Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation

For good. For ever.

306 South University Avenue Mount Pleasant, MI, 48858 United States

(989) 773-7322

Our mission is to enhance the quality of life for all citizens of Isabella County, now and for generations to come, by attracting and holding permanent endowed funds from a wide range of donors, addressing needs through grant making and providing leadership on key community issues.

Ruth and Gerard Felter and Florence Battenfeld Family Fund

When Gerard (Jerry) Felter came to Mt. Pleasant in the early 1950s to manage the Borden Condensory, the community gained a wonderful, civic minded individual. Ruth, Jerry’s wife, was also inclined to serve the community. She made her career at CMU where she advanced to Director of Accounting followed by Director of Payroll. Jerry retired as the Budget Director for CMU’s Auxiliary Service. Both of them were always striving to make our community a better place to live. They lived out their deep and abiding faith by serving their church and greater community. Jerry was on the Mt. Pleasant Housing Commission for more than a decade working to assure the availability of decent, safe, and affordable housing for low income individuals and families. Both Jerry and Ruth had a sense of community that reflected an understanding of human need.

Florence Battenfeld (left) and Ruth (middle) & Gerard (right) Felter. These three individuals sit on a bench, looking at the photographer.

In 2000, Jerry established what we now call a community impact fund in honor of his sister, Florence Battenfeld. She was a banking legal secretary and a devoted member of the First Presbyterian Church who passed away in 2002. Jerry joined her in 2005, and Ruth passed away most recently, in 2014. Since the endowment fund was established, it has served our community just as Jerry and Ruth did during their lives. The Fund began to make grant distributions in 2006, and more than forty different community needs have been addressed since. Grants awarded include those for parenting programs, emergency food services, and handicap accessibility. The Fund has supported organizations like the Commission on Aging, Girls on the Run of Central Michigan, the Mt. Pleasant Discovery Museum, Woodland Hospice, and many more.

Jerry’s talent for managing money and his compassion for serving those around him will be felt by this community forever through the Ruth S. and Gerard R. Felter and Florence F. Battenfeld Family Fund.