People give of their time and money to keep Kalamazoo a place where they love to live.
Kalamazoo is many things.
It is culturally rich, with a symphony, an art museum, more than one live theater, plus music, dance and drama events at three institutes of higher education. It has a thriving scene for homegrown artists, writers, and musicians who gather in homes, using their creative talents to entertain one another.
On any given weekend there is sure to be more to do than there is time to do it. Art Hop, summer festivals, all set in a vibrant downtown. And beer. Lots and lots of craft beer.
A few years back the Kalamazoo Community Foundation encouraged the community to "love where you live." Now it’s a slogan you hear all over town because in Kalamazoo a lot of people love do love where they live. Passionately.
Equally true is that Kalamazoo County is a place where many people are
struggling economically. It should not be surprising considering the economic situation of the rest of Michigan, but many are shocked when they learn for the first time that poverty and economic distress here mirrors that in other parts of the state. It does not fit their image of Kalamazoo.
In two stories this week, Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave talks with those who are all but invisible to the part of the community that does not share those struggles; we also ask for ideas from those who are seeking solutions to help those who work but
still can’t make ends meet and those who
have trouble putting food on their tables.
Though the statistics are sobering, Kalamazoo has always been a community that strives to find solutions. In that regard the community has the generosity of those who live here in its favor, and 70 percent of those who live here make philanthropic donations.
Donors of all types gave $383.4 million in Kalamazoo County in 2012, the most recent year for which information is available through the
Johnson Center for Philanthropy. Of this amount, 69.6 percent was given by individuals, 22.1 percent by foundations, 3.9 percent by corporations, and 4.3 percent through bequests.
Individual giving is particularly notable. Though 3 percent of Michigan’s households are in Kalamazoo County, the county contributed 4 percent of Michigan’s total estimated individual giving -- the highest per capita in the state. Individual giving increased 21.8 percent in Kalamazoo County from 2011-12, while nationally individual giving increased 3.9 percent.
And Joanna Dales, vice president of donor relations for the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, says those figures don’t give the full picture of donations across the community.
"This is a really generous community, with giving from people from all walks of life. It’s not all to nonprofits," says Dales. "A lot of the generosity is people giving to neighbors, when someone is sick or there is a family in need. That’s not recorded anywhere, but it is pretty important to the fabric of the community."
Philanthropic research done at Grand Valley State University has found "there seems to be a strong culture of giving in Kalamazoo, meaning that it is generally accepted that one should give back to the local community," says Michelle Miller-Adams, GVSU associate professor of political science and the recipient of the Russell G. Mawby Fellowship in Philanthropic Studies. "This is true not just for wealthy community members, but for individuals at all income levels."
She says wealthy donors have encouraged their heirs to continue their philanthropic involvement, so the community has more than one example of multi-generational philanthropists. Wealthy donors have also set an example for the community at large.
Miller-Adams points out the community’s history is full of philanthropists. "Someone like Irving S. Gilmore, who quietly gave away money wherever it was needed, helped set the tone for others, while the community leadership and generosity of the Upjohn Company (and the Upjohn heirs) was a defining feature of Kalamazoo for many years.
"We are also fortunate to have strong institutions (foundations, arts organizations) that have endowments thanks to philanthropic contributions and are thus able to weather tough economic times better than more precarious institutions," Miller-Adams says.
So, much of what makes Kalamazoo Kalamazoo is thanks to the generosity of those who have wanted to make the community a better place.
The obvious example is the anonymous donation that funds in perpetuity The Kalamazoo Promise, the scholarship program for those who graduate from Kalamazoo Public Schools then go on to public colleges and universities and many private schools.
Since it was announced 10 years ago, The Kalamazoo Promise has paid out more than $60 million in scholarship awards. The first large group of students earned four-year degrees in 2010. So far, Promise students have earned nearly 1,000 degrees and post-secondary credentials. And the scholarship program has been the model for nearly 50 communities across the United States.
