The Northwest Minnesota Foundation announced that it has awarded 11 grants totaling $180,900 benefiting communities: for children and families, community planning, natural resource protection and preservation, growth management and housing. The following organizations were selected as grant recipients:

• Human Achievement & Performance Academy ($25,000) Hubbard County Youth Drug & Alcohol Task Force
  To create a drug and alcohol task force for Hubbard County
• Mahube Community Council ($25,000) Relatives As Parents Program (RAPP) Expansion and Enhancement
  For support groups for grandparents and other relatives raising grandchildren in Roseau and Thief River Falls
• Mount St. Benedict CSA Garden ($16,000) Mt. St. Benedict CSA Garden
  To provide funding for four full- time internship positions
• Valley Community Health Centers ($25,000) Northern Valley Dental Alliance
  For addressing oral health issues of children and vulnerable populations in the northern Red River Valley
• City of Warroad ($2,650) Point Restoration
  To hire a Land Use Planner to help the community redesign the recreation area
• East Grand Forks EDHA ($10,000) East Grand Forks CALP
  To identify strategic economic development opportunities in the East Grand Forks area, and a plan to capitalize on the area's community advantages
• The People Connection, Inc. ($15,000) Broadband for Business
  To enhance the business development services in the NW region through the use of Broadband technologies
• Headwaters Regional Development Commission ($10,000) Bemidji Community Indicator Project
  To have Bemidji Leads! serve as a vehicle to help the greater Bemidji community assess the community's current standing in a variety of quality of life areas
• Mahnomen Health Center ($14,750) Mahnomen Assisted Living Project
  To perform studies for a proposed assisted living unit
• Northwest Regional Development Commission ($25,000)
  For the Thief River Falls Area Growth Partnership
• Clearwater County Land and Forestry Dept ($12,500) Managing Clearwater County's Forest Resources
  To address in a comprehensive fashion the critical issues facing the county on its managed state trust

Northwest Minnesota Foundation component fund advisory committees recommended grants and scholarships for NMF board approval. Fifty-nine awards totaling $149,800 were made from the following funds:

• Backstrom Family Charitable Fund ($500) Paul Bunyan Playhouse
• Bagley Early Childhood Initiative Fund ($14,770) Bagley School District and Clearwater County Nursing Service
• Bemidji Library Foundation-Dorothy Breen Endowment Fund ($1,100) Kitchigami Regional Library
• Bemidji Lumberjack Foundation Fund -First National Bank Bonspiel Fund ($963) Bemidji School Dist
• Bemidji Lumberjack Foundation Fund -Security Bank USA Lumberjack Scramble ($1,653) Bemidji Area School Dist
• Blackduck Area Community Fund ($225) Blackduck Ambulance Association, Inc.
• Courage Center Programs and Camps Fund ($8,500) Courage Center
• Crookston Early Childhood Initiative Fund ($810) Crookston School Dist
• Fertile-Beltrami Early Childhood Initiative Fund ($1,000) Fertile-Beltrami Public School
• Fosston Education Foundation Endowment and Project Fund ($1,500) Fosston Community Library & Arts
• HRDC Leadership Fund - Successful Communities Challenge Fund ($6,250) Clearwater County Land and Forestry Dept
• Luther Younggren Memorial Scholarship Fund ($1,000)
• Mahnomen Education Endowment and Project Fund ($500) Bejou Roughriders & General Scholarship
• Northwest Minnesota Women's Fund (5 grants - $7,277) Climax-Shelly School Dist 592; Family Advocacy Center of No MN; Headwaters Intervention Center; Riverview Healthcare Assn; Sexual Assault Program
• Oja Family Fund ($500) Northwest Minnesota Foundation
• Ole and Ruth Tweet Family Fund (5 grants - $2,000) Challenger Preschool; Clayton Memorial Foundation; First Care Medical Services - Hospice; Pennington County Humane Society; Thief River Falls Education Foundation
• Park Rapids Early Childhood Initiative Fund ($370) Mahube Community Council
• Park Rapids Revolving Loan Fund ($5,000) City of Park Rapids
• Hubbard Regional Economic Development ($10,000)
• Roseau Area Community Fund (3 grants - $1,800) Oak Crest Senior Housing; Roseau School Dist; Wannaska Lions Club
• Roseau County Historical Society Endowment Fund ($1,500)
• Ruth Edevold Endowment for Excellence (5 grants - $5,000) Excellence awards
• Thief River Falls Early Childhood Initiative Fund ($5,000) Pennington County Child Care Association
• Warroad Area Community Fund (4 grants - $4,980) Prairie Community Center-Elkwood Home; Warroad Care Center; Warroad Heritage Center; Warroad Lost River Sportsmen Complex. Sub-funds: Gaylord A. Gunderson Education and Scholarship Fund (4 grants/scholarships - $11,766) Warroad School Dist
• • NAPA Ride to Reading Fund ($578) Warroad School Dist
  • Nick Moyer Memorial Scholarship Fund ($200)
  • Patrick O'Donnell Memorial Scholarship Fund ($500)
  • Warroad Care Center Fund ($101)

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation is a public charitable community foundation that invests resources, creates opportunities and promotes philanthropy to make the region a better place to live and work.