Groups and resources enriching our community

The Stockbridge area is home to a wide array of nonprofit and charitable organizations, all for the benefit of local residents. The information below represents a first pass at compiling descriptions and contact information. Descriptions have been cropped here due to space limitations. To see the expanded descriptions, go to Stockbridgecommunitynews.com.

Not listed or notice an error? Please accept our apologies and email corrected information to [email protected] or snail mail the NEWS, P.O. Box 83, Gregory, MI 48137. Also, if your organization has an event to advertise or announce free of charge in our “Community Calendar” please contact the email above.

4-H Happy Hustlers. Interested in 4-H? Happy Hustlers meet generally once a month. Any youth five years or older may join. The goal of 4-H is to develop citizenship, leadership responsibility and life skills of youth through positive learning programs. Whether you are interested in crafts, photography, or animals, you can discover these programs through Happy Hustlers 4-H Club. If interested please ask to join our Happy Hustlers 4-H page or call Carrie Zeitz at 517-204-1336 or Holly Whitaker, 517-937-9547. Meetings are held at Heritage School on the second Sunday of the month, 6 p.m.

American Legion Mackinder-Glenn Post 510. Many of the events conducted by Post 510 raise funds for charitable causes or community members in need. The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, Sons of the American Legion and American Legion Riders, make up what is known as the Legion Family. All four organizations place[s] high importance on preserving our American traditions and values, improving the quality of life for our nation’s children, caring for Veterans and their families, and perhaps most importantly, teaching the fundamentals of good citizenship. Phone (517) 851-8445.

Angels For Animals: a small group of community members connecting in an online forum and working together to offer short-term assistance to families in crisis and struggling to feed or care for their pets and/or livestock. Angels For Animals will also try to assist with placement, adoption, general medical care, and the occasional emergency medical care when funds are available. Our coverage area is Ingham and Jackson Counties along with immediate surrounding counties. We are not a wealthy community, resources are limited, and the list is long, but we do our best to meet immediate needs. Our end goal is to make sure any animal doesn’t go hungry or suffer. If someone is not comfortable asking publicly for assistance, they can contact one of the administrators privately and confidentially. For more information contact Heather Wheaton at [email protected] or connect with us on Facebook. Ongoing donations may be made at https://www.gofundme.com/angels-for-animals.

Boy and Cub Scouts. Camping, archery, BB gun shooting, bottle/can drives, car washes, Pinewood Derby races—these are a few of the activities that Cub Scouts has to offer. Come join the adventure. Interested? Want info? Contact Mike Stoffer at phone 517-355-3070 or email is [email protected].

Churches: The Stockbridge area is home to a wide assortment of churches and religious organizations. The Stockbridge Community News is pleased to allocate special sections of its December and April print editions to numerous holiday activities underway in these organizations. Please see our online and print “Community Calendar” for specific church activities and events each month.

EchoCenter is a faith-based Christian non-profit organization located in Stockbridge, Michigan. Its 170 acres provide a high adventure event center that also spotlights charities that guests are encouraged to donate to as part of their minimal fee to use the facility. It offers outdoor amenities like biking on wooded trails, a low ropes course with 11 elements and five zip lines. Its large meeting space and commercial kitchen can accommodate up to 125 guests for events like corporate meetings, strategic planning sessions, high school or college team-building, scouts or youth events. For more information, or to book your event, please contact [email protected] or 517.565.3330. Find us at www.echocenter.org or @SelflessEcho on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Friends of the Stockbridge Library organizes the annual Silent Auction and helps with book sales. The Friends help with programming and purchasing needed items for the Stockbridge Library. For info contact P.O. box 802 or email [email protected].

Girl Scouts. Enjoy field trips, camping, cultural studies and more. For info contact Michelle Marshall at 517-937-7694, [email protected] or contact Membership Specialist Callie Frey with the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan at 517-742-4741.

