About

At the Oceana Community Foundation (OCF), we collaborate with donors, grantees, advisors, and individuals to identify issues that are important to our communities. By bringing people together around a common mission and creating links between resources and your vision for the future, we help to ensure that our communities remain vital and strong.

Every year, we award grants and scholarships that benefit students, youth, education, the arts, community development, the environment, health and human services, and emerging community needs. Projects we’ve supported, such as the reconstruction of the William Field Memorial Hart-Montague Trail, the inclusion of the Be Nice suicide prevention and mental health program in all of our schools, and the Oceana CAN! program to improve college and career readiness for our youth, continue to enhance life throughout Oceana County.

Our Mission

The Community Foundation for Oceana County exists to enhance the lives of the people of Oceana County by leading, promoting and channeling philanthropy to connect resources with needs.

Our Vision

The Community Foundation for Oceana County envisions a community where everyone has access to resources to thrive.

We lead the philanthropic environment of the area, inspiring contributions from donors, delivering exceptional service and being an active participant in seeking solutions to real-life problems. We work to create a place whereby our citizens live and thrive in a vibrant community with abundant resources.

Economic and Social Resources
A strong and stable foundation, with robust economic and workforce development, sustained growth, investment in long-term solutions to social concerns and increased assets for all.
Educational Resources
Equal access to educational resources that enable and inspire students of all ages to excel in ways that nurture their individual talents and skills.
Health and Health Care Resources
Equal access to quality physical and mental health care, with investments in long-term solutions.
Natural Resources
Equal access to high-quality parks, trails and water features, and sustained investment in creating and conserving/preserving natural spaces.
Arts & Culture Resources
Active participation in abundant and diverse arts and cultural opportunities.

We’re Part of the Community We Serve

As residents of the broader Oceana County community, our Board members and staff have knowledge, understanding, and insight into our community and its concerns. Highly engaged as residents and volunteers, they guide the work of the Foundation and serve in leadership roles in community organizations.

The Generosity of Our Donors

Our work is only possible because of generous donors who share our love for this community. Whether it’s an unexpected bequest or a small, year-end donation, every gift makes a difference. By carefully investing these gifts for growth, we’re able to continue making grants that provide a lasting, positive impact on our community.

Donor Confidentiality

Your donor information is highly confidential. We will not share donor names, addresses or fund-related financial information with any individual or organization without express permission from donors.

In 2018 we developed a 3-year strategic plan with a strong focus on Oceana’s broad challenges – such as poverty, low education attainment, scarcity of skilled workers and housing. As part of that plan, the Board of Directors identified strategies to effect positive community change in the future, including expanding our presence and impact in the community. The board also acknowledged that we had reached a milestone, an asset level of more than $13 million in 2019, capable of creating an independent foundation. In October 2019, the IRS approved us as an independent nonprofit.

For 30 years, we operated as an affiliate foundation under the Community Foundation for Muskegon County. As of January 1, 2020, we began operations as an independent community foundation and all funds held at the Community Foundation for Muskegon County for the Oceana Foundation will transfer over in late January. We are grateful to have reached this 30-year milestone and for the partnership with donors, nonprofits and the community overall!

Trustees

Our Board

The Oceana Community Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees providing leadership around key community issues and projects.

Executive Committee

Joe Kilmovitz

Chair

Owner, JHK Media

Beth Snider

Vice Chair

Owner, Snider Farms

Frank Arvai

Treasurer

Advisor, William Mack & Associates, Inc

Kris Callen

Retired, Thrivent Financial

Lucy Ordoobadi

Retired Attorney

Steve Paulus

Retired, Corewell Health

Members

Rob Barefoot

Microsoft

Jo Estrada-Guerra

MI DDHS, Dept Analyst Farmworker

Kellie Fox

Owner, Fox Barn Winery

Rita Grant

Retired, GVSU Accounting Professor

to be announced (H)

