Great Lakes Foundation supports the waters we love

By Doug Jackson, President of the Great Lakes Foundation

Our favorite memories often take the form of mental “snapshots” through the years. The Club’s Great Lakes Foundation is built upon people wanting to share those snapshots – those feelings – with others. Bear with me a moment here.

Think, right now, of a favorite mental snapshot you’ve taken on the Great Lakes. Maybe it was:

•    The feeling of the wind in your hair that one crisp morning while cruising with dear friends on Lake Erie.

•    The smell and feel of a storm forming overhead while you were safely docked in a cozy Lake Michigan harbor.

•    That time in North Channel when you crossed a point and involuntarily gasped at the sight of a quaint landscape at a place you didn’t realize existed.

•    The first time you helmed your ship from an open Lake Huron into the natural wonders of Georgian Bay.

•    Exploring the Apostle Islands of Lake Superior.

Memories are wonderful. We can preserve the Great Lakes so that our children, grandchildren, and others we’ve not yet met can share those experiences

How do we do that? One answer is the Great Lakes Foundation where grants are making a difference. The Foundation has granted close to $380,000 since 1993. Grants have supported projects for breakwater construction, dredging, university level research, navigation and introducing the next generation to all that the Great Lakes offers. Over the years these grants have impacted you without you perhaps understanding how. The grants have been spread across all five Great Lakes. Your contributions make a real difference to the Great Lakes and our Club’s cruising goals.

Here are a few examples of how the Foundation has positively affected YOUR Great Lakes through the years:

Lake Superior:

•    A $18,415 grant to help revitalize the Rossport Marina (S-74). Rossport has hosted the Great Lakes Cruising Club over the years and will continue to do so when the entire project has been completed 

•    A $10,000 grant for the Grand Marais Harbor Breakwater Project (S-220). The Grand Marais, MI, Harbor has the only deep water federally designated harbor of refuge along a treacherous 90-mile coast on the south shore of Lake Superior between the Whitefish Point and Munising, MI. Without the new breakwater, the harbor was in danger of filling with sand.

•    Silver Islet Harbour Association of Thunder Bay - Silver Islet, ON (S-128). Silver Islet is the only harbour between Thunder Bay and Nipigon or Rossport along the north shore of Lake Superior where dockage is in great demand. The Silver Islet Association is developing the harbour. In the current phase, the Foundation is helping with the purchase of a header-dock to create a slip-dock for transient boaters, along with shore-docking for seasonal boaters, both capable of generating critical operating funds. Their mission, ”… to support the creation and development of marine infrastructures, which protects our harbours and shorelines…” closely aligns with our Club’s mission to insure the protection and preservation of all our Great Lakes and their associated waterways.

Lake Ontario:

•    A multi-year grant to the Thousand Islands Association to replace aging channel markers in the recreational area of the Thousand Islands (SLR-00.1) of the upper St. Lawrence River.  The goal is to replace all 300 markers over five years. The Board felt strongly that this worthy project was deserving of a two grants over two years. These markers provide critical navigation assistance for recreational boaters, Canadian and U.S. alike, traversing the region. They also help protect the fragile eco-system of the Thousand Islands territorial waters.

•    A grant of $5,000 to Toronto Brigantine Inc. toward life raft maintenance and officer safety training. (Toronto Harbour, ON O-45)

North Channel:

•    A grant of $20,000 to Nature Conservancy of Canada to help buy 18,000 acres, and 11 miles of shore as part of the Vidal Bay Forest (NC-11), thereby creating a 29,800-acre preserve with over 50 miles of shoreline on Manitoulin Island. This grant also qualified for match money from the North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grant program, shared by the U.S. and Canada, thereby increasing the grand value of our donation 4-fold to $80,000 USD.

Lake Erie:

•    Great Lakes Historical Society for the preservation and interpretation of the tug Ohio. This project will enhance public appreciation of the Great Lakes as this tug worked for 112 years on the Great Lakes as a fireboat and as a commercial tug. The Great Lakes Foundation grant assisted in the cleaning, repair and construction for restoration at Toledo, OH (E-21)

•    A grant to the Sandusky (Ohio) Area Maritime Association, to assist the purchasing of real estate for a maritime museum. (Sandusky, OH E-16).

Lake Huron/Georgian Bay:

•    A $2,100 grant to the Saginaw Bay Community Sailing Association for a set of sails for the DaySailer 17 sailboats. The sailing association has been teaching adults and children how to sail in regularly scheduled lessons and also in several community outreach programs.

•    A grant of $5,000 (CAN) to Brakewinders, a group of volunteers from Wiarton, Ont., whose mission is to, “…introduce boat building, care and maintenance, boat handling, water safety, and sailing to young deserving adults while promoting a fun environment.” They not only teach the craftmanship of boat building, they further advance the culture and art of sailing, while instilling appreciation for our precious natural resources. Brakewinders recycle old sails into tote bags. Proceeds from the bag sales go to the program. Part of the approved $5,000 grant will help train and certify first-aid and advanced-sailing instructors.

Lake Michigan:

•    A $10,000 grant for Plum Island Range Light, which helps guide ships through a deepwater channel running from Lake Michigan into Green Bay through the treacherous Porte des Mortes, or Death’s Door, which lies north of the tip of the Door County Peninsula and south of Washington Island, MN. (M-85). The grant supported the removal of lead paint and repainting the lower half of the lighthouse tower. This is a major project, and substantial funding has already been received from other sources.

•    A grant of $2,500 to Grand Valley State University in western Michigan to help fund the construction of a $3.4 million field station at Muskegon, MI. The field station is part of the university’s Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute, which, over the past 25 years, has been conducting research to identify critical problems and find science-based solutions to protect and preserve the Great Lakes. The new facility will allow research to be conducted year-round. (Muskegon, MI M-22)

•    Grants to the Paul Frederick Memorial Fellowship (for grants to the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), the Center for Great Lakes Study, and the Great Lakes Water Institute, for research, education and outreach for understanding the Great Lakes and waterways in the Great Lakes Basin. (Milwaukee, WI M-46) 

•    Leland Harbor Dredging Project to maintain dredging of harbor. (Leland, MI M-14)

Your Great Lakes Foundation is actively seeking contributions to help perpetuate its charitable outreach. Remember that what you can do for the Great Lakes is good for all who cruise their waters.

Additionally, your Foundation is always interested in hearing of opportunities where funds are needed to further support our cruising waters. We need your insights and perspectives into what is important and what the Foundation can help with.

To learn more about the Great Lakes Foundation and how you can contribute, go to https://www.glcclub.com/donation/donate-great-lakes-foundation.