2024 Scholarship Winners Announced

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Cook Family Foundation Executive Director Tom Cook (center) stands with scholarship winners (left to right) Haley Munson, Jorja Napier, Quinn Skarich, and Brody Webb

The Cook Family Foundation continues to support the best and brightest students to attend the University of Michigan. From nine high schools in the greater Shiawassee area, 36 students have been awarded scholarships to attend the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Flint.  

Quinn Skarich of Owosso High School was awarded the Bruce and Jacqueline Cook Scholarship, one of the highest accolades in the greater Shiawassee County region. This scholarship, recently endowed by Bruce and Jacqueline Cook after their recent passing, provides four years of undergraduate tuition to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, with a value in excess of $65,000. 

Haley Munson of Durand High School and Jorja Napier of Owosso High School were awarded the Donald Cook Scholarship. Brody Webb of Perry High School earned the third Kuhlman Family Scholarship, funded by UM alumni, Dr. Paul and Kit Kuhlman. Each of these winners earned a four-year scholarship worth $20,000.

An additional 32 students have received scholarships from the Cook Family Foundation, ranging from $3,000 to $20,000. This year, the scholarships awarded by the Foundation and the University of Michigan totaled over $659,500, not counting additional financial aid many of these students might also qualify for. With these awards, the Foundation has now helped more than 900 students from the greater Shiawassee region attend the University of Michigan.

“It is great to honor and celebrate these outstanding students” said Foundation President, Paul Cook at the annual scholarship recognition reception held April 30 at the Lebowsky Center for Performing Arts.  “They have all worked hard, and certainly deserve it!” We are excited and confident these students will go on to great things.” Guest of honor at the event was Dr. Donna Frye, interim Chancellor at UM-Flint.  She congratulated the scholarship recipients and thanked the Foundation for their long support of the University of Michigan.  

Quinn Skarich, the 20th Bruce and Jackie Cook Scholarship winner, is the daughter of Corbin and Dr. Nicholas (deceased) Skarich.  Quinn is the valedictorian of her class at Owosso High School. In addition to being a top student she is the president of the Youth Advisory Committee of The Shiawassee Community Foundation, the Drum major of the Trojan Marching Band, the Captain of the Quiz Bowl Team, and active with the National Honor Society and International Club. Quinn has a strong interest in biology and medicine and is thinking about a career in dentistry.

In recognition of the Foundation’s original benefactor, Donald Cook Scholarships were awarded to Haley Munson of Durand High School and Jorja Napier of Corunna High School. The Donald Cook Scholarship, endowed by the Cook Family Foundation, is awarded by the University of Michigan to a student attending the College of LS&A and is worth $20,000. Donald Cook was a 1924 graduate of the University of Michigan who established the Foundation with his wife Florence-etta in 1978.  

Haley Munson is a top ten student at Durand High School. Her parents are Loren Munson and Krystal McKinnis. In addition to being an outstanding student, Haley is an accomplished artist, a choir member of the Durand Madrigals and on-stage with the Drama Club. She plans to study psychology.

Jorja Napier is the valedictorian of Corunna High School. Her parents are George Napier and Kimberly Watson. In addition to being a top student, she is a successful athlete and has been a leader on her basketball, soccer, volleyball, and track teams.  She intends to major in Chemistry and is considering a career in medicine.

Another special event was the awarding of the third Kuhlman Family Scholarship, funded by UM alumni, Dr. Paul and Kit Kuhlman. This scholarship is administered by the Cook Family Foundation, but funded by the Kuhlman Family. The benefactors are University of Michigan graduates, as are their children, Matt and Kimberly.  “A couple of years ago we decided to fund a scholarship to a local deserving student, and thought who better to help us navigate a scholarship to our alma mater, than my lifelong friend, Bruce Cook,” said Dr. Kuhlman.  

Brody Webb is the recipient of this year’s Kuhlman Family Scholarship. Brody is a top ten student at Perry High School. His parents are Stephen and Audrey Webb.  Brody has played six varsity sports and is captain of the Rambler Soccer team.  He is also captain of the quiz bowl team, and band president.  Brody intends to major in biology at UM with plans to become an optometrist.

