Annual report highlight: Cultivating a brighter future

June 20, 2014

Zeke Walker

Larry “Zeke” Walker is a tool and die maker by trade, a somewhat accidental career. As a student at Hesperia High School, Zeke attended the Newaygo County Career-Tech Center. “I wanted to learn a trade,” he said. “I signed up for welding, but it was full. So they put me in machines.”

This proved to be the right place. An instructor in the machine trades program inspired Zeke to further his education. In 2004 he received a scholarship from the Community Foundation and used it to obtain an associate degree in machine technology from Muskegon Community College. “I probably wouldn’t have gone to college if my teacher hadn’t encouraged me,” Zeke said.

While he may have stumbled upon his career by accident, Zeke’s choice when he won a sum of money in 2013 was very deliberate. Wanting to give other students opportunities like those he had received, Zeke made a donation to the College and Career Access Fund at the Community Foundation. The gift will help give others the ability to pursue education and career training, something important to Zeke. “Any time you can better yourself, you should take advantage of it,” he said.