Dear Friends

We are holding this place and its unparalleled natural resources in a trust for future generations. You Are Here is our campaign to support West Michigan Environmental Action Council. Please join us in an effort to help protect the natural resources that place West Michigan among the greatest places on our planet. David LaGrand Campaign Co-Chair Vern Ehlers Campaign Co-Chair

Photo by jimflix!

This is West Michigan. A place defined by its natural resources.

Photo by Kevin Dooley

Photo by Pearl Beerhorst

A place defined by its people.

We protect this place with the help of its people.

West Michigan Environmental Action Council has been our regions preeminent resource for environmental education and advocacy since 1968. We lead environmental protection in West Michigan by inspiring action. Our founding director, Joan Wolfe, was an ordinary citizen who, concerned about the issues of the time, began organizing the region and the state to protect our environment for her family. She didnt have a lot of resources, but she knew there were people here equally passionate about our natural world, leaders and activists with diverse backgrounds and interests that together could make history.

The legacy of Joan Wolfe and that first wave of environmental activists is being threatened. We need to reshape the way we live as a community and as a species. We must act now to address the greatest issues of our time: freshwater protection and energy conservation.

RAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY STORMWATER PLANNIN INITIATIVE CLEAN ENERGY ADVOCACY TEACH FOR THE WATERSHED BETTERBUILDINGS FOR MICHIGAN ASIAN CARP ADVOCACY GRAND RIVER GREEN UP AYORS ANNUAL GRAND RIVER CLEAN UP 15 TO RIV ORMWATER CAMPAIGN ADOPT A STREAM WMEAC F RIES ENERGY FUTURE FORUMS HOLLAND COMMUN NERGY PLAN AIRPORT DEICER POLICY RAINBARRE WORKSHOPS RAIN GARDENS SEPTICS POLICY NERGY OPTIMIZATION AND SMART GRID ADVOCAC HYDRAULIC FRACTURING REGULATIONS WOMEN & ENVIRONMENT GREEN BUILDING DEMONSTRATION SITE ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT WATER PRIVATIZATION ADVOCACY NOW COMPLETE STREETS GENERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS GREEN GRAND RAPIDS URBAN TRANSIT ADVOCACY RAND RAPIDS COMMUNITY STORMWATER PLANNIN ITIATIVE CLEAN ENERGY ADVOCACY TEACH FOR TH ATERSHED BETTERBUILDINGS FOR MICHIGAN ASIA

Non-point source pollution, or stormwater runoff, is the largest threat to our regions precious freshwater resources. Protecting our water, waterways and infrastructure will require a comprehensive reinvention of stormwater policy and practice. We will have to reinvent municipal planning policy to build our communities in ways that protect our water by capturing rain water where it falls. This work will touch all facets of life in West Michigan.

We need your help.

As it now stands, the cost to power our lives and community is simply too great. Our state spends some $24 billion on energy each year. And that pales compared to

the cost in human health and environmental degradation. West Michigan deserves a better energy future, one built on the premise that the best new energy is the energy never used.

Rightsizing the way we power our lives will not be easy.

Today, WMEAC is a high-energy operation fueled by the next generation of environmental educators, policy makers, engineers, scientists and members of the creative class. Our work is focused on protecting water and sustaining our communities. Were tackling the toughest issues of our timeour futures are dependent on our success.

The You Are Here campaign will position WMEAC to sustain our investments in talented young people. Well also expand our capacity to address fresh water protection and energy planning for our region, ensuring we sustain our environmental legacy for future generations.

But they cant do it without your help.

Our top priorities are leadership, protecting fresh water, our new energy future and infrastructure.

Funding to mobilize our community around the key environmental issues of our time.
Protecting Fresh Water
This fund will be focused on bringing our stormwater work in the City of Grand Rapids to scale in the Lower Grand River Watershed. Community funds will match and leverage additional state, federal and philanthropic dollars to help us move this work forward.

