Great Lakes Endurance has donated a percentage of its proceeds to the following organizations for 2010:  1) Hiawatha Forest Interpretive Center for native plant restoration work on Grand Island (see photo), 2) Whitefish Township Schools for construction of a greenhouse and development of a school composting program, 3) Navarino Nature Center for youth environmental education, 4) Friends of Hartman Creek for conservation work and environmental education at Hartman Creek State Park, 5) Cronies Trail Club of Waupaca for construction and maintenance of sustainable single track trail at Hartman Creek, and 6) Clintonville Schools for youth running programs.  “I am really pleased with what the recipients have accomplished with our donations in 2010.  The results are visible,” noted GLE race director Jeff Crumbaugh.   Deb LeBlanc has lead a tireless group of volunteers raising and planting native plants on Grand Island.  You can observe the results of her group’s work in a highland area of Grand Island’s interior where plants with regional genomes have been planted  (see picture below).  The greenhouse constructed by teacher Nate Beelen’s science students at the Whitefish Township School in Paradise, Michigan sproduced a nice crop of vegetables this year, which were served in the school’s lunch program and donated to area families.  The school has also developed a composting program where scraps from the school lunch as well as shredded waste paper are turned into fertile soil plus a liquid fertilizer to be used in the greenhouse.  The Navarino Nature Center continues to provide summer environmental education programs for area school children.  The Cronies Trail Club from Waupaca has constructed some of the most elegant single track in the Great Lakes Region.  “We were so impressed with what the Cronies group has done.  Not only do they construct beautiful single track, but they do it in a sustainable, environmentally conscious fashion,” said Crumbaugh.  Great Lakes Endurance also made donations to the Keweenaw Land Trust, Michigan Nature Association, The Nature Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense, and Defenders of Wildlife.