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Grants fully fund $16,000 Fun Fest

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 11:31 AM EDT

As recipient this year of two major grants totaling $16,000, the 23rd annual Dowagiac Fun Fest, with its Sizzlin' Hot Sidewalk Days, is sure to produce a high-energy line-up of entertainment for this community's largest summertime bash, featuring more than 50 hours of vocal and instrumental music, specialty entertainment, sporting activities, children's events and interactive performance workshops, plus the new Taste of Dowagiac.

The three-day festival, which returns to the central business district Thursday through Saturday, July 24-26, is hosted by Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce.

"Our sincere gratitude is extended to the St. Denys Foundation of Dowagiac and to The Pokagon Fund of New Buffalo, which have partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to bring the three-day festival to our central business district," said Vickie Phillipson, program director for the two organizations, who coordinated and raised funding for this year's event.

For the seventh consecutive year, the July festival received an essential funding boost through the DDA, which was the recipient of a $10,000 fine arts grant from the St. Denys Foundation of Dowagiac.

Previously, St. Denys also funded the DDA's 12-week Beckwith Park Summer Concert Series, which Huntington Bank is underwriting this summer.

"New this year, the Chamber of Commerce was also the recipient of a $6,000 grant from The Pokagon Fund, which offsets further expenses associated with the July festival," Phillipson said Tuesday.

"In recent years, as state funding to the arts declined, St. Denys Foundation has been a godsend to us," Phillipson said. "Six years ago, when the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo first warned us that state funding was becoming limited, on behalf of the DDA and Chamber of Commerce, I began to investigate other revenue sources, such as St. Denys Foundation," Phillipson said.

"On behalf of the DDA, Chamber of Commerce and our Dowagiac community, which truly appreciates the fine arts, our heartfelt gratitude is again extended to St. Denys Foundation for giving continued life to our community events."

St. Denys Foundation of Dowagiac supports four charitable areas of interest.

In addition to the arts and art educational programs, the foundation funds environmental programs, particularly the preservation of natural areas, open space and areas having special natural beauty or significance.

The foundation supports educational programs, including capital contributions and scholarships, as well as supporting libraries and supplemental learning programs.

The foundation is also interested in health programs, including hospice and other care programs, and scholarships and training in preventive medicine.

Just as she had taken steps to find an alternative to state arts funding, in late-February Phillipson wrote and submitted a second grant application - this time to The Pokagon Fund. She was hopeful the $6,000 grant application would be fully funded and, thereby, would replace the need for corporate contributions to the festival which, in today's tight economy, she feared may be difficult to attract.

"As a result of the $6,000 grant the Chamber of Commerce was awarded from The Pokagon Fund and the $10,000 grant the DDA received from St. Denys Foundation, for the first time in its history, the July festival will be fully grant-funded," Phillipson said.

In February, The Pokagon Fund also stepped into one of the top funding positions of the Chamber's Ice Time Festival as the event's first-ever $1,000 Platinum Sculpture Sponsor.

Similar to staff and volunteers who work for this community's Chamber of Commerce, Mary Dunbar has long worked for non-profit organizations and realizes one of their two biggest challenges is finding adequate funding, and the tedious and time-consuming process of grant writing.

Today, as executive director of The Pokagon Fund, Dunbar finds it enjoyable to be on the opposite side of philanthropy and to also watch how organizations, such as the Dowagiac Chamber, use their money to have a positive impact on their community.

The Pokagon Fund is being supported initially by 2 percent of the electronic gambling revenue from Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo Township.

To receive a brochure on the Dowagiac Fun Fest and Sizzlin' Sidewalk Days, or to register for sidewalk booth space, call the Chamber of Commerce at (269) 782-8212.

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