Gregory Senior Center. All who are interested please join this fun, independent group. We are located at 126 Webb Street. Open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. Dues are $10.00 per year and membership is open to all persons over the age of 55 years, regardless of residency. Trips and special events are planned in addition to weekly penny bingo and euchre games. Lunch $3. Please call at least a day in advance. For more info or to schedule a lunch delivery, please call Dick Ellsworth, 517-851-8881 or Ken Allen, 517-281-3683. If the school is closed due to weather, the senior center will be closed.

Munith Lions Club provides ongoing financial support to a wide range of organizations, events and foundations. The group supports Leader Dog for the Blind, Paws for a Cause, Lions of Michigan Foundation, Eversight, Organ Donations, Lions All State Band, Bear Lake Camp, Diabetes Awareness, Braille Transcribing, Radio Reading Services, Penrickton Center for Blind Children, Michigan Youth Academy, Project Kidsight, Winter Camp for the Blind and Youth Exchange. We have a Lion Ev Huttenlocher Scholarship for SHS. We adopt families for Christmas, and also own and maintain the Munith Lions Park. We have a Halloween Parade and Party the Saturday before Halloween for 30 some years. We put up American flags in the summer and Christmas decoration at Christmas. We supply eye exams and glasses for anyone in need. We work for the Stockbridge Lions Bingo on Monday nights. We are a small club but very active. Over several years and many Munith Celebrates Michigan Festivals we bought three used Severe Weather Alert Systems and turned them over to the Township. Every cent we take in from the public goes back out to the public.

We are getting older and need some new younger members to keep these things going. Please think about joining us. “WE SERVE.” Munith Lions meet the second and fourth Tuesdays at 5 p.m. at Hankerd Inn, 10350 Hankerd Rd, Pleasant Lake. Contact (517) 596-2215, email [email protected].

Munith Rod & Gun Club. Spring through fall, daytime and under the lights, the nonprofit MR&GC sports club sponsors American Trapshooting Association (ATA) events and fun shoots. The trapshooter club welcomes all adults and accompanied minors on Friday nights at 5 p.m. for trapshooting practice April through October. Location: 11455 Fitchburg Rd, Munith, Michigan. Contact: (517) 745-3783.

Munith/Stockbridge Community Pay It Forward Group is a local online outreach project solely aimed at helping our community and neighbors at the micro level. Though the local economy has improved since PIF’s founding in 2012, the mission to bring aid to those in need remains. With neighbors helping neighbors throughout the surrounding communities, the group’s format and guidelines are simple: If you are in need of help, it doesn’t matter what it is, post it. Not comfortable asking publicly? Contact one of the administrators privately and confidentially. Know someone in need? Post for them. Someone will see it and help. Your kid needs winter coat? Good chance someone on this page will have one. Need a ride to work because your car broke down? Post it. Maybe someone on here is going that way. Public announcements, lost and found pets, and employment opportunities. Have an item you no longer want or need? Post it. Chances are a neighbor will want or need it.

If you see someone post something and you can help them, times are hard and we have all been there. Some are blessed with more than what they need, and others don’t have enough. This is not a “For Sale” page, and all items must be donated freely. Connect with us on Facebook or email us via our sister group at [email protected].

Open Air Market of Stockbridge. A 501(c) (3) Farmers Market held every Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. on the Stockbridge Township Square from first Friday in May through October as weather permits. Off season, the event continues indoors on select dates. Local and regional musicians perform in the gazebo between 5:30 and 7 p.m. May through August. Our products include local honey, eggs, produce including fresh corn and tomatoes, herbs, salad greens, baked goods, handmade soap, fruit, crafts, flowers, sometimes frozen poultry, and mustards and sauces from Son-in-Law Products. We welcome other non-profit organizations to set up booths for free. The Market participates in Small Business Saturday, and has 4 winter markets in the Presbyterian Church Hall (dates can change). Contact information: OAM, P.O. Box 382, Stockbridge, MI 49285, 517-851-7437, [email protected], and we’re on Facebook.

