Community Grant Program Awards $73,579 to Local Area Nonprofits

The Winona Community Foundation awards grants to causes and organizations that support the vibrant and enduring Winona area community. The Foundation received 20 applications by the August 1 deadline requesting more than $166,230.00 in funding. The grant review committee was challenged to award grants that would serve the diverse needs and opportunities in our community.

An important part of the Winona Community Foundation’s mission is realized though awarding community grants to meet the ever-changing needs of the community through a competitive process. By doing so, a variety of interests are supported with the goal of helping local charities make a difference in the Winona area. Our community grants for nonprofits are broad and inclusive to meet the current community needs in the Winona area.

This cycle, the Foundation Board of Directors awarded 10 organizations $73,579.00 from the Community Grant program.

Team Vogel vs. Cancer: $10,000: To assist up to 27 Winona area cancer patients and their families with travel and medical expenses. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, the organization was limited in funding to support the applicants.

Winona County Developmental Achievement Center: $8,000: To support the purchasing and installation of a wheelchair swing and five fruit trees. This addition allows caregivers to easily transfer individuals in wheelchairs to enjoy the swing. The five fruit trees – two apple, two pear, and one cherry – will support continued learning.

ServeMinnesota: $10,000 To provide assistance funding for Americorps trained Reading Corps tutors for grades K-3 at Winona Area Schools including Jefferson, Goodview, and W-K. These tutors will work on-site with the students both individually and in group settings through 20-minute daily reading sessions. These services are provided at no cost to the schools.

Winona’s Little Warrior Drumline: $10,000 To support the purchasing of new drums and harnesses, equipment including drum skins, mallets and sticks, uniforms and travel expenses for the kids (ages 7-17) participating. The program offered by the organization is free to any child.

Family & Children’s Center: $3,750 To support health and safety of the residents and providers through the purchasing of AED packages for two of their facilities – Hiawatha Hall and Franklin Street. These AED packages will include the Automated External Defibrillator (AED), 1 set of Adult SMART Pads, 1 set of Child SMART Pads, 1 Carrying Case, 1 Physician’s Prescription, 1 AED Check Tag, 1 LifeShield AED Compliance Management, 1 Alarmed AED Wall Cabinet, 1 Wall Sign, and 1 CPR Response Kit.

Minnesota Marine Art Museum: $10,000 To support “Seasonal Saturdays”, a program providing $1 admission, free transportation, curated gallery tours, live artist demonstrations, live music in the galleries, and art-making activities for all participants. This program was developed to reduce barriers to the arts for Winona community members.

Winona Area Humane Society: $10,000 To establish a fund to pay for the veterinary procedures that are necessary to keep the animals in their care healthy and ensure that they can be adopted into loving homes. WAHS strives to provide cats and dogs in the facility with high-quality veterinary care. One of these associated costs includes spaying and neutering every animal that comes through the facility.

Frozen River Film Festival: $4,329 To support a 2-week film-making summer day camp. There will be two camps – one for youth ages 8-12 and one for teens ages 13-18. Tuition waivers will be offered ‘no-questions-asked’ to anyone who requests one. During the week-long camp teen camp, the participants will cover topics such as image composition and framing, shooting for sound, adapting equipment, and editing. For the youth camp, the participants will cover a simplified version involving stop-action animated filming with LEGOs or claymation, as well as basic script writing. Both camps will get the participants outside to film in the community.

Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota: $2,500 To support the organization’s attorneys in providing outreach, advocacy, and direct legal services which may help unlock benefits such as driver’s licenses, healthcare, and federal aid for continued education on behalf of immigrant and refugee communities in Winona and the surrounding community. This support will help ensure all people who call Winona home, regardless of legal status or county of origin, can live safe, secure and stable lives. 

Elder Network: $5,000 To support in-person counseling and virtual support groups for mental health needs provided to the seniors and their caregivers. This will provide the seniors and caregivers a network of individuals they can rely upon for support within their meeting times on a weekly-monthly basis, as well as contacts that they can reach out to within their own schedule.