Grant expands Kaufman Interfaith Institute service initiative

Thanks to a large grant from the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, Grand Valley State University’s Kaufman Interfaith Institute will be able to expand its 2015 Year of Interfaith Service initiative.

Since the 2015 Year of Interfaith Service officially began in 2014, various congregations around West Michigan have been participating in community service activities, including interfaith builds with Habitat for Humanity, volunteering at food pantries in Grand Rapids, planning a Hospice Interfaith Memorial and Beautification project, knitting goods for local and national organizations with Interfaith & Interwoven, and much more. 

Katie Gordon, Kaufman Interfaith Institute program manager, said the $50,000 grant will support interfaith efforts on local college campuses by funding student interns. The goal will be to provide students with opportunities to expand their interfaith leadership skills and apply them on their own campuses, and in the broader community. Students from Grand Valley, Aquinas College and Calvin College will be invited to apply for a spot on the institute’s inter-institutional committee.

“Since these campuses haven’t had student-driven interfaith efforts before, we’re excited to see what plans these student leaders will come up with to promote interfaith education and service on their campuses,” Gordon said. “Between our colleges and universities, we’ll have a meaningful project that calls us all to think about, and act upon, why we want to encourage interfaith understanding within our diverse community.”

With the grant, the institute will additionally be able to fund its Triennial Jewish-Christian-Muslim Dialogue Conference, as well as host Eboo Patel, founder of the Interfaith Youth Core, for a presentation. Both events will take place in October.

Doug Kindschi, Kaufman Interfaith Institute director, said the GRCF grant is follow-up funding to a similar grant the institute received for its 2012 Year of Interfaith Understanding, which saw a year of more than 300 events take place, all with the central aim of exploring commonalities and difference in the religions of the world.

“The previous GRCF grant in 2012 helped West Michigan better understand the value that each tradition brings to our community. This grant takes us to the next step of acting through service to build a better and more vibrant community,” Kindschi said.

For more information, email [email protected] or call (616) 331-5702.