St. Cloud, Minn. – The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) announced today that $140,000 has been awarded to local programs through their two most recent grant rounds. The Central Minnesota Arts awarded $30,000 to five organizations. The Central Minnesota “Difference Maker” grant round, with the support of the Norman C. Skalicky Foundation Fund, awarded $110,000 to six organizations.
The Central Minnesota “Difference Maker” grant round seeks to support programs that will bring about positive, lasting change to our community. Recipients of the “Difference Maker” grants were as followed:
- $30,000 to Career Start programming at the Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota which educates youth on the “working world” and developing skills needed for workforce success.
- $25,000 to support design and building of a home through the Tiger Build 5 program at St. Cloud Technical High School with Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity.
- $21,200 to support the new Great River Children’s Museum through renovations of the community room and to plan and implement family engagement activities.
- $18,800 to help hire staff for the Pan African Male Transformation program at Promise Neighborhood which will provide mentoring and educational opportunities to over 60 youth.
- $10,000 to support the recruiting, training, and screening of mentors, program activities and youth participation costs for Potter’s Bigs program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota.
- $5,000 to the Junior Achievement Company Program in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota which will lead programming for youth to learn about starting and running their own business.
The Central Minnesota Arts grant round supports organizations and programs that make arts more accessible to all residents. Recipients of the Central Minnesota Arts grants were as followed:
- $7,500 to the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra for musical performances geared towards area seniors.
- $6,500 for local artists to provide artistic experiences for low income youth in 14 neighborhoods across the St. Cloud community through the YES Network.
- $5,500 to support multi-cultural and inclusive theatrical opportunities at the Helgeson Learning Lab with GREAT Theatre.
- $5,500 to support the Boys & Girls’ Youth Arts Initiative which includes visual arts, sewing, digital video and music production, and dance for youth participants.
- $5,000 to support the residency of Scrap Arts Music which will include school performances and community engagement through the Saint John’s University Fine Arts Series.
Caryl Turnow, Executive Director of the CMCF, stated, “We are happy to provide support to these organizations who enrich our community. The arts bring people from different paths of life together in new creative environments. This year’s “Difference Maker” grants center on supporting our next generation in the areas of education, economic opportunities and community engagement. We feel fortunate to have the support of the Norman C. Skalicky Foundation which helped increase the impact we were able to make this year.
The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) attracts and administers charitable funds for the benefit of the local community. Since 1985, CMCF has grown to over $105.9 million in assets and awarded over $100.5 million in grants to non-profits. The CMCF is governed by a local board of directors and is a partner of CommunityGiving, which is a collaborative of community foundations united under a single framework to create efficiencies that maximize the impact of our donors. Collectively, CommunityGiving administers nearly 800 funds totaling more than $140 million. Learn more at CommunityGiving.org/CentralMN