Submitted Photo Grantees and members of the MCEF Advisory Committee pose with a symbolic check for the $39,000 awarded recently.

The Minot Community Endowment Fund awarded grants totaling $39,000 to 11 local nonprofit organizations supporting the Minot area at the Lord’s Cupboard Food Pantry recently. 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 applicants to receive funding are:

– Souris Valley United Way (Dolly Parton Imagination Library), $4,000.

– Dream Catchers Baseball, Inc., $3,000.

– The Welcome Table (Lord’s Cupboard Food Pantry), $5,000.

– Minot Area Chamber of Commerce (Junior Achievement of Minot), $3,000.

– Companions for Children, Inc. (Lunch Pals: school-based youth mentoring), $4,000.

– Northern Plains Children’s Advocacy Center (therapy art/material supplies room), $2,500.

– Minot Area Homeless Coalition Inc (direct services), $4,000.

– Minot Commission on Aging, Inc. (Senior Nutrition Program), $5,000.

– United School District #7 (elementary playground equipment), $1,000.

– YWCA Minot (Helping Hand), $5,000.

– The Village Family Service Center (supervised parenting time and child exchange), $2,500.

A second grant round will be held this fall to award an additional $25,350. Organizations that received funding in the first round are not eligible to apply again. To apply for a grant, visit www.NDCF.net/Minot. The deadline is Oct. 1.

The Minot Community Endowment Fund was established in 1981 by a grant from the Otto Bremer Trust and is a permanent part of the North Dakota Community Foundation. 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 $1.6 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.

For more information, or to make a contribution, please visit www.NDCF.net/Minot.