News Photo by Darby Hinkley Besser Museum Executive Director Christine Witulski handles a piece of Clewell pottery using white gloves in one of the collections storage areas in the lower level of the museum in this March 2020 News file photo.

A total of $25,000 went to four Northeast Michigan nonprofits from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act through the Humanities Organizations Pandemic Emergency (HOPE) grants, Michigan Humanities said in a news release.

The Northeast Michigan gifts were part of $661,085 given to 116 cultural and community organizations statewide impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grants of up to $10,000 provided general operating support, with an emphasis on maintaining personnel, in 53 counties.

Among the grantees:

∫ Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan — $5,000

∫ Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary — $7,500

∫ Alcona County Library — $5,000

∫ Curtis Township Library — $7,500

“We strive to be a pillar of support for organizations around the state to be able to do their humanities work,” said Shelly Hendrick Kasprzycki, president and CEO of Michigan Humanities. “We’re proud of how efficiently we were able to disburse the CARES Act funding across the state and how broadly we were able to grant these emergency dollars to so many of the cultural and humanities organizations of Michigan.”

Through funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the CARES Act, HOPE Grants were available to museums, libraries, archives, historic sites, and other humanities-focused nonprofits in Michigan and could be used for eligible general operating support expenses impacted by the pandemic, including salaries and fringe benefits, rent and mortgage payments, and utilities.

A total of 306 applications were received, with a total of $2.5 million in requests. The full list of grant recipients by county can be found below. Applications were open April and May, and reviewed on a weekly basis to ensure grantees received funding within two weeks of application. All payments have been disbursed.

Michigan Humanities works to inspire communities to come together in creative and freely expressed ways to deepen our understanding of ourselves and others, and for all people of Michigan to experience and understand the importance of humanities. For more information on available grants and programs, visit michiganhumanities.org.