KDL wins national award, plans to reinvest the prize money into the community (Courtesy Photo)
By WKTV Staff
deborah@wktv.org
The Jerry Kline Community Impact Award recognizes libraries as a vital community asset (Courtesy, KDL)
The Kent District Library Board of Trustees recently approved a plan to reinvest $250,000 in prize money into the community. The money will be used to support library expansion projects and to establish a scholarship fund.
As the recipient of the fifth annual Jerry Kline Community Impact Award, KDL receives the one-time prize as the 2023 winner of this national award.
Developed as a partnership between the Gerald M. Kline Family Foundation and Library Journal, this award recognizes the powerful synergy that results when a library works closely with both its local government and its community.
Funding Details
Four communities in the KDL service area currently have a library expansion project underway — the cities of Rockford and Walker and townships of Grattan and Tyrone. Thanks to this one-time prize for excellence, KDL is able to pledge $50,000 to support each of these projects.
KDL is also establishing a scholarship fund for KDL patrons who are a pursuing a college degree with plans to positively impact their community. The fund will be established with $50,000 from the Jerry Kline prize, interest earned from KDL’s Community Foundation Fund through the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, and private donations.
Scholarship applications will be announced and accepted late in 2024.
Community Impact
“The whole focus of the Jerry Kline Award is community impact, so it only seems fitting we use these funds to have a positive effect on the communities that we serve and love,” KDL Executive Director Lance Werner said. “This is an exciting opportunity to live out our mission of furthering all people thanks to the financial prize that comes with this recognition.
“This gives us a unique opportunity to invest in the physical growth of branches in our community and in personal growth for exceptional patrons. We are so pleased to give back to Kent County, whose residents so thoughtfully support our operations.”
People who would like to donate to the building projects can do so by contacting the government offices for Grattan Township, city of Rockford, Tyrone Township or city of Walker. For those who would like to donate to the KDL Impact Scholarship fund, visit kdl.org/donate.
Impact Award Highlights
(Courtesy, KDL)
The Jerry Kline Community Impact Award was created in 2019 to distinguish the public library as a vital community asset.
KDL was recognized for building relationships with local officials based on a foundation of trust and credibility.
All U.S. public libraries were eligible to apply for the prize whether in a single building in a small town or a multi-branch system serving an entire region.
Nominations were evaluated based the library’s impact on the community in areas such as engagement, inclusion, leadership development, sustainable thinking and inventiveness.
An East Kentwood High School graduate has been awarded the Northwood University Presidential Scholarship.
Kelsey Depault is the recipient of the Presidential Scholarship, which awards $15,000 per year for four years for students living on campus, and $13,500 for those residing off campus.
Depault, play softball at East Kentwood and the club team Caledonia Chaos, signed to play softball at Northwood University last fall. She was a shortstop and on the outfield. Depault also tied the school record for most hits in a season. She got 75.
The Presidential Scholarship recognizes leadership, determination, personal freedom/responsibility, and academic excellence along with experience in volunteerism, resilience, entrepreneurship and/or cross-cultural impact.
Students are selection for consideration based on the information they provide in their Northwood application.
Northwood University is a private institution in Midland, Michigan. It opened in 1959 and has had more than 33,000 graduates. Among some of its most notable graduates are Dick DeVos, former U.S. Congresswoman Candice Miller. current U.S. Congresswoman Lisa McClain, and the first African-American woman to be named Miss USA, Carole Gist.
Kent County Black Caucus is offering two scholarships to African American students attending college. (Pxhere.com)
By Monica Sparks Kent County Commissioner
In celebration of Black History Month, the Kent County Black Caucus is offering two $250 scholarships to any African American student currently attending college or a skilled trade center.
The scholarship is designed to help cover the cost of books.
To be considered for the scholarships, tag or post on the Kent County Black Caucus on Facebook. Include your name and where you attend school and use #knowledgeispower in your post.
Donnie Alford owns his past with a perspective on where he comes from, where he is today and why it all matters that seems mature beyond his 18 years. The Wyoming High School senior, who graduates June 1, tells his story with the precision and detail of a writer, stating his intent to reach out to struggling young people.
