Pfizer Foundation Makes $1,000,000 Grant to AAACF

At its meeting on January 17, 2008, the Board of Trustees of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation gratefully accepted a gift of $1,000,000 from the Pfizer Foundation. The gift to the Community Foundation will help support programs and initiatives that address the health care, human services, education, arts and culture, and other needs of the Ann Arbor area.

"We're pleased to make this gift to the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. The Pfizer Foundation Board decided to make the grant because we recognized the need of non-profits in the area as they faced changes in their financial support structure due to the closure of the Pfizer Inc. facilities," said Rich Bagger, Vice President of the Pfizer Foundation and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Public Affairs and Policy for Pfizer Inc.

David Canter, Senior Vice President and Site Director of Pfizer Michigan Laboratories, said, "This gift affirms the long, rich tradition of community support by the Pfizer Foundation and Pfizer Inc. and our Ann Arbor colleagues and the valued work of local nonprofits."

According to Cheryl Elliott, President and CEO of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, with the Board's guidance staff will work with local agencies to identify areas of greatest need and distribute the funds over the next 2-3 years. "All of us in the Ann Arbor area deeply appreciate the generosity of the Pfizer Foundation and their confidence in the Community Foundation to steward these funds in the most effective way," Elliott said. "David Canter and his Pfizer colleagues have been exemplary corporate citizens in our community, and we are grateful to the Pfizer Foundation for its generous understanding of what the loss of Pfizer Inc. means to us."

The Pfizer Foundation is an independent charitable foundation established by Pfizer Inc. to promote access to quality health care and education, to nurture innovation and to support the community involvement of Pfizer's colleagues. The Ann Arbor area Community Foundation is dedicated to enriching the quality of life in Washtenaw County by providing community leadership, making grants and serving donors.