Northport Promise Web Site Goes Live

A web site developed to provide information and fund-raising details about the recently-announced Northport Promise has gone live. It is www.northportpromise.com.

The site, created by volunteers who are part of the Northport Promise steering committee, includes sections on the Promise’s background and history, on how to donate to the cause through the Leelanau Township Foundation, on the history and values of Northport’s community school, and a listing of all Michigan public colleges and universities.

Volunteers who would like to become involved in the Northport Promise effort should contact Sally Viskochil at 231.218.7485 or Ruth Steele Walker at 231.233.2113.

Any inquires about establishing a fund or donating funds for the Northport Promise can be directed to the Leelanau Township Foundation office at 231.386.9000.

Northport Promise organizers will be regularly updating the site and expect to have online giving available soon.
The Northport Promise program is modeled after the successful Kalamazoo Promise announced in 2005. The Kalamazoo Promise, in just two years, has begun revitalizing the city’s school district. It is credited with increasing enrollments by 1,000 students this year after several years of losing 250 students per year. Ninety percent of Kalamazoo’s 2006 graduating class went on to college, up from 78% of the previous year’s graduates.