“I kind of want to tell you everything, because I want to be an inspiration for kids not to give up,” he said as he began our interview.
In true autobiographer form, he starts at the beginning: “I was born Sept. 4, 1998.”
Julian and Stacey Goodson took Donnie in as a son
Donnie’s family lived on the South Side of Chicago in the Robert Taylor projects, public housing that was notorious for drugs, gangs and violence. “You couldn’t sit above a certain level in the house because you had to be afraid of stray bullets that would fly in the home,” he said. “We always tried to stay below couch-level because it was dangerous.”
Yet many residents, including his family, had few other options. “When I was 5 or 6 years old, they tore down all the the project housing in Chicago, which forced thousands and thousands of mostly African-Americans to be homeless.”
For Donnie, that piece of Chicago history was real life. After a few nights sleeping in an old Volkswagen, he joined his relatives– 14 people total – in a three-bedroom apartment where he lived for the next two years.
“My bedroom wasn’t a bedroom; it was a really big closet. I used my clothes as a bed. I didn’t get my own mattress until I was in fourth grade.”
Donnie Alford smiles just talking about basketball
Moving to Grand Rapids
Donnie’s mother, Shawntay Hill, left Chicago for Grand Rapids to search for work and a new place to live. She came back for Donnie when he was almost 9-years-old.
Life in Grand Rapids was “me and my mom against the world,” he said. Fortunately, Donnie found happiness on the basketball court.
“Basketball is my passion; it’s my life,” he said. “Basketball saved me from some rough times. If it wasn’t for basketball, quite honestly, I would probably be doing what the majority of kids that come from my situation do -– the gang and drug life.
“Basketball was like a safe haven. When I was on the court all my problems would disappear for those split seconds when the ball was in my hand.”
But that passion didn’t yet transfer to the classroom, because Donnie didn’t see the point of trying. By then, his father was serving a more than 20-year prison sentence. “My father gets out of prison when I am 24 years old,” he said. “I can’t remember a moment when my father was free.
Donnie Alford looks to Julian Goodson as a father and example
“I didn’t care about school because, why would I? I didn’t think I was going to be anything in my life.”
When Donnie was 10, his mother gave birth to a boy, Armontae, and Donnie soon embraced the idea of becoming a big brother. But when the baby was just two months old, Donnie’s mother had a stroke and a heart attack, shaking the little stability he had in his life.
Shawntay spent the next seven years, from age 31 to 38, in a near vegetative state at a nursing home, never relearning to walk or talk. Her absence left a huge void in Donnie’s life.
“My mom was like my best friend. Growing up, I was an only child. We did everything together. She was the one who taught me to play basketball.”
With his mom in the hospital, Donnie spent the next few years living with aunts in Grand Rapids and Wyoming, content to get by with D’s in school.
Teacher Kellie Self could see the potential Donnie had in her sixth-grade class, even though he battled frustration and anger.
“I remember him being a brilliant kid who was an incredible writer,” she said. “I knew how capable he was, and that he could accomplish anything he put his mind to. However, I don’t necessarily think he believed that himself yet.
“Honestly, I didn’t treat him any differently than I treat any of my other students, but he responded differently to my encouragement and nurturing -– he literally thrived from it. I kept telling him he could do anything he wanted, and just how smart I knew he was.”
Donnie Alford earned a scholarship to play basketball at Olivet College
Self remembers one particularly rough day for Donnie.
“The social worker and I were in the hallway talking with him and she asked him what was wrong. He screamed, ‘I just want to see my mom!’ ‘You want to see your mom? I’ll take you there!’ the counselor replied. He couldn’t believe we could actually do something like that.”
Self ran back to her classroom and grabbed an African violet flower someone had given her and told him to give it to his mother. “I still have the photo of him next to his mom holding the flower, with with a huge smile on his face.”
Enter the Goodsons
Fate twisted Donnie’s freshman year, when he met Stacey and Julian Goodson, foster parents to many children including a good friend of Donnie’s. They took Donnie in when he was almost 16.