Shop Rat Foundation. Founded in 2004 by manufacturing entrepreneur, Chris Salow, the Shop Rat Foundation promotes and provides learning opportunities for youth enrolled in grades 6-12 to gain a better understanding of the manufacturing industry through participation in Shop Rat Education Program offerings. The Foundation’s mission is “to ignite interest in manufacturing careers among youth through innovation and outreach.” Its educational program incorporates hands-on, project-based curriculum modules focused on machining, welding, engineering, construction and modern manufacturing (including mechatronics and additive manufacturing). The program is currently facilitating after-school classes, in-school partnership activities and summer camps in Jackson, Ingham and Lenawee Counties. Facilities are located at 11855 Bunkerhill Rd., Pleasant Lake, MI.

Contact info: [email protected] or call (517) 769-2100.

SRSLY (text language for “seriously”) is a team of youth and adults working together to promote positive choices and prevent youth substance use in Stockbridge. SRSLY promotes positive family and community involvement and school bonding, works to limit youth access to alcohol and other drugs, and aims to reduce parental approval of youth drug use. The SRSLY coalition consists of representatives from across Stockbridge, Chelsea, Dexter, and Manchester, including the schools, hospital, library, law enforcement, churches, businesses, parents, and youth. SRSLY focuses on primary prevention among youth aged 10 to 15, but is open to anyone interested in preventing youth substance use by promoting a more positive and healthy community. SRSLY receives support from the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, the 5 Health Towns Foundation, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea, and the Coghlan Family Foundation. For more information or to volunteer, call or text 734-223-9091, visit srslystockbridge.org or contact [email protected].

Stockbridge Area Chamber of Commerce focuses on helping businesses and residents succeed by making our community a better place to work, live, dine, and play. Website www.stockbridge.net or visit our Facebook page.

Stockbridge Area Educational Foundation was founded in 2000 as a 501(c) (3) tax-exempt organization affiliated with the Jackson County Community Foundation. SAEF offers many benefits to the Gregory, Munith and Stockbridge areas through the generous donations of community members and participation in its primary annual fund-raiser, the Festival of Tables. SAEF enhances the educational opportunities available to all of its citizens through quarterly grants and scholarships. Donations offer educational support to community members and organizations, contributing to a more positive and enriched future. Phone 517-851-7188 or visit http://panthernet.net/district/saef.

Stockbridge Area Arts Council (SAAC) is a nonprofit, all volunteer organization dedicated to providing opportunities for all ages to participate in, and enjoy the performing arts and cultural events in our community. Since its inception in 1990, the Arts Council has contributed to the aesthetics of the Township Hall by contributing funds for the new stage curtain, purchasing a new sound system, providing ongoing maintenance for the grand piano, and improving the lighting system. The Council also offers annual scholarships to support graduating seniors planning to major in the arts or to other students pursuing artistic experiences. New members are welcome. SAAC meets 4^th Monday, September – November and January – May 7:00 p.m. at Heritage School starting in January, 2018. For more info: [email protected]

The Stockbridge Area Garden Club, first established in 1984, serves the greater Stockbridge area. Its 20-plus members seek to beautify public areas, educate people on the how-tos of flower gardening, and support civic projects. Among other undertakings, the garden club decorates the Township Hall and Square, weeds and waters the cemetery flag garden, and helps families in need through Stockbridge Community Outreach. Meetings are generally held the first Monday of the month at 1:00 p.m. All interested in are invited contact [email protected] or mail the Stockbridge Garden Club, P.O. Box 612, Stockbridge, MI 49285.

Stockbridge Area Genealogical/Historical Society (SAGHS) is dedicated to preserving and promoting genealogical and historical information throughout the greater Stockbridge area. P.O. Box 966, Stockbridge, MI 49285. For info about general public meetings, please check our website: www.stockbridgeareaghs.org. Contact [email protected].

