CF approves $75,000 challenge grant
Posted on February 1, 2012
The Community Foundation of St. Clair County has approved a $75,000 challenge grant to support the St. Clair County Community College and SC4 Foundation $1 million public fundraising campaign.
The grant represents the largest pledge to date for the “All Aboard: Campaign for Talent, Technology and Tomorrow.”
SC4 and the SC4 Foundation launched the two-year campaign Nov. 1 to raise money for student scholarships and five capital projects on the college’s Port Huron campus.
The Community Foundation’s Board of Directors approved the challenge grant Tuesday, Jan. 31. The grant will provide 50 cents from the Community Foundation for every dollar raised for the campaign. The Community Foundation will make three matching payments to the SC4 Foundation of up to $25,000 each. To get the full $75,000 grant, the campaign will have to raise at least $150,000.
The Community Foundation’s grant is specifically intended for the McMorran Greenway and Street Closure Project. The project will close portions of McMorran Boulevard and River Street to turn them into a pedestrian walkway and “front door” to SC4’s campus. 
The Port Huron City Council on Monday, Jan. 23, approved giving SC4 the portion of McMorran Boulevard between Erie and River streets and the portion of River Street between McMorran Boulevard and Willow Street.
“We love the concept of creating a greener pedestrian pathway that improves the linkages from the college to the downtown and the waterfront of the Black River,” said Don Fletcher, chair of the Community Foundation board. “And our board is happy to see the college’s vision fit very well with other efforts designed to improve the quality of place in St. Clair County.”
The grant falls under the Community Foundation’s strategic priority area of “community & economic development,” which is the Community Foundation’s No. 2 overall priority behind education.
“The Community Foundation is proud to be a partner with the college on this very important project and encourages other donors to join us, as well,” Fletcher said.
SC4 President Dr. Kevin A. Pollock thanked the Community Foundation for its continued leadership and support of education and economic development.
“The McMorran Greenway project is one of many examples of SC4 working with the city and other partners to improve our campus and downtown Port Huron,” Pollock said. “St. Clair County is incredibly fortunate to have a Community Foundation that serves as a leader in supporting so many projects.”
Prior to the Community Foundation’s pledge, as of Jan. 31, the campaign had raised $336,958.23, or 33%, of the goal. The amount includes donations and pledges to the SC4 Foundation in the first three months of the public campaign, as well as prior donations and pledges from SC4 faculty and staff; members of the SC4 Board of Trustees, SC4 Foundation Board of Directors and SC4 Alumni Association Board of Directors; and other friends of the college. In addition, the total includes $100,000 the SC4 Foundation designated in previously raised money and investment income toward the capital projects.
The campaign includes these projects:
- McMorran Greenway and Street Closure
- Natural Science Museum Expansion
- Historical Restoration of Room 312, Main Building
- Campus Innovation Center
- Campus Signage
- Student scholarships
For more information about the SC4 Foundation’s “All Aboard: Campaign for Talent, Technology and Tomorrow” or to make a donation or pledge, visit http://www.sc4.edu/allaboard or contact David P. Goetze, SC4’s director of college advancement and alumni relations, at (810) 989-5761 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
