$175,000 fundraising goal met to open two additional Grand Rapids pools By Jim Harger | The Grand Rapids Press June 04, 2010 GRAND RAPIDS – Three city swimming pools will be filled and operating this summer, thanks in part to a successful fundraising drive by the Friends of Grand Rapids Parks. Steve Faber, the group's director, said a series of large donations put them over the top of their $175,000 fundraising goal Friday. "We're calling it closed, we hit our marks," said Faber, whose group started the 10-day campaign after city officials announced they could not justify opening the city's six outdoor pools in the face of the ongoing budget crisis. The $182,227.50 raised will be used to open swimming pools at Briggs Park and Martin Luther King Park (pictured above). The Richmond Park pool also will open thanks to a $100,000 pledge from businessman Bob Sullivan. Faber noted 85 percent of the campaign's individual donations were for less than $100. Large donations from Amway Corp., the Wege Foundation, the Dan and Pamella DeVos Foundation, the David and Carol Van Andel Foundation and Crystal Flash Energy put them over the top, Faber said Friday. Other large donors included the Klopcic Family Foundation, Sidney J. Jansma, Jr., Tim Sullivan of B&B Beer Distributors, the Secchia Family Foundation and Mercantile Bank of Michigan. City Parks and Recreation Director Jay Steffen said the pools are likely to open on July 5 and operate on a six-day-a-week schedule for seven weeks.