Making an Impact

Connecting Passions to Projects Introducing the Donna Helble Literacy Fund A monetary gift left by a passionate educator and child literacy advocate will impact thousands of Winona County’s youngest residents. Donna Helble was known for her full and benevolent life. Although Donna is no longer with us, she created a legacy of generosity through her will and gave a gift to the Winona Community Foundation for the purpose of promoting childhood literacy. This makes [...]

The Winona Community Foundation (WCF) awarded eight grants totaling $45,200 to area nonprofit organizations in its first-cycle of 2020 after reviewing 25 qualified applications exceeding $200,000 in requests on March 13. Funds to support the Community Grant program are made possible in part through gifts made through wills from; Ramona L. Jezewski English and Wilmer & Beverly Larson. Community grants are also supported by a percentage of the General Trust fund of the Winona Community [...]

Competitive community grants are a common element of community Foundations. The funds to support these grants come from annual donations, gifts made through a wills and estates, investment returns, and administrative fees. Prior to 2012, community grants were limited to no more than $2,500 per request with an annual total given of $20,000. While this made an impact on local nonprofits, the Board of Directors wanted to do more. So, when the Foundation received [...]

“Education and children’s literature were Donna Helble’s passions. In 1973, she moved to Winona to take a position at Goodview elementary where she taught grades one through four in the Program for Learning in Accordance with Needs. In 1988, she began her career at Winona State University as a professor of education. She chaired the popular community-wide “reading in the Mall” event for 25 years that promoted children’s literacy in Winona and the surrounding [...]

Lyndon Pierce was a World War II vet, trucker and electrician. His wife, Jennie, taught in a rural Winona County school and then became a bookkeeper. Twenty-two years after they both passed, W-K Elementary School kindergarteners benefited from a generous gift from their estate that was given to the Winona Community Foundation. Looking to honor the Pierce’s passion for education, the Winona Community Foundation Board of Directors chose to request grant proposals from the [...]

Expanding resources at the Warming Center to ensuring we don’t lose Family Art Day, the second quarter Community Grant Program of the Winona Community Foundation was filled with great proposals. Although the board had to make tough decisions, it is pleased to provide funding for the following: $5,000 to Catholic Charities of Southern Minnesota to double the overnight capacity at the Winona Community Warming Center from ten to twenty. $2,000 to Elder Network to assess the [...]

The Winona Community Foundation Awarded $62,000 to nine organizations benefiting the Winona area in its first quarter grant cycle. The following organizations received funding: Apple Tree Dental: $10,000 to help purchase specialized dental equipment to expand services for people with special needs in Southeastern Minnesota including clients of Winona’s Home and Community Options – to not only improve their overall quality of life, but to also reduce the need for costly hospitalizations and emergency [...]

Winona Home and Community Options found themselves with an urgent need of a new cooling and heating system in the Resource Home. With the increase of funds available in 2018, the Foundation was able to address and meet their needs. This home provides an environment that meets a wide variety needs, from an educational day of activities, to a resting place for a child. Forty-nine individuals currently served by HCO are under the age of 21 [...]