McKnight Supports Anchor Arts and Culture Institutions

The McKnight Foundation, Minneapolis, demonstrated its commitment to some of Minnesota's anchoring cultural institutions through its first-quarter 2004 grantmaking, approving grants totaling over a half million dollars to help support operations at four organizations that provide exceptional arts and media experiences.

The foundation's board approved $160,000 over two years, each, for the Children's Theater Company and School and Guthrie Theater Foundation, both of Minneapolis, and Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul; and $90,000 over two years for St. Paul's Park Square Theatre Company.

"The Twin Cities arts community has a lot to be proud of - breadth, depth and amazing individuals and institutions," said Noa Staryk, McKnight's board chair, "and our grantees this quarter are no exception. Each organization exhibits excellence in its field and plays a key role in our dynamic artistic ecosystem. We are pleased to support them and the work they do."

In the area of Children and Families, McKnight approved grants totaling $2 million to nine organizations, including $150,000 over two years to Metropolitan Alliance of Community Centers, Minneapolis, to help families build supportive communities that better meet their needs. MACC is a partnership of 13 community-based service organizations that serve more than 200,000 Twin Cities residents annually. McKnight's funding will help with operating expenses and to create a centralized management services office for the consortium. In an often competitive economic climate among nonprofits, this partnership provides a promising model of collaboration that should lead to cost savings.

To support a literacy home visiting project to increase school success for children, McKnight's board approved $100,000 over two years for the Minnesota Literary Council in St. Paul. Also in St. Paul, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Twin Cities received $150,000 over three years for a one-to-one mentoring program for at-risk children and youth. Southwest Minnesota Private Industry Council in Marshall received $200,000 over two years for a program to help recruit and train low-income and entry-level health care workers to advance into better paying jobs. St. Paul's Home Ownership Center, which counsels Minnesotans with low and moderate incomes about the financial aspects of home purchase and maintenance, received $100,000 in support of operations.

In its Environment funding area, the foundation awarded seven grants totaling $790,000, including a $110,000 grant over two years for CDS Fund in St. Paul to expand sustainable agriculture in the Upper Mississippi River basin. Onanegozie Resource Conservation and Development Council in Mora received $130,000 over two years to encourage more sustainable forestry in the woodlands surrounding the Upper Mississippi's headwaters.

In total, The McKnight Foundation awarded 22 grants totaling $4,469,000 in its first-quarter 2004 grantmaking. For a complete list of grants, visit the foundation's Web site.

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