Tag Archives: WMEAC

GM awards $75,000 in grants to local charities

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By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
WKTV Managing Editor
joanne@wktv.org

To help educate potential new drivers on the dangers of driving impaired, the Wyoming Department of Public Safety will be purchasing a distracted and impaired driver simulator thanks to a $25,000 grant from GM Motors Corporate Giving.

GM Grand Rapids Operations Plant Director Troy Comiskey (center) announces the 2023 GM Corporate Giving grant recipients from the Grand Rapids area. (WTKV/Joanne Bailey-Boorsma)

The grant, which was given to the Wyoming Greater Resource Alliance for the public safety department’s use, was one of three grants awarded by the GM Grand Rapids Operations, which is located in Wyoming. The grants totaled $75,000 with the two other organizations also receiving $25,000 each was The Right Place and West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC).

“GM has made a concerted effort to bump up its local giving to the communities,” said Troy Comiskey, plant director for the Grand Rapids Operations. “They take corporate giving very seriously. They have upped it the last two years in a row with definitely a jump this year from the $10,000 mark to the $25,000 mark.” 

Through the GM Community Grant program, the company has donated around $3 million to a 157 charities over the last year in U.S. communities that surround GM manufacturing sites. Since its inception, GM’s Corporate Giving has investing has helped communities across the U.S. in a variety of initiatives focused on STEM, vehicle and road safety and community impact.

Comiskey noted that the giving has gone beyond just monetary but with many of the Grand Rapids Operations employees giving time to a variety of events such as Teach for the Watershed, the Mayor’s Grand River Clean-Up, and FIRST Robotics programs. He noted this is on top of employees working sometimes 40-plus hours a week and taking care of their own families that “they still find time for a couple of hours per week or month to help local communities.”

From left, Lt. Eric Wiler from the Wyoming Department of Public Safety, UAW Local 167 Chairman Chris Newman, The Right Place Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives Brad Comment, WMEAC Director of Engagement Marshall A. Kilgore, and GM Grand Rapids Operations Plant Director Troy Comiskey (WKTV/Joanne N. Bailey-Boorsma)

Educating the Future about the Environment

One of the beneficiaries of that volunteer support has ben WMEAC which among its programs host the Teach for the Watershed. which is an interactive watershed education program based on Michigan Science Curriculum Standards, and the Mayor’s Grand River Cleanup, the state’s largest riverbank cleanup.

“We are so thankful to GM for this,” said Marshall A. Kilgore, WMEAC’s director of engagement. “This grant started back a few years ago at $200 with them kind enough to extend their philanthropy from $200 to $25,000.”

Kilgore said WMEAC has seen growth in its programs and through the grant will be able to reach more students about how to better take care of their environment.

“So we plan to use this money for the water that connects all of us here in West Michigan and also teach our youth how to be better stewards of their land, water and soil,” he said.

Making the Roads Safer

Lt. Eric Wiler said his department is working to purchase the distracted and impaired driver simulator which they are hoping to debut at this year’s National Night Out as well as other events, such as Metro Cruise. Plans are also in the works to bring the simulator to local school districts to educate potential new drivers about driving with cellphones or while intoxicated.

According to the Michigan State Police, 16,543 crashes in 2021 involving distracted driving. Fatal distracted driving crashes increased by 14% from 2020 to 2021. According to the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration, 3,522 people died because of districted driving in 2021.

To help combat the issue, the Michigan legislature passed a ban on using phones while driving in May.

Building a Workforce Pipeline

Brad Comment, senior vice president of strategic initiatives for The Right Place, said the organization plans to use its grant funding toward growing Michigan’s manufacturing, technology and life science sectors, which Comiskey had commented is “very near and dear to our heart here at GM because we have such a technical workforce.” 

Through its programs, Comment said The Right Place will continue to work to bring students into manufacturing facilities and introduce them to careers in manufacturing and technology. 

GM was started in 1908 by William C. Durant as a holding company for the Buick Car Company. Within two years, Durant brought some of the biggest names in the automotive industry, including Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Pontiac and the predecessors of GMC Truck. For more than 75 years, the GM Grand Rapids Operations, which is at 5100 Burlingame SW, has been producing high prevision, high volume automotive components for GM products as well as non-GM products. 

Three non-profits that service the Wyoming/ Kentwood communities get a little thanks in the form of a GM grant

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GM Components Holdings Planet Manager Troy Comiskey (far left) and UAW Local 167 Bargaining Chair Martin Wood (far right) presented $30,000 in GM Community Impact Grants at the 28th Street Metro Cruise. (WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org

As plant manager of Wyoming’s GM Components Holdings, Troy Comiskey can tell you a lot about the facility located at 2100 Burlingame Ave. SW, such as the plant added 330 new jobs last year when it opened its axle department last year.

