Baraga County Community Foundation Executive Director Gordette Leutz, left, presents retiring Foundation President Mary Paquette with a plaque commemorating her service to the Foundation. Paquette will still be involved with the Foundation’s Youth Advisory Committee. (Ben Garbacz/Daily Mining Gazette)

L’ANSE — The Baraga County Community Foundation held its 2024 review meeting at the Hilltop Restaurant on Feb. 13 to go over the contributions the foundation had made to various groups throughout the county and to celebrate the Foundation’s 30th anniversary.

The Foundation invited multiple grant recipients to share what the contributions meant during last year.

2024 saw the Foundation award more than $22,500 in grants and scholarships, which brought the total of distributions the group has made over its 30 year existence to nearly $600,000.

The meeting began with recognition of the present recipients which included representatives from Bayside Village, Baraga Area Schools, C.J. Sullivan PBIS, L’Anse Area Schools, the L’Anse Hockey Association, Arvon Township School and Baraga County Shelter home.

Bayside Village was able to upgrade its residential conditions thanks to a grant and Baraga Area Schools were able to begin revamping the music program. A drum line class has begun with over 20 students looking forward to signing up for next year’s class. The implementation of this class was credited with the Foundation’s donations.

The Baraga Area Community Schools’ Alternative and Adult Ed Program has been revamped with an added GED Testing Center. Last year the program was able to work with 21 adults with 60 percent of them advancing to the next step of their education. After hiring more workers into the program, more programs were needed to reach more potential learners. The Foundation’s donations purchased 10 seats on a program called GED Academy, which is 24/7 AI driving learning program.

C.J. Sullivan PBIS reported that the $1,000 grant from the Foundation will go into the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports Program for C. J. Sullivan Elementary School. C. J. Sullivan PBIS said that the program is about building a culture of positivity and recognizing great choices made by its students.

The Foundation’s donations to the L’Anse High School Bowling Club will go towards assisting purchases for students’ bowling gear. The L’Anse Hockey Association is looking to receive better fitting equipment for the children playing hockey.

Arvon Township School received a grant that went into a postage activity conducted by its students. Lead Teacher Kristina Waara said that the assistance from the Foundation was much appreciated.

“It’s nice because someone is recognizing that we’re also trying to do things for the community as a school, building our relationships in the community with families and with people we haven’t reached, or people that support the school,” she said. “I was excited to get invited. It’s nice to come to town and talk to people who have the same ideas about helping others.”

The postage activity sent out Valentine’s messages to community members and family members in Skannee and across the country. There were also messages sent out to Bayside Village residents along with treats. In the fall, the school will be sending out cards to veterans for Veterans Day along with an invitation for them to come to the school for coffee and donuts with the students.

The Baraga County Shelter Home reported they had utilized the donations from the Foundation to purchase personal items such as shampoo and bathrobes. The shelter houses domestic violence survivors in Baraga County, who often come to the shelter with little in their possession.

Range Bank Chief Officer Amanda Knaffla complimented the work the Foundation had accomplished since partnering with Range Bank in 2021.

“It’s great to see the work that the Foundation is doing in the community and to think that it’s been doing this work for this long, and we’re here as the investment managers to make sure that we’re helping you to continue that work in the future,”

Knaffla also reported that the investments in 2024 had a 15% rate of return and then went into discussing the health of the overall economy and what can be expected in the future with the implementation with tariffs. She assured everyone that the bank has taken measures to accommodate multiple economic outcomes.

After Knaffla was finished speaking, the meeting went onto recognize recipients for the Foundation’s scholarships. Those who received scholarships included Maija R who would be studying nursing at Gogebic Community College (GCC), Makayla Smith who would be studying Early Childhood Education at GCC, Annali Hendrickson who would be studying biology and social work at Northern Michigan University (NMU) and Sophie Brunet who would be studying chemistry at NMU.

The meeting concluded with new nominations, nominations for board positions and the retirement of two members. Richard Sarau and Tim Marczak were brought into the foundation with Sarau taking the helm of President.

The previous president, Mary Paquette, was one of the retiring members. She was given a plaque from the foundation recognizing her “outstanding service.

However, Paquette will still be involved with the Foundation.

“I deal with the Youth Advisory Committee, which is part of the Baraga County Community Foundation,” she said.