Match Day raises nearly $500,000 for Kalamazoo-area nonprofits

The endowment funds of 56 Kalamazoo area nonprofit groups grew on Match Day, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation’s 85th birthday celebration.

Philanthropists opened their wallets and check books to contribute nearly $339,000 toward endowments.

The Community Foundation and PNC Bank contributed matching funds of $114,000. Each dollar donated was matched with 50 cents that was made available for an organization to use right away.

The threat of severe weather that forced the June 23 event to be moved from Bronson Park to the Radisson Plaza Hotel did not deter the hundreds of Kalamazoo-area community members who turned out for the celebration subsequently deemed a resounding success by organizers.

The Kalamazoo Community Foundation’s staff wore shirts with “Be a Philanthropist” printed on them and many locals took them up on their challenge.
 
At the event, community members talked with representatives from participating nonprofits and made donations to the endowment funds of the organizations that inspired them to give. Many donated to organizations they became familiar with for the first time that day.

“From the community members who made financial contributions that ranged from $5 to tens of thousands of dollars, to the nonprofit staff and volunteers who took time to represent their organizations, to the people and businesses who so readily cooperated when the weather did not — they are all philanthropists,” says President and CEO of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation Juan Olivarez.
 
Founded in 1925, the Kalamazoo Community Foundation provides community leadership through the stewardship of permanently endowed funds. The Community Foundation works on strategies to address existing and emerging community issues in the areas of Individuals and families, youth development, early childhood learning and school readiness, and economic and community development.
 
Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Shannon Bronsink, Kalamazoo Community Foundation