Give Back Groups Project Spotlight
April 15, 2024
Support GBU Community Pillars Through Project Start-up Funds
Are you passionate about giving back to your community but not sure where to start? Consider applying for project start-up funds with GBU’s Give Back Groups. As a project leader, you can plan your own project to help your community, and GBU will reimburse you for associated expenses (up to a certain amount). Read stories from fellow GBU members who support GBU’s Community Pillars of Wellness, Education, Charitable Giving and Hometown Hero Support in their area through project start-up funds!
Wellness
Location: Wayne County, MI
GBU Member: Donna Povich
Benefiting Organization: Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit
Project Description: Donna and fellow GBU members got together to purchase and collect food, blankets and towels for the animal shelter.
Hometown Hero Support
Location: Fayette County, PA
GBU Member: Ken Firestone
Benefiting Organizations: Normalville VFW, Springfield VHC, Indian Head VFD
Project Description: Ken and his team made phone calls, had collection boots in the community and facilitated an auction to help support three volunteer fire departments.
Charitable Giving
Location: Fond du Lac County, WI
GBU Member: Susan VandeBerg
Benefiting Organization: REACH Waupun
Project Description: Susan connected GBU and Lions club members to host a chili and warming station during the city-wide weekend event. The funds raised helped to support a local not-for-profit student mentoring program.
Education
Location: Washington County, PA
GBU Member: Mary Ann Berty
Benefiting Organization: Student run Trinity Leadership Committee
Project Description: A team of GBU members led by Mary Ann hosted a silent disco dance for
special needs students and invited other schools to participate!
Choose how to help your community and request project start-up funds today! Visit gbucares.org/give-back-groups.
September marks National Life Insurance Awareness month and GBU Life is partnering with Optimity to bring our members a financial wellness check-in.
District 684 Brentwood, Pennsylvania and District 699 Frankenmuth, Michigan
A Life Dedicated to Heritage, Fellowship, and Service
The GBU Life Scholarship Awards support students in college, trade programs, non-college programs, and graduate school, helping them achieve their dreams, setting them on a career path and realizing life goals. Since its founding, the GBU Foundation has awarded 4,500 scholarships and educational grants totaling more than $3.2 million. In 2025, 215 members received $226,000 to support their two‑year, four‑year and graduate studies. Here’s a look at where the rubber meets the road — as we check in on past grantees to see how their scholarship awards have helped them stay on course, where they are now, and where they hope to be in the future.
There are people who give, people who serve, and people whose lives are changed because of both. All were represented at the GBU Foundation Community Grant Awards event on April 9, 2026.
The GBU Foundation, established by GBU Life in 1963 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, empowers donors to turn generosity into meaningful community impact.
To celebrate our 134th anniversary, GBU Life launched the Birthday Bash initiative, calling upon the GBU Life community to honor our fraternal legacy through service. GBU Life invited members, producers, and community leaders to assemble and deliver shelf-stable cake kits for individuals and families who may otherwise go without a birthday celebration. What can seem like a simple act of service could be the spark of hope someone needed.
GBU Life is expanding the power of your member benefits with an enhancement to LawAssure, the easy‑to‑use online service that helps you prepare essential legal documents from home.
A guide for navigating miscarriage, stillbirth, and the grief that follows.
There’s something about summer that makes even the simplest meal feel like a celebration.