[This grant] will reinforce the new library branch as a true community hub.
-Lisa Hoenig, Library Director
The Children’s Foundation has generously awarded the Ypsilanti District Library $23,100 to help build the kitchenette at the new Superior Library branch (slated to open later in 2022). This means, for the first time, the “Lunch, Listen, and Learn” program that typically provides thousands of meals to children each summer can be hosted at YDL-Superior.
“The Children’s Foundation is proud to support construction of the community hub kitchenette and the Lunch, Listen, Learn program for disadvantaged youth at Ypsilanti District Library,” said The Children’s Foundation’s President & CEO, Lawrence J. Burns. “These important initiatives align with our Nutritional Wellness Focus Area and fulfill an essential need in the surrounding community.”
“Lunch, Listen, and Learn” is typically a part of YDL’s Summer Challenge each year, and in 2019 over 2,400 lunches were served at YDL-Michigan and YDL-Whittaker. The program was paused in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19, though YDL staff helped facilitate other lunch programs in the area. Due to lack of space, YDL has been unable to host the program at YDL-Superior in the past. The hope is that the program can be up and running as soon as possible in the new building currently under construction.
“We’re thrilled that The Children’s Foundation grant will help us expand this vital program for youth in our community,” said YDL Director Lisa Hoenig. “It will reinforce the new library branch as a true community hub.”
YDL was one of 85 organizations (and nine new southeast Michigan partnerships) that The Children’s Foundation supported with nearly $4 million in grant money during the first of their 2022 grant cycles. The $23,100 for YDL goes to the Next Chapter Capital Campaign to fund the new Superior Library branch, and qualifies for a matching challenge, in which a generous local foundation is matching every dollar donated (up to $100,000). Visit ypsilibrary.org/nextchapter to learn more about the crowdfunding campaign.
About the Children's Foundation
The Children’s Foundation is a premier foundation focused on the health and well-being of the children of Michigan and their families by working in collaboration with other organizations in the community. By listening to community needs, The Foundation responds by mobilizing and enhancing resources through innovative partnerships and funding models. Since 2011, the Foundation has distributed more than 75 million dollars in grant funding to more than 140 partners throughout the state. Current initiatives of The Children’s Foundation include Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation, The Jamie Daniels Foundation, First Tee-Greater Detroit, Detroit Excellence in Youth Arts and the Paul W. Smith Charities. Current areas of focus for the Foundation include mental health, nutritional wellness, abuse and neglect, oncology and cardiology research and injury prevention. Learn more at www.YourChildrensFoundation.org/2021/12/8/round-1-2022.
How to contribute to the Next Chapter campaign
• Donate online at ypsilibrary.org/nextchapter
•Mail checks made out to Ypsilanti District Library to: Next Chapter Capital Campaign / YpsilantiDistrict Library / 5577 Whittaker Road / Ypsilanti, Michigan, 48197
Contact Library Director Lisa Hoenig to discuss sponsorship and naming opportunities at [email protected], or call 734-879-1300.
MORE ABOUT THE YPSILANTI DISTRICT LIBRARY’S NEXT CHAPTER
The new YDL-Superior location at 1900 Harris Road will give neighborhood kids an inspiring place to learn and grow, and ensure everyone has easy, equal access to the vital services YDL provides. The new library will feature engaging youth and teen spaces, a popular reading area with a Motawi tile-surround fireplace, a clerestory cupola, a drive-up book return, and an accessible raised-bed learning garden. It will offer the meeting space needed to bring the Library’s most popular events to Superior Township for the first time. Donations to the Next Chapter Capital Campaign will help build a lasting community hub that will inspire, inform, entertain, and welcome everyone in the library district for generations. Learn more at ypsilibrary.org/our-new-library.
LEADERSHIP DONORS WHO HAVE ALREADY CONTRIBUTED TO THE NEXT CHAPTER CAMPAIGN
- The Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation
- The Young Family Foundation
- A generous local foundation donor
- Superior Charter Township
- Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs
- Washtenaw County Commission
- The Song Family Fund
- The James W. & Marla J. Gousseff Fund