In total 36 scholarship recipients from nine area high schools were honored.  Among these future Wolverines are six valedictorians and three salutatorians of their class. From eight of the high schools, 18 of the students were named Shiawassee Scholars when they were in ninth grade by the Shiawassee Regional Education Service District.  The Cook Family Foundation funds this program to assist academically promising students through their high school career.  

Scholarship winners include, from Byron Area High School: Thomas Harris, Alana Riddell, and Mason Stark; from Chesaning Union High School: Makenzie Hall, Haylee Luft, Phoebe Malek, and Jeana Travis; from Corunna High School: Alex Granville, Claire Milton, Jorja Napier, Lillia Reid, Jude Suchyta, and William Walter; from Durand Area High School: Abigail Beland (2023 Graduate), Genavieve Bell, Madeline Bias, Julia Burk, Megan Dear-Marme, Avery Gilson (2023 Graduate), Kendall Hall (2023 Graduate), Haley Munson, Jacob Shankster, and Raegan Taylor; from Laingsburg High School:  Jaylei Kramer; from New Lothrop High School:  Emma Bishop, Liliana Bruff, and Colton Symons: from Ovid-Elsie Area High School:  Mason Ritenburg; from Owosso High School:  Rajvinder Kaur, Elijah Morgan, Karissa Potter, Kira Riedsema, Quinn Skarich, and Sierra Wright; from Perry High School:  Madison Reeder, Calena Stevens, and Brody Webb.

The Cook Family Foundation offers a scholarship to any student from the greater Shiawassee region that is admitted the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  Students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher who are admitted to UM-Flint or UM-Dearborn are also offered scholarships.  Because UM-Flint continues to admit students for the next several months, the Foundation may yet recognize additional scholarship winners.  For more information, visit the Foundation’s Scholarship page.

 

Grant to Honor Bruce and Jackie Cook

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In honor of our two most recent leaders and benefactors, the Cook Family Foundation is proud to announce its participation in the $2.5 million capital campaign recently announced by the Shiawassee Family YMCA.  This community-wide effort will allow the Y to revamp their facility in downtown Owosso and add childcare services. 

Don Cook helped raise funds for the construction of the Shiawassee Family Y in downtown Owosso in the 1950s

Both Bruce and Jackie Cook passed away in the last 18 months, leaving a legacy of commitment to the youth of Shiawassee County.  Bruce Cook, like his father Don before him, was a board member and long time advocate for the Shiawassee Family Y.  Jackie Cook, in addition to serving as an elected board member of the Owosso Public Schools, helped launch the Foundation’s work in early childhood education.  

“My parents saw the Y as an important resource for children and families” said Tom Cook, Executive Director of the Cook Family Foundation, “they would be honored to see the continued growth of the Y with this project.”  Bruce Cook was involved in early planning for this expansion and was ready to pledge his own financial support.  “We can not think of a more appropriate legacy for Bruce and Jackie Cook than a strong Y in downtown Owosso serving youth from preschool through high school.” 

In addition to a lead legacy gift, the Foundation has pledged $500,000 to match gifts of $20,000 or more to the campaign.  Already several pledges have been made to the campaign and 74 percent of the needed funds have been committed to the project. 

After renovation, the Shiawassee Family YMCA facility will include four licensed childcare rooms: an infant room, a toddler room, and two preschool rooms (for 3- and 4-year-olds). In addition, all of the major components of the facility will be renovated to the standards of the Americans with Disability Act to ensure the the YMCA continues to be available for all.

Foundation Trustee Anna Owens is co-chair of the campaign, and several Cook family members and friends have also stepped up to be part of the effort.  To learn more about the Y’s rebuilding efforts, or to make a pledge or donation contact Laura Archer at 989-725-8136 or larcher@shiawasseeymca.org

 

Doing More in ’24

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Foundation Trustees Bruce and Jaqueline Cook have left a significant legacy to the Cook Family Foundation.

