Rick Robbins, who won a seat on the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners last fall, tells The Ticker he has donated the entirety of his first year’s earnings as a commissioner to Habitat Humanity Grand Traverse Region. Robbins says he’s earned about $10,000 as a commissioner since taking the oath of office last November. He intends to continue donating all his government earnings to different nonprofits in future years.

“I remember as a kid growing up, you’d put money in a jar, hoping to save up enough to buy something,” Robbins says. “Well, I felt a little like a kid again this past year. When I decided to run again, it was on my plate to take my wages and donate them to some group. So, since January, I’ve had the county deposit my check in a special account, and I just watched it. Once it got up to $10,000, that’s when I wrote a monster check.”

Asked why he chose Habitat for Humanity, Robbins says he’s been a big believer in the organization for years, noting that he does construction work and other volunteering for the nonprofit in his spare time. He’s also been looking for an opportunity to make a big donation to Habitat ever since his first term on the Leelanau County board, when Habitat sought – and missed out on – funding from the county’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation.

“When we had the ARPA money, Habitat wanted $100,000 for the New Waves project,” Robbins explains, referring to the housing development Habitat has been building off Bugai Road. “We ended up spending most of [the ARPA funds] on broadband, but I remember [then board chair] Ty Wessell saying, ‘Well, if there’s a second round, we’ll prioritize Habitat.’ There never was a second round, and I was a little disappointed we couldn’t support that project, so I thought, ‘This is what I can do on my own.’”

Robbins says he was also inspired to give by the legacy of his father, Jack Robbins, who was a longtime supporter of conservation efforts in Grand Traverse County. The Robbins Bridge, the name of the Boardman River crossing on Cass Road, is named after Jack, who passed away in 2022 at the age of 91.

“I thought, ‘I should take this money and do something with it that Dad would do,’” Robbin says.

Going forward, Robbins plans to make similar donations around the holiday season each year for as long as he’s a member of the Board of Commissioners.

“In January, I’ll start filling up that bank account again, and at the end of next year, I’ll pick somebody else [to support],” he says.

Robbins has had a somewhat unusual journey on the Leelanau board. He ran as a Republican for the District 1 seat in 2020 and won, then served for two years before losing his re-election bid to Democrat Jamie Kramer. Kramer stepped down from that seat in July of last year and did not seek re-election. Robbins then switched party allegiance and ran for the seat as a Democrat last November, ultimately beating out Republican challenger Tim McCalley by around 200 votes.