Cook Family Foundation

The Cook Family Foundation’s spring newsletter just hit mailboxes (let us know if you want to be added to the mailing list) and is available on our website (click here).  The cover story is about our support for the International Baccalaureate program that is bringing the world, and a world of opportunity, to students of all ages in the Owosso Public Schools.  Inside the newsletter you will find our six goals for 2014, and our annual report where we recap of the grants we made in 2013.

If you haven’t had the chance, you may want to look around our recently updated website as well.  In our “About” section, you can find a video that gives the history of our founders, Don and Florence-etta Cook, as well as contact information.  Check out the “Nonprofit Capacity Building Program” section for details on upcoming education sessions, how to get support for local organizations, and to read our thoughts on collaborative efforts to improve the community.

In order to identify potential partners and encourage collaborative grant making, the Foundation has adopted six goals for its work in the coming year.

1. Encourage the highest level of academic success for our community’s young people;
2. Expand the capacity of community-based nonprofits to more effectively carry out their missions and serve the residents of Shiawassee County;
3. Foster the Shiawassee River as a source of pride for the community;
4. Promote the arts and history as strong cultural cornerstones of the community:
5. Help care for and protect the most vulnerable members of our community:
6. Increase opportunities for community collaboration and engagement among and between local nonprofits, arts organizations, government, students, and citizens:

We encourage you to learn more about our interest and background in these areas by reading through our website; several of the pages relate to these goals. We also encourage you to contact us to discuss how we can work together to achieve these goals.  We invite grant applications that serve these goals.

The Cook Family Foundation is hosting a financial aid workshop on Monday, January 20, at 7 p.m. at the Baker College Welcome Center.  The presenter will be Mike Davis, from the Financial Aid Office of the University of Michigan.  While the workshop is directed to students interested in attending the University of Michigan, the information presented would be valuable to any student–and their parents–seeking financial assistance to attend college.  The workshop is open to anyone, but reservations are requested; please contact Yvette Collard at 989-725-1621 or yve...@cookfamilyfoundation.org

Attending any four year institution is an expensive undertaking, but the University of Michigan has made a commitment to provide substantial assistance to any student in the State of Michigan who has demonstrated financial need.  Grants, loans, work-study, and scholarships are all part of the financial aid package and can come from the federal government, private sources (like the Cook Family Foundation), and the University itself.  The process can be complex; this workshop will help demystify financial aid and provide clear direction on how to qualify for the most assistance from the University of Michigan.

Several myths and misconceptions exist about the cost of attending the University of Michigan.  Visit this site (click here) to learn more.