The Gerber Foundation’s Fall 2026 West Michigan Youth Program Grant cycle supported projects serving youth ages 0–18 in Lake, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Oceana counties. Priority areas included Health, Nutrition & Dental Issues, Early Childhood Services & Literacy, Parenting Education, Education, and youth life experiences. The Fall 2026 application deadline has passed.
Deadline: September 15, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. ET. The Foundation’s current West Michigan Grants page confirms the recurring September 15 at 4:00 p.m. cutoff, and the Foundation’s own annual grant-deadline publication identifies that recurring West Michigan deadline as 4:00 p.m. ET.
Eligible applicants are public 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations and governmental entities located in or directly serving youth from the four-county service area. Grants support programming, generally for one year, and are normally under $10,000, with an average award below $5,000. Capital requests are considered only on a limited basis and applicants are instructed to contact the Foundation before applying for capital campaign funding.
The online application requires a project summary, project dates, youth target population and county of residence, purpose and activities, short- and long-term impact and evaluation, community partners, project continuity status, organizational mission and current programs, annual organizational budget, a line-item project budget including in-kind support, and income sources covering anticipated expenses. Required attachments include a board roster with affiliations, the most recent annual report if applicable, and letters of support or collaboration from participating organizations named in the proposal. Optional supporting materials may also be uploaded.
No universal mandatory match or cost-share percentage is stated on the current program page. The application does require disclosure of project income sources and in-kind support. Recent Gerber awards include Northwest Michigan Health Services for a pediatric oral-health detection project using panoramic imaging and Trinity Health Muskegon Hospital for trauma-informed forensic nursing access, demonstrating a credible healthcare pathway while not establishing blanket allowability for any specific device or vendor.
Atlas analysis: The Fall 2026 cycle is closed because the September 15, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. ET deadline has passed. The program remains historically relevant to pediatric and youth health, nutrition, dental care, early childhood, and education, but no new applicant outreach, CRM production, package work, or submission work is authorized for this expired cycle.