St. Cloud, Minn. – A total of $99,400 has been granted out through two competitive grant rounds offered through the Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF). The Central Minnesota Difference Maker and Thomas Ritsche Youth Grant Round have awarded a total of 11 grants to local organizations.
Greta Stark-Kraker, Executive Director of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation says, “Through the collective philanthropic efforts of many who support the Difference Maker and the Thomas A. Ritsche Fund for Youth we can support these important and positive programs for our community to create a larger impact right now and for years to come. We thank our donors and nonprofit partners for empowering the foundation to engage people, connect resources and build community through all our grant rounds.”
For the organizations that received a Central Minnesota Difference Maker Grant, their programs encourage positive change in Central Minnesota. Focus areas for this grant round include education, economy, and community engagement as it relates to mental health and wellbeing. Three organizations received a Difference Maker Grant, including:
- The Yes Network received $20,000 for expanding afterschool programming in St. Cloud to address student mental health and wellness.
- Ellison Center received $20,000 for its mental health, racial equity, and parent support program.
- Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid -St. Cloud received $16,000 for its community legal clinic at Promise Neighborhood.
The Thomas Ritsche Youth Grant round focuses solely on youth-related projects and programs and awarded eight grants within our Central Minnesota communities. Grant recipients are as follows:
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota received $5,000 for its Eastside, Roosevelt & Southside Boys & Girls Club programming.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Minnesota received $5,000 for its “Bigs on Campus” mentoring initiative.
- GREAT Theatre received $5,000 for its Student Matinee Field Trip musical performance.
- Paramount Center for the Arts received $5,000 for its youth art programs, “your life in color”.
- Lutheran Social Services of MN received $5,000 towards its youth resiliency programs.
- The Yes Network received $6,700 for supporting student mental health and reducing youth-related crime with afterschool programming.
- Junior Achievement North received $5,000 for its Junior Achievement 5th grade expansion program to help students make important business and personal finance decisions.
- Friends of Career Solutions received $6,700 for its training for construction and manufacturing career programs.
If you are looking to learn more about our grant rounds, go to communitygiving.org/cmcfgrants