St. Cloud, Minnesota— The Central Minnesota Community Foundation and the Initiative Foundation, in partnership, have granted $19,000 to area nonprofits who are working to develop solutions and implement programs that alleviate poverty in rural areas of Central Minnesota.
The Rural Poverty Advisory Committee awarded the following grants: The Brainerd Baxter Youth Center in Brainerd $2,000, Oasis Central Minnesota in Little Falls $5,000, the Central MN Task Force on Battered Women in Saint Cloud $5,000, Riverview Church in Pine River $2,000 and the Boys and Girls Club of the Leech Lake Area in Cass Lake $5,000.
The Brainerd Baxter Youth Center will use their $2,000 grant for The Bicycle Recycle Youth Project at TheShop. Oasis Central Minnesota will be putting their $5,000 grant towards emergency housing for individuals and families in Morrison County. The Central MN Task Force on Battered Women will be using their $5,000 grant for On-Scene Advocacy Services to Rural Victims of Domestic Violence. Riverview Church will be putting their $2,000 grant towards the feeding the students of The Warehouse After-School Program and the Boys and Girls Club of the Leech Lake Area will use their $5,000 grant for general operating costs.
The Rural Poverty Fund looks to make grants for general operations and new or expanding programs/projects. Grants may establish or supplement existing emergency and transitional activities which directly address specific, immediate needs that people have due to poverty. Grants may also be used to assess community needs and assets, develop action plans, or provide for project implementation.
The Central Minnesota Community Foundation (CMCF), in affiliation with CommunityGiving, is a public charity that attracts and administers charitable funds for the benefit of the local community. Since 1985, CMCF has grown to over $89.6 million in assets and awarded over $93.1 million in grants to non-profits. CommunityGiving is a collaboration of community foundations united under a single framework to create efficiencies that maximize the impact of our donors. The core foundations working with CommunityGiving include the Alexandria Area Community Foundation, the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation, the Central Minnesota Community Foundation and the Willmar Area Community Foundation. Collectively, CommunityGiving administers more than 700 funds totaling more than $140 million. Learn more at CommunityGiving.org/CentralMN