JANUARY AND EPIPHANY: A Time For Renewal

Posted on Categories Community Service

The beginning of a new year is a special opportunity for refreshing hearts, minds, and spirits. For the first time, the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in Lowell, Michigan, are inviting groups of up to 30 people to consider spending some reflective, prayerful time at their Life Process Center. The retreat program is called LIFE, which means Living in the Franciscan Experience.

Located on 230 acres of woods and farm land, the setting is idyllic, the ambience is spiritual, and the price is minimal. A private retreat is $50 a day per person. For a retreat directed by a Franciscan Guide, the cost is $75 a day per person. Daily contact with a Franciscan Guide assists guests in their communication with God. The Sisters use Scripture as the primary resource for reflection and meditation.

Those who come on private retreats of a day or as long as a week are invited at specified times to pray the Liturgy of the Hours with the Franciscans. Overnight guests present on Tuesday and/or Thursday evenings can choose to share dinner with the Sisters.

The Center offers sleeping accommodations to meet many different needs, including handicapped accessibility. These options include eight bedrooms in the Center with twin or double beds, some with an attached bathroom. The other bedrooms have a full bathroom on the same floor. The Center’s kitchen is available to them for preparing their meals.

Another option is the San Pietro Guest House that can house nine people and includes a central meeting place. San Pietro has two, fully-equipped kitchens, one on each floor for guests to use. But the Franciscans think the most popular sleeping quarters will be the two new yurts—one handicapped accessible. With heating, hardwood floors, and views overlooking a woods rich with wildlife, the yurts offer the promise of quiet.

These circular, tent-like structures are similar in design to the portable housing used by nomads in Asia. More rustic than the other two sleeping options, these brand new yurts covered in green canvas have toilets inside. Yurt guests have full access to the Center’s kitchen and shower/bath facilities. All three overnight accommodations include bedding and towels.

For retreat guests who do not want to bring food and do their own cooking, the Franciscans can provide the names of caterers who will deliver meals to the Center.

To make reservations or for more information on “Living in the Franciscan Experience,” please contact the Director of the Retreat Program at: franciscanguide@lifeprocesscenter.org or call (616) 897-7842, ex. 302. And remember: One LIFE experience leads to another!

PETER WEGE RECEIVES HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM THE U OF M

Posted on Categories Arts & Culture, Community Service, Education, Environment, Health Care

PHDegreebig (1)The University of Michigan paid its highest tribute to lifelong East Grand Rapids resident Peter M. Wege by awarding him an honorary degree as a Doctor of Laws. Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University, gave the Honorary Doctorate to Peter M. Wege during the University of Michigan’s winter commencement ceremonies on December 15, 2007.

In introducing Wege to the graduating seniors and guests in Chrysler Arena, Dr. Coleman said this to the crowd:

Peter Melvin Wege has dedicated his life to improving global ecology through relentless persuasion, prodding people and organizations into undertaking initiatives and achieving results that never would have occurred without his advocacy. He has devoted over half a century of his own energy and resources to the University of Michigan and the State of Michigan.

Dr. Coleman told the audience that Wege left the University in his sophomore year to join the U.S. Army Air Corps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. “He not only defended our nation against enemy forces,”Dr. Coleman said, “but also realized we needed to protect our country against the harsh consequences of our own pollution…Mr. Wege became an early activist regarding the ecology of Michigan, incorporating the University in his motto of “Go Blue—Think Green!”

In 1967, she said, he started The Wege Foundation to honor his parents, Sophia Louise and Peter Martin Wege, principal founder of Steelcase. In citing The Wege Foundation’s support for the University, Dr. Coleman talked about his service as the first chairperson of the advisory board for the National Pollution Prevention Center in Ann Arbor, now the Center for Sustainable Systems.

Coleman described him as “a robust supporter of the University’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.” Among his gifts, he sponsors the annual Peter M. Wege Lecture on campus. Speakers for the Wege Lecture have included Nobel Laureate Al Gore, the Prime Minister of Norway, and this year William Clay Ford, Jr., Executive Chairman of Ford Motor, Inc.

According to President Coleman, Wege considers one of the Foundations “best success stories” the environmental renovation of the century-old Dana Building that houses the School of Natural Resources and Environment. In 2005, the Dana Building received a gold rating from the USGBC making it the greenest academic building in Michigan. The new Ph.D. Wege calls the “the greening of Dana” the perfect example of his motto, ‘Go Blue, Think Green.’”
President Coleman noted that Wege is finishing his second book on economicology calling it “a word he coined to promote a balance between a healthy ecology and a profitable economy.”

