The beauty of a solid foundation: that is what I am thankful for today. As the Michigan Architectural Foundation approaches the end of the third quarter of 2022, I am reminded of two fundamentally important aspects of our foundation.
First of all, we are financially stable. The market may fluctuate, but our financial committee has invested conservatively to protect our assets. Having strong policies and guidelines in place is essential to the stability of our foundation. Our grants and scholarships continue to deliver financial assistance to worthy projects and students in spite of the market instability. Knowing that our programs will continue in perpetuity is very comforting. For that, we are very thankful.
At the same time, I am also reminded of the incredible volunteer efforts of our Board and Committee members. We all hear about and are experiencing the effects of the current labor shortage. That has not been the case for the Michigan Architectural Foundation. Our resolute and dedicated volunteers have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to continue our fundraising efforts. We can all be extremely thankful for their dedicated work and efforts to help support our mission.
This month, we are excited to report that both our 2022 MAF Golf Outing and our MAF Auction events have exceeded their financial goals. A special thank you goes out to the golf outing co-chairs Brandon Kinsey and Kevin Shultis for organizing and leading this year’s highly successful outing. Excellent job guys!
Not to be outdone, the MAF Auction Committee (led by first-year chair, Chuck Lewis with assistance from last year’s chair Bob Daverman) completed another record year of fundraising through our auction. It is because of the extraordinary efforts of these individuals that our Michigan Architectural Foundation is the strong and stable organization that we are today. Be sure to read the article elsewhere in the newsletter about this exciting and fun event.
As always, we welcome your input and look forward to hearing how architecture has enriched your life.
Doug
Douglas W. Kueffner, AIA 2022/2023 MAF President