The Minot Community Endowment Fund awarded grants totaling $64,600 to 15 local nonprofit organizations supporting the Minot area at the Roosevelt Park Zoo on Monday afternoon. Members of the endowment fund Advisory Committee presented the awards, along with a representative from the North Dakota Community Foundation, which manages the endowment fund for Minot.

The 15 applicants to receive funding:

Children’s Advocacy Center – $5,000

Roosevelt Park Zoo – $23,392

Companions for Children – $2,000

Second Story – $1,000

Domestic Violence Crisis Center – $1,500

Souris Valley Animal Shelter – $4,621

Homeless Coalition – $4,000

1,150

Junior Achievement – $3,000

Taube Museum – $4,550

Men’s Winter Refuge – $1,900

The Village – $2,000

Minot Commission on Aging – $4,000

YWCA – $1,487

ND Boys and Girls Ranch – $5,000

The Advisory Committee reviewed 25 requests totaling more than $150,000. “All of the projects were worthy of funding, but we simply could not fund all of them. It was a difficult decision, but we’re confident that the ones that received a grant will make a big difference for our community,” said Renata Buen, an Advisory Committee member.

The largest grant was awarded to the Roosevelt Park Zoo for a new feature that will promote reading for young visitors to the zoo. The grant will be used to purchase four outdoor, all-weather Varro Books for the Children’s Zoo on the North Trail. Each book will be on a pedestal stand along the walking paths, featuring classic storybook tales that match the habitats.

The Minot Community Endowment Fund was established in 1981 by a grant from the Otto Bremer Trust (formerly the Otto Bremer Foundation), and is a permanent part of the North Dakota Community Foundation, which provides professional management of the fund. The fund is governed locally by an Advisory Committee, made up of volunteers from various service clubs in Minot. The Committee recommends grants annually, and conducts activities to help increase the fund and the total amount available to grant.

Currently, the endowment fund has approximately $1.5 million in assets, thanks in part to two generous estate gifts from T.A. and Anna Solheim, and Charles and Madge Westlie. All gifts to the fund are pooled and invested, and only a portion of the earnings are used to grant back to the community each year. As the fund grows, so does the annual grantable amount. Therefore, the community has a strong financial resource to support the nonprofit sector and the changing needs of the community forever.

For more information, or to make a contribution, please visit www.NDCF.net/Minot. All donations are tax deductible, and some gifts may qualify for the ND Income Tax Credit for gifts to qualified endowment funds. See www.NDCF.net for more information about the tax credit.