Dearborn Community Fund

For General Information

Phone: 313.943.5478
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Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
15801 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, MI 48126-2904

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The Dearborn Community Fund encourages community members to take part in city beautification efforts

Spring is in the air and with it comes the time for planting the many flower beds and planter boxes that occupy public spaces, grace various intersections and welcome all at the entrances to Dearborn.

This year the City of Dearborn, together with the Dearborn Community Fund (DCF), is offering the opportunity for residents and local businesses to become a “petal pusher” by sponsoring the planting of annual flowers. Donated funds will be used for the purchase of plants, bed preparation, upkeep and fall bed maintenance.

A variety of sponsor recognition levels are available and range from $50 to $5,000. Sponsors at every giving level will be recognized in a special resolution passed by the Dearborn City Council, through CDTV announcements, on the City of Dearborn website and a media release. Sponsors of $1,000 or more will be acknowledged with signage, if site appropriate, and on the DCF donor wall located in the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center lobby.

Plantings occur citywide and include landmark sites such as the Dearborn Historical Museum Commandants’ Quarters, Henry Ford Centennial Library, and Dearborn City Hall. Among the entrance sites are Telegraph at Ford Road, Michigan Avenue at Gulley, Michigan Avenue at Wyoming and more.

Donations for the “Petal Pusher” program are made payable to the Dearborn Community Fund, a 501c3 non-profit organization with the mission to support cultural and recreational programs in Dearborn. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by law.

For more complete details on the “Petal Pusher” sponsorship opportunity and additional planting sites, contact the DCF at 313-943-5478.

Click here for more information on the Petal Pusher program

Dearborn’s Art in Public Places features “Off the Diet 4” by sculptor Kenneth M. Thompson in April; New sculptures arriving in May

Twelve sculptures can be viewed throughout Dearborn as part of the community’s Art in Public Places - Midwest Sculpture Initiative (MSI). Funding for the project is provided by the Dearborn Community Fund (DCF) and the East and West Dearborn Downtown Development Authorities.

New sculptures will be installed in May, replacing the ones that were on display for the past year. Visit them at outdoor locations along Michigan Ave. including the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center, City Hall Park, West Dearborn Pocket Park, Starbucks Courtyard, at corner of Military Street and Michigan Ave.; Brady and Michigan Ave. A map listing all of the new sculptures will be available online in June. All are available for purchase.

“Off the Diet 4” (photo, right, by Teresa Lousias) from the Thin Series was the April sculpture of the month. Created by Blissfield, Mich., sculptor Kenneth M. Thompson, the whimsical abstract piece is made from black granite and steel and weighs 300 pounds. It is located at the northwest end of the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

Thompson produces his work at Flatlanders Sculpture Supply & Art Gallery which he owns and operates in Blissfield. A sculptor for more than 30 years, his focus over the past 15 years has been on the production of large public sculptures. His commissioned work can be found throughout Michigan and Ohio and as far away as Florida and Arizona. His work has also been featured in solo exhibitions.

In addition to his work as a sculptor, Thompson began the successful Midwest Sculpture Initiative (MSI) which provides other sculptors with opportunities to display and market their work. On an annual basis, MSI places sculptures in over a dozen communities.

For more information about Thompson and his sculpture, visit his website at www.kenthompsonsculpture.com. MSI information is available at www.msisculpture.com.

Click here to view a short video segment about “Off the Diet 4."

For additional information on the sculpture initiative, including purchase information, is call the DCF office at 313-943-5478. The DCF is a 501c3 organization and gifts toward purchase of a sculpture for permanent public installation are tax deductible.

 34th Annual Homecoming Festival set for August 2, 3, 4

The nonprofit Dearborn Community Fund (DCF) and the City of Dearborn sponsors will present the 34th annual Homecoming Festival on August 2, 3 and 4 at Ford Field Park.

The Festival is more than just carnival rides, entertainment, food, reunions, free kids games, a classic car show and spectacular fireworks. Most importantly, it is an opportunity for more than 25 nonprofit organizations to raise funds that benefit our community year round. The dollars raised at food and beverage booths go towards scholarships, the purchase of athletic equipment, support of cultural programs, to those in need and other worthwhile causes. In 2012, more than $70,000 was raised.

The Homecoming Festival attracts more than 125,000 people over three days. Many attendees come from Dearborn, but many others come from across the region. The end result is a positive economic impact for our local businesses.

Making Homecoming self-sustaining
Homecoming is made possible thanks to the support of sponsors who value the safe family-friendly experience that Homecoming provides.

Anyone can be a Homecoming sponsor. Donations at all levels are welcome and all sponsors will be recognized at the Festival. Because donations are made to the DCF, sponsor donations are tax deductible to the full extent permitted under law. For sponsor opportunities, visit click the brochure link or call 943-5478.

Contrary to the belief of many, the City does not benefit financially from the event. Through development of the partnership with DCF, the goal is to create a sustainable, but self-supporting Festival. DCF, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, is responsible for raising sponsor dollars to support the Festival.

2013 Presenting Sponsor: Oakwood Healthcare
The DCF and the City of Dearborn are pleased that Oakwood Healthcare will once again be the presenting sponsor for Homecoming.

Entertainment
Visit this web page beginning in June for information.

DCF Project Initiative: High school students on POP project team will design mosaic wall for rail station

Ten students from Edsel Ford (EFHS), Fordson (FHS) and Dearborn High School (DHS) are working with the Dearborn Community Fund on the 2012-13 Pockets of Perception project team. The students are in the process of designing a mosaic to be installed in Dearborn’s new Intermodal Passenger Rail Station, scheduled to open in 2014.

For inspiration, in September, the team visited mosaics and murals at Detroit’s People Mover Stations, the Detroit Public Library and the College for Creative Studies.

At the Renaissance Center People Mover Station, from left: Reem Aoun (FHS), Siham Saleh (FHS), Mary Charara (DHS), Aleen Bazzi (FHS), Khalid McDowell (EFHS), Claire Young (EFHS), Mona Beydoun (DHS), Leah Wendzinski (DHS), Jack Davis (DHS, in back row), Paolo Mastrogiacomo (chaperone), POP instructor Mohamad Bazzi, and Frankie Nunez (DHS). Not pictured, POP instructor Wendy Sample.

Interested in sponsoring the POP project? Contact the DCF at 313-943-5478.

Opportunities to Support the Dearborn Community Fund

You can help the Community Fund by providing a donation to help fund a specific project or make an unrestricted donation that will be used as needed for the Dearborn Community Fund to succeed in its mission to provide and maintain arts, cultural and recreation programs that enhance quality of life in Dearborn.

The DCF is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the full extent permissible by law.

Donations in any amount are most welcome.

Donors contributing $250 or more will have their names placed on the DCF Donor Wall at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

You may CLICK HERE to print the form to designate your donation to fund any of the projects listed below.

• Unrestricted: To support any of the programs of the Dearborn Community Fund
• "Pockets of Perception – We Are One Community (POP)" – Student Design Team (a youth apprentice program)
• Art in Public Places – Midwest Sculpture Initiative
• Youth In Arts Festival: an annual event with Dearborn schools
• Student Workshops at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center
• Dearborn Homecoming Festival – a major community fundraiser benefitting over
• 25 Dearborn non-profit organizations (in partnership with the City of Dearborn)
• Community grants for Dearborn based projects
• Parks and playground initiatives
• Theater sponsorships (Michael A. Guido Theater, Ford Community & Performing Arts Center)

Please make your donation check made payable to: Dearborn Community Fund

Return to: Dearborn Community Fund
15801 Michigan Ave.
Dearborn, MI 48126

Thank you for your support!