USG Alabaster officials have announced that the company’s Community Foundation Grant for 2025 has gone to the WE Players, a local theater group whose recent productions included a teen performance of the Broadway hit Chicago in November.

The USG Community Foundation Grant program allows the company to annually pick a nonprofit in each plant’s local community, and direct $5,000 toward that organization’s work. Previous Iosco County recipients have included the East Tawas Fire Department, Iosco County Coats for Kids and the Iosco County Historical Society.

“We appreciate being able to support our local community,” says USG Alabaster Manager Jon Blazic. “One of the things that makes this program special, is the recipient is selected every year by our plant staff. We keep a running list of applicants, and every summer we ask the employees to nominate and guide the selection process, so the grantee is determined by folks who live and work in the community.”

If an organization isn’t selected in any year, they’re kept in the pool for the following year.

WE Players works to foster leadership potential among area young people, through involvement in the fine arts. The group has produced 37 plays since the program began, and it involves 50-75 area school children every year. While a fully realized stage production is the result, the goal is to help the participants learn life skills, creative problem solving, innovative thinking and how to work as a group.

The WE Players most recent production occurred on Dec. 15 and 17, with Lost Girl.