PLACE HOLDER

Dr. Scott Karaptian

Superintendent, Pentwater Public Schools

Emma Kirwin

Retired Educator

Amy LaBarge

Retired, Human Resources, General Motors

Lois Lydens

Retired Professor & Administrator

Julie Stivers

Retired non-profit professional, writer

Foundation Committees

Governance Committee

John Grant, Joan LundBorg, Jon VanderPloeg, Randy Wagner

PR/Development Committee

Joe Klimovitz, Julie Stivers, Gina F, Marc Rosas, Nicole Kleiner

Finance/Investment Committee

Frank Arvai, Rita Grant, Garry McKeen, David Ordoobadi, Sarah Schlukebir

Grant Committee

Julie Stivers (chair), Jo Estrada-Guerra, Kellie Fox, Scott Karpatian, Lois Lydens, Amy LaBarge, at large: Joan LundBorg, Jean Russell

Personnel Committee

Rob Barefoot, Amy LaBarge, at large: Erin Stark

Design Committee

Lucy Ordoobadi, Amy LaBarge, Rob Barefoot, Joe Klimovitz, Jeremy Horton, at large: Steve Bass

Youth Advisory Council (YAC)

In 1989, W.K. Kellogg Foundation conceived an idea to help seed community foundations throughout Michigan if the local Foundation agreed to establish a permanent youth fund and a Youth Advisory Council (YAC). They wanted to help create a strong philanthropic training ground for youth and, in a few short years, over 86 YACs were formed across Michigan. The goal was to help young people learn generosity and leadership and at the same time build stronger and more caring communities.

Give to Oceana’s Youth Fund and support our YAC here.

What is the Youth Advisory Council (YAC)?

The Youth Advisory Council is a special “youth as grant makers” project of the Community Foundation for Oceana County. The Council, made up of adult advisors and 45 student representatives from Oceana County’s area schools, involves young people in solving real problems affecting their communities and peers. YAC members help set policy and guide distribution of over $20,000 a year in grants to promising youth related projects in Oceana County. This special group of young people are Oceana County’s own local panel of experts regarding youth issues who provide recommendations to the Community Foundation for Oceana County’s board of directors about grants to be awarded from the fund each year.

2019 Youth Needs Assessment

Following Council of Michigan Foundation’s best practices, the Council is tasked with conducting a County-wide needs assessment survey every three years.

A YAC sub-committee designed and administered the survey, with the support of school administration. Over 650 youth responded to the survey, from 6^th-12^th grades, evenly spread across school districts and gender. Respondents identified top issues from a list of 42 options affecting themselves and their peers. The top 5 issues stood well apart from the rest (ranked 1-5): stress from schoolwork, vaping use, bullying in school, depression/suicidal thoughts, and lack of self-esteem.

Collectively, YAC members have determined priority areas for their activities and grantmaking. The youth agreed that many of the issues that came to light through this survey were mental health related. Others that were behavioral, such as vaping use, the group determined could be coping mechanisms teens turn to when dealing with stress and depression. YAC members decided to prioritize mental health and positive coping mechanisms for stress for their 2020 work.

Read the full story in our news section or check out the full set of results here.

What do Members do?

Members of YAC attend one meeting a month to make grant making decisions or to learn more about youth issues in Oceana County. Four times a year the Council reviews grant proposals for youth projects and determines which projects will receive funding by evaluating the proposals and making site visits to the agency requesting funding. Since its inception, our YAC has made over 449 grants to local youth projects totaling over $432,000.

For more information on our Youth Advisory Council, call 231.869.3377.

About

Our Board

Joe Kilmovitz

Chair

Beth Snider

Vice Chair

Frank Arvai

Treasurer

Kris Callen

Lucy Ordoobadi

Steve Paulus

Rob Barefoot

Jo Estrada-Guerra

Kellie Fox

Rita Grant

to be announced (H)

Dr. Scott Karaptian

Emma Kirwin

Amy LaBarge

Lois Lydens

Julie Stivers

Governance Committee

PR/Development Committee

Finance/Investment Committee

Grant Committee

Personnel Committee

Design Committee

Youth Advisory Council (YAC)

Tammy Carey

Chief Executive Officer

Hannah Naples

Program Officer

Cindy Bengston

Administrative Assistant\

Elly Bainbridge

CYD Success Coach

Maggie Payne

Youth Advisory Council Advisor

theresa Mead

Read Early. Read Often. Program Coordinator

2019 Annual Report

2020 Annual Report

2021 Annual Report

2022 Annual Report

2023 Annual Report

2024-25 Highlights