Generous giving to the community is seen in the $100 million gift in 2011 to launch the WMU Homer Stryker School of Medicine (at that time, the largest ever cash gift to a Michigan college or university), and the gift of the building in which it is located, that will shape the downtown for many years to come.
Last week, Rosemary and John Brown, former CEO of Stryker Corp., gave $2 million to the Kirk Newman Art School at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts. "Our hope is that the school will continue to thrive and to have an ongoing positive influence on the cultural life of the Kalamazoo area," says Rosemary Brown.
The school's immediate plans for the gift include offering broader access to first-time students through scholarships and studio upgrades. It also will fund a scholarship program to get more students into the nearly 300 classes the KIA offers each year. Scholarships will be need- and merit-based. Some funds will earmarked to target underserved audiences with full scholarships. The KIA art school will work with local teachers to identify those who would best benefit from the scholarships.
The school also is launching a post-baccalaureate residency for advanced art students. Six recent college graduates will be awarded seven-month residencies to begin in the fall--two in painting, two in printmaking, one in photography/digital media, and one in ceramics.
The gift was announced at an Art Hop reception March 6 at the KIA. Kirk Newman was in attendance. He was a long-time director of the art school and an art instructor for nearly 30 years. Newman's cast bronze,
People, is at the KIA's South Street entrance.
Other recent donations are a bit more under the radar. At the annual Dance Advocacy Award ceremony at WMU Feb. 5 Daniel Guyette, Dean of the College of Fine Arts, announced a $2 million gift that will that will establish the Arthur E. and Martha S. Hearron College of Fine Arts Distinguished Professorship.
Martha "Marti" Hearron of Kalamazoo asked that her final major gift be revealed only after her death. Hearron, a renowned biostatistician for the Upjohn Co., died Nov. 29.
In addition to the professorship, the gift also will provide funding for some of her favorite arts programs as well as endow a new Medallion Scholarship for students in the fine arts. Hearron and her late husband Arthur were longtime devoted supporters of the fine arts at WMU and they attended as many events as possible. Over the years, they donated $1 million and established several scholarship funds to provide fine arts education of dozens of students who became known as "Hearron kids."
Does giving by the wealthiest in Kalamazoo encourage those with less means to give as well? Miller-Adams says that is a hard question to answer.
"You could argue that in a community with wealthy, generous donors, other individuals are motivated to give what they can in response to these large gifts. You could also argue the opposite -- that individuals of more modest means don't feel they need to give as much because our wealthy residents will take care of the community's problems."
She says, however, that the high level of giving per capita for Kalamazoo County suggests that this is a generous community at all levels.
Giving financially is only one measure of the community’s generosity. There are 1,700
registered nonprofits in the county and
Volunteer Kalamazoo, which matches volunteers with those who need assistance, says 20,435 volunteers contributed 155,356 hours of service in 2013-14.
That work by volunteers is worth more than $3.5 million to the community, using the standard set by IndependentSector.org that says work by volunteers is worth $22.55 an hour.
In one day alone, the family day of service, 115 children and adults worked with 15 nonprofits and completed hundreds of projects. They made care packages for veterans, wrote thank you cards for Kalamazoo Public Safety officers, put together disaster relief kits, worked on stepping stones for Habitat for Humanity homes, made toys for rescued cats and dogs, and rescued bike parts to be used in building bike racks.
W.E. Upjohn founded the Kalamazoo Community Foundation in 1925 with a gift of $1,000 because he had a vision of a better community.
In recent months, the foundation that is entrusted with funds from others for distribution to those working to make a better Kalamazoo County, has spelled out its vision: "What if, just because you lived in Kalamazoo County, it meant you were loved, cared for, encouraged, educated, empowered — that you mattered? That’s what we envision. A community where we all acknowledge the inherent value of all our neighbors."
Now that the community has a better idea just what it is many people in Kalamazoo County are up against that vision takes on a new urgency.
Kathy Jennings is the managing editor of Southwest Michigan’s Second Wave. She is a freelance writer and editor.