Stockbridge Area Wellness Coalition (SAWC) was created by the 5 Healthy Towns Foundation (5HF) to help improve the overall wellness of the area served by the former Chelsea Hospital. 5HF is a tax-exempt, private charitable foundation governed by a volunteer board of directors. The mission of the 5HF is to cultivate improvements in personal and community wellness. SAWC aims to serve all those within the Stockbridge school district, focusing on four pillars of health identified by 5HF: making healthy connections, eating better, moving more, and avoiding unhealthy substances. One of the first projects undertaken was to establish the Stockbridge Wellness Center, but other interventions include improving the trail systems, building and improving playgrounds and parks, helping to build the Heritage pavilion and community greenhouse, supporting the Open Air Market and Outreach’s Tide Me Over, establishing SRSLY Stockbridge and planning for wellness improvements for the future. All are invited, encouraged, and welcome to join SAWC. Monthly meetings are held on the third Thursday each month at 5:30 p.m. in the old middle school building, Room 108. Other communities involved with 5HF are Chelsea, Dexter, Grass Lake, and Manchester. To learn more about the Stockbridge Area Wellness Coalition and 5HF visit www.5healthytowns.org or www.facebook.com/stockbridgewellnesscoalition or email [email protected].

Stockbridge Community Education. This department of the Stockbridge Community Schools, oversees community use of the school buildings and property and also organizes enrichment and recreation programs for the district for all ages. Offices are located in Smith Elementary School, 100 Price Avenue, Stockbridge. Phone 517-851-7735 ext. 3207, website http://panthernet.net/departments/community-education/ and Stockbridge Community-Education on Facebook. Volunteers are always needed to teach a class, coach a team, or help at events.

Stockbridge Community Greenhouse is up and running. A few community members have shared their gardening tips with our students, and we encourage others to reach out to Josh Nichols 517-917-3223 or at [email protected] if they would like to share information or use some of the space in the greenhouse for their gardening needs.

Stockbridge Community News is a volunteer-run, non-profit, public information service operated by volunteers. Our mission is to serve as a hub of quality, consistent local information to build a stronger community. As a IRS 501(C)(4) organization, we depend on the support of donors and sponsors. Over the course of our first 12 months of existence, the News has grown from a wing and a prayer to a full-fledged public information organization. Our website (stockbridgecommunitynews.com) and Facebook page regularly serve more than 20,000 viewers each month. Our print edition, mailed monthly to more than 8200 households in the Stockbridge School District, reaches an estimated 24,000 residents in the Stockbridge, Munith, Gregory and Fitchburg area and portions of White Oak, Grass Lake, Leslie, Pleasant Lake, Jackson and Chelsea. As you plan your gift giving for the end of the year, we hope you will keep us in mind, and we always need and welcome volunteers. The News may be reached at P.O. Box 83, Gregory, MI 48137 or through email at stockbridgecommunitynews.com.

Stockbridge Community Outreach was organized during the fall of 1981 because local churches had become unable to handle the volume of requests for help. The first food pantry was in a room in the basement of a church. We are now located in a portable building behind the old Middle School and are open 3 days a week. We currently offer assistance with food (once monthly), utilities, housing, transportation, and prescriptions. We have clothing and small household goods—all free to the public. We coordinate the Tide Me Over weekend and summer food programs for kids and families who are on the free or reduced lunch program. We participate with the Fresh Food Initiative of Jackson, offering weekly food distributions to anyone who shows up at the site. Our facilities are used for government food distribution, and at Thanksgiving and Christmas we offer special food and gift programs. We make referrals to other agencies for specific needs. Our hours: Mon. & Fri., 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wed. 1 to 6 p.m. We also provide emergency assistance to those living in the Stockbridge School District. For info call 517-851-7285 or find us on Facebook. 

Stockbridge Golden Years Senior Citizens’ Nutrition Site meets Fridays in Stockbridge Township Hall. Lunch is served at noon, followed by Bingo. Sometimes people play cards prior to lunch. Ages 60+, $3 donation requested. RSVP required. Call Betti by noon Wed., 517-206-9035. [email protected].

