Kalamazoo Grant Program Returns,
Providing Relief for Smallest Businesses

city of kalamazoo with Kalamazoo Micro Enterprise Grants as title

KALAMAZOO, Mich. [March 30, 2022]—A grant program in its third year of bringing crucial relief to Kalamazoo’s smallest businesses will offer two additional rounds in 2022. The Kalamazoo Micro-Enterprise Grants (KMEG) program provides grants of $5,000 to eligible microbusinesses within the city limits. The grants are a partnership between the City of Kalamazoo and United…

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Seeding Leaders Grants: Blossoming Nonprofit Leadership

bloomed flowers sit beneath a sunset/sunrise with "seeding leaders" and the uwbckr logo on the page

United Way of Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region has awarded $2,500 mini-grants to 10 local leaders as a part of a new program called Seeding Leaders. These grants are intended to support the wellness, leadership, and professional development of nonprofit leaders and primarily focused on leaders who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color),…

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Unified Kickoff Shares Impact Statewide

“United Ways: assemble!” Like The Avengers of movie fame, United Ways across Michigan, including United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region, are joining forces to share stories of local impact and to invite the entire state to be heroes in their community. This is the fifth year that United Ways statewide have come…

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Generous Spirit Brings In 55,000 Diapers

The Battle Creek and Kalamazoo region showed its generosity once again by donating 55,134 new diapers to the area’s first United Way Diaper Drive, exceeding the drive’s goal of 50,000 in just five days. United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region (UWBCKR) spearheaded the drive, which brought together residents, businesses, nonprofits and volunteers…

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Chris Sargent Named President & CEO

Chris Sargent, a Battle Creek resident with nearly two decades of nonprofit leadership, including multiple roles with United Way, has been named President and Chief Executive Officer for United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region (UWBCKR). “The board is excited to have Chris take the leadership reins permanently,” said Erick Stewart, chairman of…

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Saying 'Yes' to the Future

Put a few folks from the nonprofit sector in a room, and they’ll soon start talking about their work, their progress and their fundraising. That’s important, but I prefer when the conversation turns to people. Take this local mom, for example. Her family’s finances are precarious — what we call ALICE, or Asset Limited, Income…

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Tax check-off supports local community

Did you know that when you file your 2016 state income tax return in Michigan that you have the opportunity to support local families in our region? A donation to the United Way Fund is quick and easy. Every contribution made by taxpayers in the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo region stays in the area, going…

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