St. Cloud, Minn.— The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) announced today approval of the election of John Herges, Tohow Siyad and Steve Windfeldt to a second term of three years and Brad Wheelock to a third term of three years to the Central Minnesota Community Foundation Board of Directors.

St. Cloud, Minn. – The first grant opportunity is from the Women’s Fund of Central Minnesota Community Foundation. The Women's Fund is now accepting applications for their annual grant round. Online applications must be completed by midnight on September 30^th 2016 and can be found at www.communitygiving.org/grants.

St. Cloud, Minn. –The Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation has named Lynn Grewing the 2016 ATHENA Award recipient. Lynn was chosen for the award because of her dedication and passion as an educator to positively influence the lives of her students and others in the community. The award presentation will happen at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation Annual Dinner on September 13th, 2016.

St. Cloud, Minn. – The Women’s Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation presents “Dancing with Our Stars” at the Stearns County History Museum from 5-8 p.m. June 20, 2016. Women’s Fund Presents: Dancing with Our Stars is a community fundraiser to support women and girls in our community. Local “stars” will be competing with professionally-trained dancers to win a $15,000 grant for the charity of their choice.

St Cloud, Minn. – CommunityGiving and the Board of Directors of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) are pleased to announce the hiring of Caryl Turnow as the new Executive Director of the Foundation.

St. Cloud, Minnesota— What can be done in our community to address rural poverty? The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) and the Initiative Foundation (IF) have partnered to provide $18,000 in grants to area nonprofits or government agencies to develop solutions and implement programs to alleviate poverty in rural areas. The deadline to submit online applications to the Central Minnesota Rural Poverty Fund is June 30.

St. Cloud, Minn. –The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF) reached a milestone today by having granted over $125,000 to local drug education programs supported by law enforcement since the fund was started in 1994. The Benton County Sheriff, Cold Spring Police Department, Saint Cloud Police Department, Sartell Police Department, Sherburne County Sheriff, and Stearns’s County Sheriff all received grants for 2016 totaling $7,050.

St. Cloud, MN - The mission of the Athena Award is to recognize and honor central Minnesota women who have achieved excellence in their careers and who inspire others. Criteria for selection include: Demonstrate excellence, creativity, and initiative in her business or profession; provide valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the lives of others in the community; actively assist women in realizing their full leadership potential.

St. Cloud, Minn. – The Bernick Family Foundation announced today that it awarded more than $100,000 in grants focused on enriching the lives of youth and improving health through its fund at the Central Minnesota Community Foundation.

St. Cloud, MN-The Central Minnesota Community Foundation in partnership with St. Cloud State University is offering a grant writing workshop, “Taking the Mystery out of Grant Writing!” on Thursday March 17^th from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the St Cloud State University “WELCOME CENTER” located at 355 5th Ave. S., St. Cloud.