Brainerd, Minn. – The Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation (BLACF) Board of Directors is pleased to open the 2024 grant round. Local nonprofits are invited to apply online at www.communitygiving.org/grant/brainerd-lakes-area-grants. BLACF intends to support innovative programs and projects that will bring about meaningful, community-wide, lasting, and positive changes in the Brainerd Lakes Area through awarding grants up to $30,000. BLACF also looks to provide leadership and financial support that goes beyond the grant to advance the project or initiative that needs funding to get started or completed. Eligible organizations are 501(c)3 nonprofits, schools or government entities that serve Crow Wing and southern Cass Counties.
“We are pleased to offer Difference Maker Grants. Just like its title, the focus of this grant round is to make a difference within our communities. We do this by bridging and bonding together as a community and by following our mission of engaging people, connecting resources and building communities in the Brainerd Lakes Area” Terri Foster, Executive Director of the BLACF, commented. “Our Board of Directors and the Community Programs/Grants Committee, while building on the foundations of our past endeavors, are venturing into slightly new territories to encourage innovation and collaboration to try and find unique ways that will bring real change to our communities.”
Bridging the opportunity gap for disadvantaged youth remains at the forefront, BLACF is extending support to projects that not only empower them but also pave the way for future success. BLACF’s dedication to community enhancement and economic development endures, now with a sharper focus on economic vitality and sustainability. BLACF also continues to champion welcoming initiatives and still wants to embrace projects that can help the community with those reoccurring needs including increasing workforce, affordable housing, and daycare initiatives, as well as health and wellness programs. BLACF feels that these focus areas will help create thriving communities that meet evolving needs of the communities served.
BLACF attracts and administers charitable funds for the benefit of supporting your favorite charities and causes. BLACF was founded in 1998 and celebrating their 25th anniversary and is excited for not only the growth in fund assets that the foundation hosts – over $19.26 million, but even more proud of the $9 million in grant funding provided to nonprofit organizations from BLACF and in-partnership with its fundholders and donors. Those dollars are truly transforming lives and changing our communities! The BLACF is governed by a local board of directors and is a partner of CommunityGiving, a collaborative of community foundations creating efficiencies that maximize donor impact. Collectively, CommunityGiving administers over 1,000 funds, totaling nearly $210 million. Learn more at CommunityGiving.org/blacf.