Update on a Summer 2020 Program

Things continue to change for us here at Origin, so I wanted to take a quick moment to keep everyone up to speed on recent developments.

We received a large donation from Founders Brewing Company, which helps us tremendously in reaching our goals this year. Combined with individual contributions, we'll be able to purchase gear to host up to seven individuals on our trips. This was our biggest goal in 2020 and a massive milestone for Origin. This gear provides the foundation we need to allocate future donations towards scholarships, making fundraising much more accessible and helping us serve our community more efficiently.

We couldn't be more grateful for the support of Founders, and we are very excited to work with such a prominent icon in West Michigan in serving our community!

There's other good news: the Manitou Island Transit announced it would begin operating on July 1, 2020. While there's a good chance this will happen, nothing is certain until the docks on the island become available for use. The Manitou Island Transit should announce when the docks will be dredged sometime within the next week. So long as everything works out, we will organize a North Manitou Island trip for this summer!

We aim to fill the trip with scholarship recipients from "single households" to mitigate health risks. This week, we'll reach out to local foster homes and shelters that may have teens to nominate for our trips.

Despite all the hiccups this year, we're excited to have the opportunity and support to continue pushing forward. I appreciate your continued support and wish everyone well in these final weeks of spring!

- Joe