Superior Health Foundation gets $1K donation
The Superior Health Foundation has received a check for $1,000 from Lakeshore Skin Care in Marquette. The money was raised during a one week fundraising event at Lakeshore in which customers received a micro-dermabrasion facial for a donation. The event was held in conjunction with National Breast Cancer Awareness month.
The donation comes as the Superior Health Foundation moves to a new location in downtown Marquette. On November 1, the Superior Health Foundation, a conversion 501 c(3) foundation that materialized following Duke LifePoint’s acquisition of Marquette General Health System, moved its office from MGH to 121 N. Front Street in Marquette, next to the WMQT/WZAM radio station.
“We’re excited about our new beginnings and move downtown,” said Jim LaJoie, executive director of the SHF – formerly the Marquette General Foundation. “We have a new name, a revised mission and a new home. What hasn’t changed is our undeniable commitment to provide charitable funding to meet the ongoing health needs of the underserved.”
The SHF’s mission is to improve health care in the greater Marquette area and the underserved of the Upper Peninsula. That mission may include supporting unmet healthcare needs of the uninsured, healthcare educational programs, supporting programs and research which have the primary purpose of preventing and reducing illness and disease, and other programs to provide the health, education and welfare of the community.
Following the sale of MGHS to Duke LifePoint, the Superior Health Foundation was given a sum of money by DLP that has since been invested with an investment group, with investment earnings to provide grant funding in perpetuity to support health initiatives across the Upper Peninsula.
“Our board of directors feels very strongly in allowing the principal sufficient time to adequately grow,” LaJoie said. “We’re very excited and humbled to have opportunities to enrich the health and well being of residents of the Upper Peninsula. There are so many health needs … our foundation is committed to playing a role in addressing them.”
Tom Buckingham, President of the SHF Board of Directors, said the board will communicate with a variety of stakeholders throughout the Upper Peninsula to receive input and feedback on how SHF can have the most effective impact on health issues in the communities of the U.P. The current seven-person board is also looking to expand as part of its board development.
“The feedback we receive,” he said, “will help us to develop a strategic grant-making policy for serving Upper Peninsula communities. Following the approval of the Strategic Grantmaking Policy, we will develop a grant-making timetable.”
Fundraising, LaJoie stressed, will continue to be a centerpiece of SHP’s operations.
“We will continue to work very closely with our existing donors and establish new donor relations to help enhance our mission,” LaJoie said. “We’re very excited about the future.”
To celebrate its opening, the Superior Health Foundation will host a Holiday Open House from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 5, at its new location. Guests will be treated to an assortment of chocolates, along with light refreshments. Several prizes will also be given away.
Visitors are encouraged to park in the City parking deck.
The Foundation can be reached at 906-225-6914. A new website is under construction at www.superiorhealthfoundation.org.