Pellston Education Foundation Exceeds Goals

Pellston Education Foundation Board of Trustees, 2022

Pellston Education Foundation Board Trustees Receive $10,000 Donation from Juston Family. [Pictured: Mark Wagenschutz, Jamey Juston, Heaven (Juston) Acala, James Juston, Carlin Smith, Serenity Dankert]

Just one year ago, the all new Pellston Education Foundation (PEF) had just finished its journey of becoming an official organization and was launching its first fund-raising campaign. Today the foundation stands on solid footing, has awarded its first scholarships, and has given its first grant to the school.

“I don’t think any of us on the board of trustees thought last year that the foundation would have been this successful in its first year,” said board president Carlin Smith. “We thought it might take a few years to be able to support the students at this level,” he added.

Last May, the foundation presented eight different scholarships totaling $9,000 to graduating seniors at Pellston High School. Included were two brand new scholarships at $2,500 each given to exemplary, well-rounded students. The PEF also presented two scholarships at $1,000 to students in the Building and Trades program from the Blake Anthony Wagenschutz Trades Scholarship fund. It was the passing of Wagenschutz in 2021 in a motorcycle accident that inspired the new foundation.

The Blake Wagenschutz Fund has been set up as an investment fund in the foundation with plans to help it grow to serve students in perpetuity. Another investment fund was established thanks to a generous contribution by the Jutson family to honor their late daughter Crystal Jutson. The Pellston Alumni Fund was also gifted to the foundation and is now managed as an investment fund, and a fourth fund, the John D. McLarty Family Scholarship Fund, is also now in the care of the PEF.

“It is our hope that we’ll continue to build these funds in such a way that their principal will provide dividends to annually support the scholarships they provide,” Smith said. “We’re off to a great start!”

Beyond the invested funds, Pellston Public Schools have agreed to transfer the scholarship dollars that have been in the school’s care and place them in the care of the foundation. The goal is to have all scholarship funds housed within one, official non-profit organization who can then more efficiently hold, invest, manage, and distribute the funds.

In addition to scholarships to students, the foundation plans to offer grants to support school programs that may fall outside of traditional budget parameters. This year, Pellston Public Schools brought back music education in the elementary, middle and high school, including instrumental music. The Pellston Education Foundation wrote its first grant request to Rotary Charities from the Noon Rotary Club in Petoskey and received $2,500. The foundation matched the Rotary gift giving the schools $5,000 in all to buy materials and equipment to support the revived music program.

“As we continue to build our general fund, I envision school grants will be a growing part of the foundation’s work,” Smith said.

In all, the foundation has amassed total assets of more than $162,000 in its first year. “That’s a great start, but we still have a long way to go to build up our investment funds and to strengthen our general fund,” Smith noted. The foundation’s big fund-raising success came last fall when they initiated the Founders’ Corner Campaign to forever recognize those initial donors who contributed $250 or more. In all, just more than 100 donors collectively contributed $55,000 to give the young organization the jump start it needed. “We were just overwhelmed by the community’s generosity,” Smith said. Those donors on the Founders’ Corner can be seen on the foundation’s web page.

The PEF is ready to launch its second annual fund-raising campaign and while they don’t expect to match last year’s overwhelming success, Smith says they do hope to raise around $30,000. He notes that donors will have an option to direct their donation to any of the four investment funds and/or the general fund.