTINE COMPETITIVE GRANT
Supports charitable and educational programs and projects in the Constantine area.
Two competitive grant cycles per year (spring and fall) by application only.
October
1

HEALTHY YOUTH & HEALTHY SENIORS FUND
Support for programs focusing on healthy lifestyle choices and activities for youth and seniors.
One competitive grant cycle per year by application only.
October
15

STURGIS COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM
Supports charitable and educational programs and projects in the Sturgis area.
One competitive grant cycle per year by application only.
October
15

STURGIS YOUTH ADVISORY COUNCIL FUND
Supports youth-related programs and prjects in the Sturgis ares.
Two competitive grant cycles per year (spring and fall) by application only.
November
1

FORL FUND
Provides student teaching grant awards to education majors fulfilling their student teaching requirement.
One competitive grant cycle per year by application only. Applications may be accepted at other times of the year-please call the Foundation for information on possible additional dates.
December
1

NEWELL A. & GRACE A. FRANKS FUND
Supports charitable and educational programs in the Sturgis area.
Review of completed applications is at the discretion of the Fund's Advisory Committee.
Open
Year-Round

OTHER CHARITABLE INTEREST FUNDS
Support areas include Animal Care, Arts and Culture, Community Well-Being, Health and Recreation, Scholarship Funds, Youth, Education, and Leadership, and designated funds support for specific non-profit organizations.
SACF holds over 100 funds serving many areas of charitable interest. If you are a qualified organization with a charitable need not met by any of the listed grant opportunities please call us for other grant possibilities.
Open
Year-Round

WHITE PIGEON COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM
Supports charitable and educational programs and projects in the White Pigeon area.
One competitive grant cycle per year by application only.
Open Year-Round
Recent Grants
Downtown Development Authority
Engaging Downtown
The goal of this project is to foster a robust city center in Sturgis. Grant funding will support opportunities for residents and visitors to engage with their community through outdoor events and cultural experiences planned in downtown Sturgis.

Recent Grant
Sturges-Young Center for the Arts
Road to Restoration: Acoustic Panels
For more than 50 years, the Sturges-Young Center for the Arts has served as a key cultural asset to local communities. As the Sturges-Young continues its “Road to Restoration”, grant funds from the Community Foundation will provide new acoustic panels that will improve the sound quality of future events in this beloved space.

Recent Grant
City of Sturgis
Public Fireplace
Grant funding will support the installation of an outdoor public fireplace in downtown Sturgis and contribute to the overall goal of creating a “sense of place” in our community, including spaces that make people want to experience our downtown. The fireplace is part of a “Power of 10+” placemaking strategy. The idea behind this concept is that places thrive when users have a range of reasons (10+) to be there. These might include a place to sit, playgrounds to enjoy, art to touch, music to hear, food to eat, history to experience...or in this case, a fire to gather around.

Recent Grant
Sturgis Helping Hands
Helping Hands Backpack Program
For 11 years, Sturgis Helping Hands has helped meet some of the most basic needs of local children and families. Through its “Backpack Program”, Sturgis Helping Hands provides backpacks of food and essentials that ensure students in need have access to meals on weekends and over the holidays. The program is run by volunteers which ensures 100% of funds granted will directly support food for local children and their families.

Recent Grant
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southwest Mich.
CASA for St. Joseph County Foster Childre
There are currently 177 children in foster care throughout St. Joseph County. With grant funding for Court Appointed Special Advocates of Southwest Mich., we hope to improve outcomes and give some of our county’s most vulnerable children the support they need to thrive.
Research shows that children who have been assigned CASA volunteers are:
more likely to be adopted permanently
50% less likely to re-enter the foster care system
performing better in school
spend, on average, 7.5 fewer months in foster care than those without a CASA
90% less likely to have their own children in the foster care system

Recent Grant
St. Joseph County Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect
"Welcome Home" Baby Bags
St. Joseph County Council for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect will receive funding to provide “Welcome Home" Baby Bags to new parents throughout our county. In collaboration with the Great Start Collaborative, these bags will provide new parents with children’s books aimed at promoting connections between babies and caregivers while also enforcing safety messaging and education with parents.

Recent Grant
Children's Trauma Assessment Group
Resilience for Youth Program
This grant will provide funding for the second annual "Resilience for Youth" summer program which features five full days of learning, connecting, practicing and applying concepts aimed at reducing patterns of negative behavior and providing at-risk students with the knowledge and practice needed to increase motivation and personal resilience.

Recent Grant
Domestic And Sexual Abuse Services
Sexual Assault Awareness Community Forum
Funding for a community forum, including keynote speaker and discussion, focusing on sexual abuse and children, youth prevention, understanding sexual assault dynamics and local services available to victims.

Recent Grant
Sturgis Historical Society
Sturgis Historical Museum Educational Booklets
This grant will fund interactive, educational booklets for Sturgis youth who visit the Museum at the Depot as part of an effort to make the museum more attractive to local educators. Booklets were designed in partnership with local educators who contributed to the content, design and layout.

Recent Grant
Doyle Community Center
Summer Adventure Club
Funding will provide program support for the Doyle Community Center's Summer Adventure Program. Summer Adventure provides area youth with eight full weeks of summer recreational activities at little to no cost. This grant will be used to expand summer field trips and provide supplemental supplies for activities.

Recent Grant
Sturgis Helping Hands
After School Backpack Program
This award will provide program support for the Sturgis Helping Hands backpack program to provide bags of food on weekends to Sturgis Public School students in need throughout the year. Approximately 2/3 of SPS students qualified for the program last school year.

Recent Grant
CASA Southwest Michigan
CASA Program Start-Up for St. Joseph County
St. Joseph County currently has nearly 200 children and youth placed in foster care due to extreme abuse and neglect, a rate that is double the state average. This grant will provide seed money for the start of a CASA program in St. Joseph County. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) will train local volunteers to serve area children in foster care due to abuse and neglect. CASA volunteers work with one child or sibling group to make sure that their best interests are served and that they find a loving, safe home (or are reunited safely with family) as soon as possible.

Recent Grant
Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County
(in partnership with Sturgis Public Schools)
Before & After-School Programming for Sturgis Public Schools
This grant will fund the launch a partnership between Sturgis Public Schools and Boys & Girls Clubs of Elkhart County to provide before- and after-school programming for Sturgis students in grades K-5. Feedback from SPS leadership and survey results from local families demonstrate a high need for affordable before- and after-school care options in Sturgis, especially among low-income and working families. Through this partnership, children and families will have access to Boys & Girls Clubs' KidsCare programming (https://www.greatfutures.club/kidscare), housed at Eastwood School, in the mornings starting at 5:00AM and after school until 6:00PM. SPS will provide transportation to school for morning participants and from school to the program for afternoon participants.

Recent Grant
St. Joseph County United Way
Suicide Prevention Program for St. Joseph County Schools
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Michigan residents ages 15-34. In response to this epidemic, the Community Suicide Prevention Network of St. Joseph County is organizing programing in our county's public schools for suicide awareness and prevention programs. The total cost is $51,050. County superintendents have selected two programs to offer the schools based on their input and need. In addition to providing curriculum to area schools, this grant will also fund a county-wide series of school assemblies with an expert guest speaker and forum for parents.