Stockbridge Lions and Lioness Clubs in Stockbridge and Munith provide ongoing financial support to a wide range of organizations, events and foundations, including Stockbridge Community Outreach, Waterloo Farm Museum, Stockbridge Area Arts Council, American Diabetes Association, Bear Lake Camp, Stockbridge Day in the Village, Gregory Fourth of July Celebration, Stockbridge Area Educational Foundation. The Stockbridge Lions Club has awarded over $250,000 over the past years to graduating seniors of Stockbridge High School to help further their educations. The group conducts bingo every Monday night at the American Legion Hall in Stockbridge, and meets the first Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Stockbridge Township Hall. Anyone interested in joining or contacting the Lions Club may contact Gordie Kunzelman, Lion President, at (734) 498-2200.

The Lioness Club is a service organization that focuses on, but is not limited to sight. The club earns money by working Lions Club bingo every Monday. Earnings are given to local charities and state charities. The Lionesses meet the fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the Presbyterian Church basement.

Stockbridge Masonic Lodge supports many causes in the Stockbridge area, including the hat and mitten drive held by Positively Chiropractic, sponsoring teams through Community Education and raising funds for Outreach. A Mason is a member of the oldest and largest goodwill fraternity in the world, known as Masonry or Freemasonry Masonry teaches that each man has a duty to make life better, not just for himself, but for everyone. Contact Richard Gibson, 517-596-2588 or [email protected].

Tide Me Over, a backpack program that is part of Outreach, works to stave off hunger among the elementary school’s most vulnerable students by sending food home with children to tide them over the weekend. Currently, the program provides weekend meals to more than 100 Stockbridge elementary students, pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Donations may be made c/o the TMO program to Stockbridge Outreach, located behind the Old Middle School, 370 Cherry Street on Mondays and Fridays (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and Wednesdays 1 to 6 p.m. Mail to Stockbridge Community Outreach, P.O. Box 682, Stockbridge, MI 49285. Questions or comments? Email [email protected].

Town Hall Players. Our hometown community theater group is always looking for new members: actors, musicians, technical directors, designers, backstage and front-of-house crew, and other volunteers. THP relies on the generous support of local businesses, groups, and individuals to continue to produce good local theater. If you would like more info or to sponsor a show or the complete season, please contact Barbara Krusinski at 517-851-1300 or email [email protected].

Wake Up Stockbridge is a growing online forum and movement of like-minded individuals with the mindset of community unity and pride. Its goals include making our community inviting for all near and far, coming together as a community united rather than divided, and addressing the harder issues and concerns surrounding us. Wake Up Stockbridge, which started as a Facebook group to discuss community goals, is a positive entity that welcomes different points of view and opinions. The group has grown into local gatherings that host community projects. It conducts fund-raising activities and initiatives for young and old, residents or not. Although Wake Up highlights Stockbridge as our central point, we are an inclusive group helping overlapping communities and neighbors. After all it does not take a village, township or district to make a community it takes like-minded people who simply care. For more information contact Tina at [email protected] or via Facebook.

Waterloo Farm and Dewey School Museums, located at 9998 Waterloo-Munith Road (GPS location: 13493 Waterloo-Munith Rd., Grass Lake, MI 49240), is maintained and staffed by volunteer workers and members of the Waterloo Area Historical Society (WAHS). We have operated as a community service since 1962, giving tours, living history interpretations, demonstrations, educational meetings, and craft classes. Contact WAHS at P.O. Box 37, Stockbridge, MI 49285, email: [email protected], or call the Farm Museum at 517-596-2254 to leave a message.

Waterloo Needlework Club. This group has continued making needlework quilts, knitting and crocheting for people in need for 105 years. The club has supported a number of different charities through the years, including making bandages for injured soldiers during World Wars I and II. WNC supports a number of current charities with quilts or money and will be demonstrating our crafts at Pioneer Day in October at the Waterloo Farm Museum. We appreciate donations of good cotton fabric, batting, or money to buy these items. We meet at the Munith United Methodist Church. For info call Jan, 517-769-2171, [email protected].

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