But the highlights for Comiskey, who has been with the plant for about a year, is the dedication the team has to helping better its community.

“Last year, for the mayor’s river clean-up, we filled a bus with volunteers who worked on both the Buck Creek and the Grand River,” Comiskey said.

Martin Wood, the bargaining chair for Local 167, the union that represents many of the employees at GM Components Holdings, said the team at the plant has had a long history of giving back to its community.

“The members of Local 167 do a lot in the community from working with robotics programs to helping collect school supplies for area schools,” Wood said. “Today it is just great to be highlighting some of the organizations that we work with that give back to our community.”

On Aug. 24, Comiskey and Wood were at the 2019 Metro Cruise to present $30,000 in GM Community Impact Grants, funded by GM Corporate Giving, to three organizations that provide services to the Wyoming and Kentwood communities. The organizations, each receiving $10,000, were the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance, West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC), and Kids Food Basket.

“Last year, we were able to use the money to bring in the distracted driving simulator to two different high schools,” said the City of Wyoming Chief Kim Koster, who received the check for the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance. The Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance has received money from the GM Corporate Giving program for the past several years.

“This year we are planning to purchase several portable speed detectors,” Koster said, adding that these detectors have been helpful in monitoring speeds on local roads.

“They provide a way for drivers to self monitor how fast they are going,” she said. “They have proven to be very efficient in that a driver is able to see the speed they are going and self adjust. They see they are exceeding the limit and slowdown.”

Koster said how many monitors would be purchased and where they would be located still had to be determined.

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Another organization that has received GM Community Impact Grants in the past is WMEAC. The organization uses the funds to support its Teach for the Watershed at Godfrey Lee Public Schools. The program is a hands-on opportunity for students in kindergarten through sixth grade to learn about their watershed, storm water contamination, and what the students can do to prevent pollution. The funs also helped to support WMEAC’s Annual Mayors’ Grand River Cleanup, the largest annual river clean up in Michigan. 

Receiving its first GM Community Impact Grant was the Kids Food Basket, which provides sack suppers to at-risk children who are in food-insecure households. Kids Food Basket provides meal to children who attend schools in the cities of Kentwood and Wyoming.

The GM Community Impact Grants program this year will provide nearly $2.3 million in funding to hundreds of organizations in 47 communities where GM employed live and work. Of that amount, $30,000 was awarded to the GM Components Holdings LLC in Wyoming to give to local organizations.

GM Foundation awards grants to three local organizations making a difference in Wyoming

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By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

joanne@wktv.org

 

With more than a 1,000 traffic fatalities in the state of Michigan, distracted driving has certainly become a concern with law enforcement.

 

The Wyoming Department of Public Safety, through a recent grant from the GM Foundation, hopes to educate area students about the dangers of distracted driving from alcohol to cell phones.

 

“We are going to be going into all of our local high schools partnering with them and bringing in the Save a Life tour. We will have some presentations and hopefully some interactive displays with the teenagers there just showing them the potential of distracted driving and the consequences that could be,” said Wyoming Chief Kim Koster.

 

An interactive display from Save a Life.

The Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance, which received the grant, plans to help the Wyoming Department of Public Safety bring in the program Save a Life, an international campaign  designed to get the message out about the dangers of distracted driving. The program includes highly advanced impaired and distracted driving simulators that give participants a completely realistic, sober perspective on the effects of driving while impaired or distracted.

 

“We are receiving generously from General Motors a check that will be used specifically by our police department for distracted drivers,” said Mayor Jack Poll, who was at the opening ceremonies or the 28th Street Metro Cruise where the grants were presented. The 28th Street Metro Cruise is usually the last weekend in August.

 

For the past several years GM has recognized and supported local organizations that help with a number of projects within the community. The GM Community Grants program, funded by the GM Foundation, is providing about $2 million to hundreds of organizations in 48 communities where GM employees live and work. Of that amount, $30,000 was awarded to the GM Components Holdings LLC in Wyoming to give to local organizations.

 

GM Foundation awards three grants totaling $30,000 recently at the 2018 28th Street Metro Cruise.

That amount was split between three organizations, the Greater Wyoming Community Resource Alliance, the West Michigan Environmental Action Council (WMEAC), and Feeding America.

 

WMEAC will use most of its grant money toward its Teach the Watershed program at Godfrey Lee Elementary School, said WMEAC Director of Development Mary Robinson.

 

“We work specifically with fourth graders to teach them about the watershed and air pollution and how then can be actors in stopping pollution,” Robinson said. “We will also have a fall water festival that will include kids from the elementary school but also from the early childhood center.”

 

The last group was the Feeding America West Michigan Food Bank which will utilize the grant to help support 14 school mobile pantries feeding more than 14,000 families. One of the locations is Wyoming’s Parkview Elementary.