“They were always on me about my grades, he said. “It was like a culture change. The first semester I had straight D’s. I finished the second semester with straight B’s.”
Stacey and Julian both reached Donnie in their own ways. “Julian did it with basketball,” Donnie said, but it was much more than that.
“He told me he cared about me and he loved me. I never had a man in my life tell me he loved me. He actually cared about me and wanted me to be great. He didn’t just see me as a kid living in his house. He felt I was his son.”
Julian remembers Donnie coming to them with a fierce sense of independence. But after learning he was part of the family, Donnie grew leaps and bounds as a student and community member.
“One of the biggest things he learned was how to be a part of a family structure and unit,” Julian said. “He showed incredible leadership among his peers and siblings. … It was really just seeing what type of potential he had. He was able to tap into his potential and he found he was good at a lot of things, not just basketball.”
Julian was the male example Donnie needed.
“Growing up I never seen a successful African-American man,” Donnie said. “I didn’t really know what that was. Julian was there to show me African-American men can be successful, because I didn’t believe we could in this world. He showed me we could. He gave me hope.”
Stacey reached him with what seemed to Donnie like super powers.
“Stacey does so much,” he marveled. “She works, coaches sports, comes home, deals with all our problems, cooks dinner and still has time to laugh and be a good mom to all of us. She’s like superwoman. … I have mad love for her.”
The love is mutual.
“I’ve seen him mature a lot, as far as being an older sibling,” Stacey said. “I’ve also seen him mature in his priorities, what they are and what they need to be aligned with as far as academics and so forth.”
For so long, college wasn’t on Donnie’s radar. No one in Donnie’s family had graduated high school since the early 2000s, much less gone to college. But as his grades improved and more opportunities in basketball came his way, that began to change. The Goodsons gave him the opportunity to play travel basketball, and his team won every weekend.
Promises to His Mother
While Donnie began to excel, he remained hopeful that his mother would someday get better. But last year, doctors informed him she was 98 percent brain dead following a major medical setback. At that point, he said, “I realized my mom was never going to be the same again.”
He and relatives made the heart-wrenching decision to pull her off life support. “I watched my mom suffer for seven years. It was quite honestly the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life.
“My mom was a free spirit,” he added. “She loved to have fun, to laugh and talk and joke and dance.”
Shawntay Hill died May 15, 2016, exactly one year before Donnie was interviewed for this story.
“When my mom died, it was surreal. I couldn’t believe it. It was literally like a part of me died. I lost my best friend and my mom at once. I didn’t connect with anyone like I did with my mom.”
He found support at school from his friends and teachers. “The thing I like about Wyoming is it’s like a family.”
Before his mother died, Donnie made some promises to her.
“I promised my mom I will graduate. I would graduate high school and I would go to college and graduate from there. I told her I would play collegiate basketball. I told her I will do it all for her, and so far I have kept every word.”
‘A Poor Kid from the South Side’
To keep his word to his mother, Donnie, a guard for the Wyoming Wolves, had to up his game in a major way. Always an energetic, up-tempo player, he described himself as average overall. But senior year, “Every time I stepped on the court I was one of the best players.” He ended the year as all-conference honorable mention and all-area honorable mention.
He also improved thanks to the Goodsons, both coaches in Wyoming, who gave him access to the gym and weight room during the summer before his senior year.
“I worked out the whole summer and my motivation was my mom.” He got up every day at 7 a.m., and headed to the track for two hours to run the bleachers wearing a 25-pound weighted jacket.
He would go home for breakfast and then head back to the gym. From noon to 2:30 p.m. he was in the weight room and from 2:30 to 6 p.m. he was in the gym. “I would make 2,000 threes a day, 5,000 free throws, I would dribble until my arms were numb. I would do sprints until my feet hurt.”
He was also inspired by varsity boys basketball coach Tom VanderKlay, who demonstrates life skills to help athletes be successful men in the long run, Donnie said.
Donnie has received a scholarship to play basketball next school year at Olivet College, where he plans to major in personal training and physical therapy.
