<< Return to Foundation Focus Page Community Foundations "Team-Up" For Trails The Community Foundation for Muskegon County and five other West Michigan Foundations are working together to promote completion of 510 miles of regional hiking and biking trails in West Michigan. Over the last four years, six West Michigan Community Foundations have collaborated on a variety of regional marketing efforts including radio and television ads promoting Community Foundation brand awareness - For good. For ever.® This regional initiative known as Team-Up was underwritten by a W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant administered by the Council of Michigan Foundations On November 11, 2004, the Foundations hosted a regional dinner for their Trustees and special friends at Fredrik Meijer Gardens. At the dinner, the Community Foundations including Muskegon, Fremont, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids, Holland/Zeeland and Greenville announced that a challenge grant of up to $200,000 would be made available to the West Michigan Trails and Greenways Coalition to encourage expansion and completion of the West Michigan trails network. This joint grant project is the first of its kind and is meant to demonstrate the spirit of regional cooperation that has emerged in West Michigan in recent years through such efforts as the West Michigan Strategic Alliance. At the February 28 Board meeting, the Trustees of the Foundation approved a $20,000 grant to support this unique regional leadership effort. Chris McGuigan, President of the Foundation notes that "Muskegon's contribution to this leadership effort not only supports an important recreational and environmental project but also demonstrates the leadership capacity of Community Foundations to advance important local and regional initiatives". The proposed $5 million trails project will expand the existing patchwork of trails into an expansive network that will link trails from Muskegon with Fremont and Greenville as well as connecting Grand Rapids to the lakeshore through Holland and Grand Haven to Muskegon. When completed, the West Michigan network of biking, hiking and walking trails will expand from approximately 152 miles today to a network of 510 miles. A regional fundraising campaign to support the trails expansion project will be announced in late summer or early fall of 2005. << Return to Foundation Focus Page