Consumers Energy, CMS Energy, Their Employees, and Foundations Contributed $2.8 Million to Nonprofits in 2005
March 13 2006 - 6:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
JACKSON, Mich., March 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Consumers Energy
and its parent company, CMS Energy, their employees, and
philanthropic arms, the Consumers Energy Foundation and the CMS
Energy Foundation, contributed $2.8 million to nonprofit
organizations in 2005. The bulk of those contributions went to
Michigan groups. The United Way was the largest single recipient
with $1.7 million contributed to 68 local United Way agencies.
Grants totaling nearly $970,000 were awarded to 668 projects. Those
projects involved education, health care, social welfare, culture
and the arts, community and civic activities, and the environment.
The Consumers Energy Foundation's Volunteer Investment Program
awarded grants totaling almost $116,000 to 270 organizations on
behalf of 380 employees and retirees. The grants recognize
outstanding volunteerism. Employees of both companies and the
philanthropic foundations donated nearly $150,000 to the American
Red Cross for hurricane relief efforts. The CMS Energy Foundation
made an immediate $10,000 donation after Hurricane Katrina hit the
Gulf Coast. The Consumers Energy Foundation matched all hurricane
relief donations that employees made to the Red Cross in September.
CMS Energy and Consumers Energy employees contributed nearly
$68,000, which the foundation matched. Other notable grants in 2005
included: * $50,000 to the Moroccan American Commission on
Education and Cultural Exchange, supporting a student in the
Fulbright Scholarship Program. * $30,000 to Grand Valley State
University for construction of an engineering facility in downtown
Grand Rapids. * $25,000 to Spring Arbor University for construction
of a new academic learning center. * $20,000 to Saginaw Valley
State University to expand and upgrade an engineering laboratory. *
$15,000 to the Mid-Michigan Children's Museum to establish a
children's museum on a brownfield redevelopment site in Saginaw. *
$15,000 to the Boy Scouts of America -- Great Sauk Trail Council
for construction of a new dining hall and conference center at Camp
Teetonkah near Jackson. * $15,000 to Davenport University for new
construction and renovations to the university's Grand Rapids area
facilities and expansion of the Rollin M. Gerstacker Library and
Learning Center on its Midland campus. * $15,000 to the Charlevoix
Historical Society for the development of a temporary exhibit about
the Big Rock Point nuclear power plant and its history. The
decommissioning of the Consumers Energy plant is scheduled to be
completed this year. * $10,000 to the Grand Rapids Ballet Company
for program enhancements and capital improvements at the
organization's downtown Grand Rapids facilities. * $10,000 to Kids
'N' Stuff: An Interactive Experience for Kids to expand the
hands-on museum's facilities in downtown Albion. * $10,000 to
Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan for construction of a new
and expanded Goodwill Inn homeless shelter in Traverse City. *
$10,000 to the Flint Institute of Music for renovations to the
organization's facility in Flint. * $10,000 to the Friends of the
Falling Water Trail, supporting development of a linear park
between Jackson and Concord. CMS Energy is an integrated energy
company, which has as its primary business operations an electric
and natural gas utility, natural gas pipeline systems, and
independent power generation. Consumers Energy, the principal
subsidiary of CMS Energy, provides natural gas and electricity to
more than six million of Michigan's nearly 10 million residents in
all 68 Lower Peninsula counties. For more information about
Consumers Energy, visit our Website at
http://www.consumersenergy.com/ . DATASOURCE: Consumers Energy
CONTACT: Jeff Holyfield, +1-517-788-2394, or Dan Bishop,
+1-517-788-2395, both of Consumers Energy Web site:
http://www.consumersenergy.com/
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