Last year was a hard year for the Foundation, as we lost our two most recent leaders and benefactors.  Bruce Cook passed away in October of 2022, and Jackie Cook passed away in May of 2023. Both of them were strongly committed to the communities in the Shiawassee region, volunteered and served in public office, and left a large philanthropic legacy with the Cook Family Foundation.

After a period of reflection and planning, the Foundation is now ready to expand its grant making to serve the communities beloved not only by Bruce and Jackie Cook, but also Donald and Florence-etta Cook, who initially endowed the Cook Family Foundation.  We are inspired to carry on their good work.  

We believe our communities are at their best when we come together to solve problems and improve the quality of life for all our residents. We support efforts to create diverse, healthy, and thriving communities where all children have access to the best education, the natural environment is protected and enjoyed, and all people have the opportunity and support to build joyful, meaningful lives (read here our full vision, mission and values statements).

Our Nonprofit Partners. We have found that our local nonprofit organizations are the best way to address the needs of  Shiawassee County residents, and we have affirmed our commitment to them in new grant guidelines.  For more than 15 years we have invested in the capacity and effectiveness of the nonprofits our neighbors, friends, and fellow community members have chosen to volunteer with and give their time, treasure and talent to support. We will continue our capacity building efforts in 2024.

We also see leadership coming from our nonprofit sector, and have made a commitment to help them bring together both the public and the private sector to address community needs and take steps to improve the quality of life in Shiawassee County.  Some of our best grants have been to local organizations to help them establish new partnerships, and/or leverage additional funds from local governments, apply for state or federal grants, or otherwise work together to make best use of the assets we have at hand.  We are committed to collective impact.

The Cook Family Foundation does not seek to promote any particular cause or address only certain concerns.  Rather, we believe that the local community can best identify the most pressing needs, and put together the most effective responses, in Shiawassee County.  We live here too, and with a strong legacy of engagement in the community. We have added non-family members to our board.  All of this helps us sometimes identify the best opportunities for funding.  However, we also know we do not know everything, and we humbly and without bias accept grant requests to improve our communities.  We always urge community members to reach out to us with their ideas.

It has become clear we need to pay greater attention to the natural world, our environment, to ensure a sustainable future for all of us.  We are fortunate to live in communities often defined by the Shiawassee River and we extend our environmental grant-making to its watershed and surrounding areas.  In particular, we seek to make investments to protect the land we all depend on, which includes both natural areas and working agricultural lands. Preserving and promoting nature can help improve water quality, reduce the impacts of a changing climate, provide recreational opportunities, and ensure a sustainable economy.  Stay tuned as we make further announcements about our grant-making goals for land preservation and the environment.

Other Investments are also underway by the Cook Family Foundation to continue the legacy of our benefactors.  In addition to support for local nonprofits serving Shiawassee County, and increased support for protection of the lands in the Shiawassee watershed, we continue our commitment to education and the University of Michigan.  The first two grants of the Foundation, made in 1979, were a scholarship for a local student to attend college in Ann Arbor and to make improvements to the grounds at Owosso High School.  We remain committed to education in the Shiawassee region, providing funding for pre-school programs, student support, and college scholarships.  We continue to investigate opportunities for expanding options for our most academically talented students while in high school, as well as how to support them in college.  Our board also continues to look for opportunities to expand community education, address the needs of our youth, and create more opportunities for women in education, the economy, civic leadership, and community development.  Follow this website for further announcements.   

The Grant-Making Process.  After reviewing our grant guidelines, please reach out to us.  We are happy to talk or meet about your ideas and discuss possibilities for an investment by the Cook Family Foundation.  If you have a grant idea already, please fill out our online Initial Grant Application. We will get back to you within 30 days with a response. If your request meets our guidelines, we may set up a meeting, ask more questions, or invite a more formal application. All major grant decisions are made by our board, and they meet several times a year.  Their next meeting will be in late April, and we invite grant application no later than April 1.  Please contact Kerry Dutcher for more information or assistance.