In presenting the Doctor of Laws diploma, Dr. Coleman concluded:

Mr. Wege, your extraordinary vision and deep-rooted commitment have made our planet a better place for future generations. You have shown us that it is not enough to be passionate about a cause, but that we need to translate our enthusiasm into action. By devoting your support to educational efforts as well as specific projects, you are ensuring that your mission will continue far into the future. You represent the best ideals of the University of Michigan, and we are proud to welcome you back in order to present you with the honorary degree.

G. R. MAGAZINE NAMES PETER M. WEGE ONE OF CITY’S MOST POWERFUL

Posted on Categories Arts & Culture, Community Service, Education, Environment, Health Care

GRmagizineThe December issue of Grand Rapids Magazine published brief profiles on the 25 people their staff considered the city’s most important. The first person listed was Peter M. Wege. In Peter Wege’s biography titled “Looking Beyond Horizons,” reporter Curt Wozniak gave him credit for making Grand Rapids, Michigan, the greenest city in the country for its size.

The article explains: Years ago, The Wege Foundation decided to stop capital grants for any building that is not environmentally friendly. As a result, Grand Rapids boasts the most square-footage per capita of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building LEED program, including the new Grand Rapids Art Museum which exists thanks to Wege’s support.

The writer goes on to recognize Wege for his environmental outreach that extends beyond his home city of Grand Rapids. In particular, the article cites Wege’s leadership on protecting the Great Lakes. Wozniak concludes by writing about Wege’s successful efforts, “His Healing Our Waters Coalition is backed by several U.S. legislators working to establish a united strategy for Great Lakes restoration.”

BILL FORD ANNOUNCES NATIONAL ENERGY COUNCIL AT WEGE LECTURE.

Posted on Categories Environment, Wege Speaker Series

BILLFORDSIDEPHOTOWilliam Clay Ford, Jr., Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company, delivered the Seventh Annual Peter M. Wege Lecture at the University of Michigan November 13, 2007. Henry Ford’s great-grandson, who goes by the name “Bill Ford,” called his speech, The Road to Sustainable Transportation.

Bill Clay Ford has been known for his environmentalism since he joined Ford Motor’s board in 1988. From the beginning, the graduate of Princeton with a masters degree from MIT pushed Ford to design more fuel-efficient vehicles. But with gas relatively cheap at the time, and with SUVs and trucks Ford Motor’s money makers, his green message didn’t resonate with the management. Twenty years later, with gas over $3.00 a gallon, Ford’s fellow executives are thinking green as well.

Bill Ford chose the occasion of a full house for the Wege Lecture in Rackham’s Auditorium to announce Ford Motor’s formation of a national energy panel to be called the Transformation Advisory Council (TAC). Council members will include senior executives from Ford who are the innovative thinkers, environmental scientists and engineers from major universities, representatives from national environmental organizations, members of the private sector, government officials, and people from non-profit world.

The Chairman of the Ford third of the Big Three sees the TAC as the first step to developing a national energy policy, something he says “has to happen.” Ford spoke to the environmental necessity of a national policy by citing statistics that emissions from this nation’s car and trucks are leading contributors to global warming. In terms of national security and the economy, Ford said, until we can produce American vehicles that consume less fuel, we will continue to be dependent on—and vulnerable to—foreign oil-producing countries.

With proposed alternative-energy solutions varying from ethanol to electricity to hydrogen, Bill Ford called for a federal policy that will help direct America’s auto industry to build the right engines. To solve the oil crisis, our current gas stations will ultimately need to be replaced by a new fuel infrastructure. For the auto makers, the sooner there’s a national energy policy directing the fuel of the future, the sooner the Big Three can tool up to provide the engines.

Two environmental leaders Bill Ford has invited to sit on the TAC are also two of the authors Peter Wege drew on in his 1998 book ECONOMICOLOGY: The Eleventh Commandment. One is Amory Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute; the other is Paul Hawken, a nationally recognized environmental pioneer.

PETER M. WEGE WINS STEWARDSHIP AWARD FROM UNITED GROWTH

Posted on Categories Environment

In the fall of 2007, United Growth for Kent County gave Peter M. Wege its Land Use Stewardship Award. The environmental land-use organization recognized Wege and the Foundation for supporting farmland preservation, public transit, water quality, green-building initiatives, and energy conservation.

In making the presentation, Paul Haan, President of the United Growth for Kent County Board of Directors, said this: Mr. Wege is being honored today for his commitment to positive land use in Kent County and throughout the state. With Mr. Wege’s leadership, Grand Rapids has the most LEED certified buildings (square footage per capita) of any other city in the country and now the first art museum in the world to be LEED certified.

