Brainerd, Minn. – The Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation’s (BLACF) Board of Directors is proud to announce that Ruth (Ruthie) Gmeinder of East Gull Lake, MN, is the 2026 BLACF Award in Philanthropy honoree. This award recognizes the efforts of an individual, family, or an organization who has significantly contributed to the field of philanthropy in the Brainerd Lakes Area – through their personal generosity, by giving of their treasure, talent, and time. The Award in Philanthropy was created to honor those who work to build a better community and to inspire the next generation of philanthropic leaders.
Throughout her years in the Brainerd Lakes Area, Ruthie Gmeinder has been a busy entrepreneur and gracious hostess—operating Gull Lake Resort for nearly 40 years. Her service spans an extraordinary range of organizations, demonstrating her deep dedication to community betterment. Her involvement includes the Brainerd Rotary Club and Rotary Foundation; 20 years on the Brainerd Public School Board; Community Education; Family Services Collaborative; Early Childhood Family Education; Sourcewell; the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation; the Women’s Fund; and Essentia Home Care and Ethics Committee. She has supported the Lakes Area Music Festival, GLAPA, the Northland Arboretum’s Haunted Trail, and even supplied medieval costumes for the Boy Scouts’ Parker Castle. Ruthie has long been a champion for women and families, launching the WIC Program for Crow Wing County in 1979 and serving on the Child Protection Team. Launching a literacy‑promotion program for the Brainerd Public School District was a natural extension of one of her strongest belief’s: “education is the greatest gift we can give our children—and learning should last a lifetime.”
Every community should be so fortunate to have a “Ruthie”—someone who cares deeply, gives joyfully, and brings color, warmth, and enthusiasm wherever she goes.
Each year, BLACF celebrates the generosity of our community, and shares stories of how kindness can be infectious and spread to those around us. Executive Director Terri Foster shares, “when a community comes together and focuses on helping one another, it can catalyze an entire community to create lasting positive change.” This year’s Award in Philanthropy celebration will take place this July at the Grand View Lodge in Nisswa, MN.
Since 1998, the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation has been helping people make a difference through charitable giving. Invested charitable funds may allow donors to give more to their favorite charitable organizations now and simultaneously help grow endowed resource funds to meet the ever-changing local community needs of today and tomorrow. With many types of funds available, everyone can support their favorite cause with an individual, business, general interest, or scholarship fund. Together, the Community Foundation and fund partners have awarded nearly $11 million in grants to nonprofits. As a trusted community leader, the Community Foundation staff and volunteer board of directors are committed to understanding community issues and bringing together necessary resources to address those needs and opportunities. We can help keep money local and doing good in the place we all love – creating impactful and lasting change by engaging people, connecting resources, and building community. Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation is a partner with other community foundations of CommunityGiving, a collaborative network to create efficiencies, control costs, and offer best-in-class tools for growing local community foundations and maximizing donor impact.