“Sometimes it doesn’t feel real,” he confessed. “At one point I was content with being like everybody else (from similar backgrounds): I’m going to either end up in jail or sell drugs. That’s the only way out. That’s all I knew.
“Who would ever have thought a poor kid from the South Side of Chicago would go on to play college basketball?”
Always Improving
Donnie’s GPA has climbed from a 1.5 his sophomore year to a 2.7. He hopes to end the year close to a 3.0.
He’s looking forward to his next step.
“My plan is to go to Olivet and dominate. I don’t plan on being an average player. I don’t want to be average anymore. I want to be great.”
Donnie said he grateful to many people who have supported him.
“Most of the kids who come from my situation, they don’t get out of Chicago, let alone finish high school and go to college. To be the first college student (from his family) is going to be pretty amazing. I’m going to continue to work hard and make sure I am the first college graduate.
“I’m just blessed.”
Check out School News Network for more stories about students, schools, and faculty in West Michigan.
All those nickels, dimes and quarters placed into the canisters at your local McDonald’s restaurants are helping to fuel ten, $8,000 college scholarships for some of the state’s most extraordinary high school graduates, including a trio of recent graduates from West Michigan, one of whom is a Wyoming student.
Taylor Keppel of Wyoming — along with Heather Price of Caledonia and Hanel Yu of Grand Rapids — was selected from a pool of some 200 applicants for outstanding academic achievement, community involvement and financial need from the Ronald McDonald House Charities(RMHC) of Outstate Michigan. RMHC is a non-profit that supports programs and efforts which improve the health and well-being of children from birth through age 18.
The canister funds, which collect approximately $550,000 annually from McDonald’s restaurants throughout Michigan, fund the Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholars program, and support RMHC’s other grantmaking efforts to children’s causes.
The trio will be honored along with seven other scholarship winners at a July 20 scholarship dinner for the scholars and their families at Amway World Headquarters in Ada, Mich. Each recipient will receive $2,000 a year for four years at a college of their choice.
“It’s a privilege to reward these young leaders for their extraordinary accomplishments,” said Lesa Dion, executive director of RMHC of Outstate Michigan, “Everyone involved with the Ronald McDonald House Charities takes pride in helping these students toward their goal of higher education.”
Keppel maintained a 3.96 grade point average at Calvin Christian High School, while volunteering with the Adaptive Tennis Clinics at Mary Free Bed Hospital and working as a part-time nanny during the school year. She’s been intrigued with the human eye since middle school and is headed to Grand Valley State University this fall to pursue a career in optometry.
“I love school and I’ve always excelled,” said Keppel. “I was so excited to learn I won a scholarship, and so were my parents. They’ve always pushed me to do my best, and it’s finally paying off.”
In addition to academic excellence, extracurricular activities and volunteering, Keppel played varsity tennis at high school and loves making art when she needs a break from her studies.
“It’s great relaxation from all the stress,” she said.
And she excels in that area as well. Her high school art teacher submitted one of her drawings for the Michigan Art Education Association (MAEA) Region 9 Highlight Show — which showcases top student art — and the piece was selected to show at the Grand Rapids Art Museum this past February. The piece was also selected to be a part of the Michigan Youth Arts Festival visual art exhibition in May. The show featured the top 100 artworks by high school artists for the entire state of Michigan.
“While volunteering in a school and orphanage in Guatemala, I met a boy named Esdras who taught me how to really appreciate the joys of life,” said Keppel. “I used a stippling technique which reminded me how our lives may not be perfect in every area, but life as a whole can be such a beautiful thing. I wanted to recreate the contagious smile and joy that erupted from this little boy.”
‘Preciosos Momentos’ by Taylor Keppel
In addition to studies and art, Keppel played four years of varsity tennis in high school, and she loves to be adventurous.
“I recently went on an amazing spelunking trip in Mitchell, Indiana,” she said.
This is the eighth year that RMHC has awarded college scholarships for a total of $624,000 since the inception of the Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholars program. Interested students may begin applying for the 2017 scholarship on October 1. Go here.