United Growth was created in 1999 to bring together people and organizations committed to promoting positive land use in the county and West Michigan. Originally a program of the Michigan State University Extension in Kent County, United Growth became its own non-profit in 2007.

To recognize Peter M. Wege’s Stewardship Award, United Growth has placed a brick in the Grand Ideas Garden of the MSU Extension center with his name on it. The purpose of the brick, according to Paul Haan, is “so visitors will be reminded of Mr. Wege’s commitments to our community.”

Through The Wege Foundation, Peter has been a pioneer in preserving Kent County farms by matching funds to buy the Property Development Rights from farmers we want to keep their land a working farm, not a new subdivision. One farm The Wege Foundation helped save is a 74.5 acre parcel in Vergennes Township. By leveraging funds from the USDA Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, The Wege Foundation was able to honor the farm owner’s wishes to keep the family farm from development as well as to make the best use of the land.

The Wege Foundation donated the signs posted on all the preserved farms around Grand Rapids. The design was created by The Wege Foundation's artist, Mark Heckman.
The Wege Foundation donated the signs posted on all the preserved farms around Grand Rapids. The design was created by The Wege Foundation’s artist, Mark Heckman.

GUARDIAN ANGEL HOMES Names Peter M. Wege its first Grand Angel

Posted on Categories Community Service, Health Care

On November 27, the Guardian Angel Homes of Grand Rapids honored Peter M. Wege by giving him their first Grand Angel Award. Grand Angel Homes was started in 1992 by a group of Catholic families who wanted to provide care and housing for adults who are physically or mentally disabled. Because Peter Wege supported their cause from the beginning, they named him their first Grand Angel.

The program described the new award and why Peter was the first recipient:

The Grand Angel Award recognizes individuals whose genuine and profound love of humanity, as well as all of God’s Creation, excel in protecting, promoting, and uplifting it through their extraordinary vision, leadership, compassion, understanding, and generosity to all of mankind, but most especially for the Least of These

Some founders of Guardian Angel Homes, including philanthropists Ralph and Grace Hauenstein, have disabled children themselves. They wanted to make sure their children, and others like them, had good homes as they became adults and their older parents could no longer take care of them. Guardian Angel Homes now has several residences providing homes for almost 50 adults with varying degrees of disabilities.

The adults in two Guardian Angel Homes on Alten Street can function well enough to live on their own, with a social worker checking on them regularly. Many of the Alten residents hold jobs. The Guardian Angel group homes for those more disabled offer the same safe, nurturing home atmosphere, but with a full-time caretaker.

Although Guardian Angel Homes began with Catholic families, they have broadened their outreach to people of all faiths. Part of their mission from the beginning was to make sure their disabled children could continue practicing their faith. Staff and volunteers make sure that happens by driving the Guardian Angel residents to where ever their religious services are held.

Guardian Angel Homes has discovered how great the need is to provide good homes for disabled adults. There are 20,000 disabled people in Kent County alone. Guardian Angel Homes has 50 of them on its waiting list to move in , but there’s no more room to house them. At the November event honoring Peter Wege, Guardian Angel Board President Paul Solberg announced a campaign titled “Building Lives” to raise money for more homes.

Underneath Peter M. Wege’s full-page photograph in the program is this line from one of Peter’s own prayers: O Lord God, give us compassion and understanding of why we are here on this dot in the Universe.

TEXT FOR THE PHOTO Peter M. Wege sits beside the first Grand Angel Award statue by Mic Carlson. The statue depicts Brother Bernardo kneeling in prayer a the feet of St. Francis.

GRAND RAPIDS’ FIRST HONORARY FIRE CHIEF: PETER M. WEGE

Posted on Categories Community Service

On October 22, 2007, Peter Wege realized every man’s dream. He became the Chief of the Grand Rapids Fire Department, complete with his name on the shiny white helmet! This honorary title made local history as it is the first time the GRFD has ever given such an award.

But, then, Peter Wege’s long-time support for the good men and women of the GRPD is in a class by itself as well. Peter and The Wege Foundation are well known for their generosity to a spectrum of West Michigan civic causes. But few people know of Peter’s quiet contributions to both the fire and police departments of Grand Rapids. Even though Peter lives in, and pay taxes to, East Grand Rapids, he has always understood that maintaining a healthy community requires a safe and prosperous core city.

One of Peter’s early gifts to the GRFD came on the heels of 9/11. That tragedy made the GRFD realize that they needed a better communications system if Grand Rapids was ever to experience a large-scale emergency. Peter donated two Battalion Chief mobile-command and radio systems that allow the GRFD to stay in close touch with other emergency responders in a major disaster. Peter added to that donation his own three-wheeled All-Terrain-Vehicle, allowing fire fighters to move quickly into areas without roads.