New Energy Future

WMEACs work to deliver energy efficiency and improved energy policy in the region must be expanded to ensure our communitys quality of life and economic future, as well as our air and water quality. WMEAC will leverage this fund to increase our work around energy literacy, new energy demonstrations and continued efforts to achieve energy conservation.

Investing in our current leadership team and ensuring the cultivation of future environmental leaders through endowed fellowships.
Leadership Training
WMEAC needs to invest in its staff through continuing education and leadership training. With funding from the community, program staff will be trained to facilitate community dialogue for productive outcomes. Leadership training will refine and improve our approaches. The issues we face require not just inspired leadership, but strong, inclusive and practiced leadership; we dont have time for mistakes.

Fellowships
Emerging professionals and students have long played critical roles in our work. Weve found that small investments in our regions talented and passionate emerging professionals and students derive exponential outcomes. Fellowships will allow us to attract and retain the brightest post-and near-graduate students to work on environmental issues in our community.

An office space designed for maximum use and equipped for the future.
Interior Space & Technology
WMEAC needs to adapt our interior space to make room for more people to work productively. We need additional meeting rooms and space for people to concentrate in a quiet environment. With a growing team, WMEAC has increasing technology needs. Our server is no longer appropriately sized for the amount of information we store. Our phone system is maxed out entirely. New technologies are available that will better support our growing team and sustain our archives for future generations.

Maintenance Fund
Our Double Gold, LEED-certified building continues to serve as a demonstration site to inspire professionals, students and citizen groups to consider the natural environment and limited resources when creating our built environment. WMEAC needs to prepare to maintain this space in the coming years so it remains an attractive place to learn and understand why and how we might change the way our communities are built.

WATER Seed money to reconfigure stormwater policy in the Lower Grand River Watershed. ENERGY Seed money to shape regional priorities around energy optimization in the region.

$100,000

$100,000

LEADERSHIP TRAINING Training for West Michigans environmental leadership team and new program management staff through the Institute for Conservation Leadership, Johnson Center for Philanthropy and other local and national resources. ENVIRONMENTAL FELLOWSHIP FUND Endowed Fellowship Seats (three, $3,000 stipends annually) Water Protection, Energy Policy, Minority Activism for the Environment

$50,000

$250,000

OFFICE & INFORMATION SYSTEMS Office Reconfiguration for Expanded Use INSTALLING/UPGRADING COMPUTER INFORMATION SYSTEMS GREEN BUILDING MAINTENANCE FUND 2011 Annual Campaign Operating Funds 2012 Annual Campaign Operating Funds Campaign Costs Total Campaign Goal

$43,996 $12,000 $60,000 $100,000 $100,000 $50,000 $865,996

Now, you can help.

You can help us achieve these goals by supporting this campaign through: a one-time cash gift a multiple-year pledge commitment (to be paid over a three year period) a gift of appreciated assets (i.e. stock) the donation of an asset that can be converted to cash (i.e. property, an automobile, etc.) an estate gift.
West Michigan Environmental Action Council is a qualified 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Accordingly, your charitable gift is tax deductible to the full extent of state and federal law.

The You Are Here campaign is seeking $866,000 in community philanthropy to support environmental advocacy and programming, internships for young adults, and capital funds for facility renovations.

We are here. Ready to move West Michigan forward. Please join us. Let us know if youd like to talk with us personally about how you can be a part of our campaign.
Rachel Hood Executive Director 616.451.3051 x22 rhood@wmeac.org Tim Berghuis Director of Operations 616.451.3051 x30 tberghuis@wmeac.org Daniel Schoonmaker Communications/ Member Services 616.451.3051 x28
dschoonmaker@wmeac.org

West Michigan Environmental Action Council 1007 Lake Drive SE Grand Rapids Michigan 49506

Printed at Custom Printers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, using 100% wind energy and vegetable-based inks with paper manufactured in Niles, Michigan at French Paper Company.