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Despite 2020, Ferndale Pride, foundation still able to donate thousands
Kids at LifeLabs in Ferndale watch as work begins on a greenhouse outside the facility. LifeLabs received a $2,000 grant as part of Ferndale Pride and the Ferndale Community Foundation’s yearly grant program. That $2,000 will be used for the greenhouse.
Photo provided by Natalie Rink
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FERNDALE Despite the COVID-19 pandemic that canceled the event last year, Ferndale Pride and the Ferndale Community Foundation were able to donate more than $20,000 to nearly a dozen local organizations.
Pride and FCF announced in December that they were donating $21,971 to 11 organizations as part of their annual distribution. The grants from Ferndale Pride, in the amount of $2,000 each, will go to Affirmations, Gender Identity Network, Matrix Human Services, Transgender Detroit and Transgender Michigan.
Elected officials in one of Michigan s smallest and poorest communities are facing criticism from residents after approving pay raises for themselves amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The salary hikes, approved by the Royal Oak Township trustees late last month, include a 25% increase for Supervisor Donna Squalls, from $20,000 to $25,000 a year; 87.5% for Clerk Gwendolyn Turner, from $8,000 to $15,000; and 21.4% for newly elected Treasurer Patricia Singley, from $14,000 to $17,000.
All three are members of the township s Board of Trustees; the other four members received per diem increases that will raise their pay from $100 to $125 every two weeks.
The raises come as many people in the township are struggling with job losses stemming from the pandemic, said longtime resident Felicia Royal. She also noted that testing last year by the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner s office found elevated lead levels in some township samples.