DTE Energy Foundation Honors Top Michigan Nonprofits With 2008 Achieving Excellence Awards
June 03 2008 - 7:30PM
PR Newswire (US)
DETROIT, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Ten of Michigan's most exemplary
nonprofit organizations have been named recipients of the DTE
Energy Foundation's 2008 Achieving Excellence Awards -- the state's
largest corporate grant competition for nonprofit organizations.
The Foundation recognized the organizations for their
accomplishments in five categories: Collaboration, Innovation,
Leadership, Merger and Sustainability. Winners of the 2008
Achieving Excellence Awards are: Forgotten Harvest Inc., of Oak
Park; Sanilac County Kids' Connection of Sandusky; Salvation Army
Harbor Light of Eastern Michigan of Detroit; The Detroit Chamber
Winds of Southfield; Judson Center of Royal Oak; ArtServe Michigan
of Wixom; the Michigan Nonprofit Association of Lansing; Think
Detroit PAL; Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit; and Southwest
Solutions of Detroit. "The DTE Energy Foundation believes that
nonprofit organizations that strive to maximize their time, money
and efforts should receive praise, gratitude and support. That is
why we created the Achieving Excellence Awards in 2003 and have
presented more than a million dollars to award recipients since
then," said Fred Shell, DTE Energy vice president of corporate and
government affairs and president of the DTE Energy Foundation.
Forgotten Harvest Inc. received the competition's largest grant,
$80,000, as the winner of the Innovation Award, which recognizes
outstanding work by institutions addressing critical community
needs resulting from Michigan's economic downturn. Forgotten
Harvest provides more than 4.5 million tons of nutritious food to a
growing number of metro Detroit residents through its "just in
time" efforts to rescue surplus food from grocery donors. The
Sanilac County Kids' Connection and Salvation Army Harbor Light of
Eastern Michigan were both winners of the Collaboration Award,
which recognizes successful collaboration of three or more
organizations. A county- wide collaboration between 12
organizations, The Sanilac County Kids' Connection was created to
address gaps and duplication of services in programs for youths and
families. The organization received a $25,000 grant. Salvation Army
Harbor Light received a $50,000 award for its partnership with the
Children's Tooth Fairy Foundation, the University of Detroit Mercy
School of Dentistry and the Michigan Department of Community Health
to provide dental hygiene and oral health care to homeless
families. The Detroit Chamber Winds and the Judson Center shared
the Leadership Award, which honors organizations that have
developed and implemented a sound plan for internal leadership
development. The Detroit Chamber Winds received a $25,000 grant for
developing a management model that ensures leadership development
and lays the groundwork for the organization to become a long-term
contributor to the arts. The Judson Center, which provides
community-based human services in 10 counties, received a $65,000
award for execution of its CEO transition plan and implementing
comprehensive organizational goals for succession planning. Three
organizations shared the Merger Award, which recognizes
organizations that have successfully completed mergers. ArtServe
Michigan, the Michigan Nonprofit Association and Think Detroit PAL
each received a $25,000 grant. ArtServe Michigan merged with the
Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies to strengthen the
state's arts and cultural sector. The Michigan Nonprofit
Association merged with the Connect Michigan Alliance to better
ensure that every Michigan community is served by a vibrant
nonprofit sector. The merger of two youth development
organizations, Think Detroit and the Detroit Police Athletic
League, created Think Detroit PAL. The merger resulted in increased
outreach, a more diversified funding base, reduced overhead and
substantial savings. Two Detroit organizations were recognized with
Sustainability Awards for achieving financial stability through a
diversified revenue base. The Mosaic Youth Theatre, which provides
youth development through the performing arts, received a $50,000
award for increasing revenue by 52 percent in one year through
individual giving, innovative earned income streams and cost
controls. Southwest Solutions, one of the nation's largest
nonprofit housing corporations, received a $30,000 grant for
efforts that dramatically increased the organization's net worth.
Nearly 100 nonprofit organizations statewide submitted applications
for this year's Achieving Excellence Awards. The finalists were
judged by an independent panel of leaders in Michigan's
philanthropic community. To be considered for the Achieving
Excellence Awards, organizations had to be tax- exempt under
Section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code and be located
within DTE Energy's service area. The DTE Energy Foundation is the
philanthropic arm of DTE Energy, continuing the legacy of community
support and involvement of its principal operating subsidiaries,
Detroit Edison and MichCon. The Foundation directs its
contributions and involvement to support initiatives dedicated to
developing the human and economic potential of the communities it
serves. DATASOURCE: DTE Energy CONTACT: Eileen Dixon,
+1-313-235-9154, or Lorie Kessler, +1-313-235-8807 Web site:
http://www.dteenergy.com/
Copyright