Most recently, and probably the most important of all, Peter Wege spearheaded a collaboration with other foundations and donors to buy ten life-saving
thermal-imaging cameras. These state-of-the art cameras, like night-vision glasses, allow firefighters to see into burning buildings for people trapped inside.

Grand Rapids firefighters might not see Chief Peter Wege sliding down the fire pole to jump on a fire truck with them. But they know their first honorary Chief holds them in high respect—and is always their friend.

THE GRAND RAPIDS CHILDREN’S MUSEUM: Ten Years Later

Posted on Categories Community Service

frontofGRchildrensmuseumIn the early 1990s, four women, mothers and grandmothers, realized Grand Rapids, Michigan, needed a place for children to play in creative and hands-on ways. Georgia Woodrick Gietzen, Alyce Greeson, Carla Morris, and Aleicia Woodrick decided to do something about it.

In 1993, they opened two successful exhibits for children in a local shopping center. Over 30,000 children got the chance to do play-work by making things in a Funstruction and to fool around with bubbles in the other exhibit. This launch of what would become the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum moved on to donated space in a public library and then the public museum in Grand Rapids.

But the founders knew they needed their own permanent location, and they finally found it at 11 Sheldon Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids. That’s when The Wege Foundation came aboard. Knowing of Peter’s generosity, his support for downtown Grand Rapids, and, above all, his love of young people and education, the women knew it wouldn’t’ be a hard sell.

It wasn’t. In October 2007, Peter was honored by the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum for being one of “The Ten Who Made A Difference.” As the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum celebrated the tenth anniversary in its permanent two-story, play-learn facility on Sheldon, they said this about Peter Wege:

Peter’s support for the Children’s Museum comes from his deep love of
children and his profound faith in Education as the single most important
cause running through all the Foundation’s other four missions
(Environment, Arts & Culture, Health Care, and Human Services.)

Anybody who knows Peter sense of humor and love of jokes knows that for him to support a place where children go just to have fun is a natural.

Peter Wege is pictured here with Teresa L. Thome, Executive Director of the GRCM. Find out more about the Children’s Museum by clicking http://www.grcm.org

ELIZABETH EDWARDS VISITS GILDA’S CLUB

Posted on Categories Community Service, Health Care

GildasignElizabeth Edwards met with members of The Wege Foundation, Ellen Satterlee, Executive Director on the left and Terri McCarthy, VP of Programs on the right, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on September 22, 2007. This private, non-media event was held at a most appropriate site: Gilda’s House Grand Rapids, a cancer-support home. Created in memory of comedienne Gilda Radner, the 20 Gilda’s Clubs around the country are places where cancer patients and their families gather for support, education, fellowship, and fun.

Elizabeth Edwards has breast cancer, first diagnosed in 2004. In March 2007, her husband and she announced on national TV that her cancer had returned. They both spoke about their mutual decision that he would stay in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Gilda’s House holds special significance for Peter Wege and The Wege Foundation as well. Both Peter’s parents Sophia Louise and Peter Martin Wege died of cancer. Their only child, Peter M. Wege made his first of many donations to cancer causes when he was flying airplanes in World War II. The women who started Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids in 1998 are the first to tell you that Peter Wege’s generous support has been pivotal to their Club’s becoming the busiest and most successful one in the United States.

When Elizabeth Edwards arrived at Gilda’s Grand Rapids, she was greeted by group of red-coated—for Gilda’s signature red doors—volunteers holding signs of welcome and praise. Elizabeth Edwards wept as she greeted each volunteer, most of them fellow cancer patients. “In all my travels,” she told them, “I have never been greeted like this.”

Speaking to a small gathering, including Gilda’s Club board members, the articulate Elizabeth talked openly about facing this new bout with cancer. She also spoke about the day her sixteen-year old son Wade was killed when his car got thrown off the road in a freak wind tunnel. A highly respected attorney herself, Elizabeth Edwards made no political comments at all. She talked about her husband only briefly when she was asked how he is handling her diagnosis.

This petite woman, who looks people straight in the eye, captured the small audience with her naturalness, sincerity, and personal outreach to her fellow cancer sufferers. Elizabeth Edwards was awed by the red-doored home on Bridge Street and all that Gilda’s Grand Rapids is doing for families with cancer. She took time before she left to sign copies of her new book with its self-defining title, Saving Graces: Finding Solace & Strength from Friends and Strangers.