UNRESTRICTED GRANTS 
   
   
      This year we did something different with our Unrestricted Fund Grants. We hand delivered nearly all of them. This may not sound like a big deal at first glance, but it was a wonderful experience for me and for the NDCF Board Members who helped deliver these grants. 
 
    We all know that North Dakota is going through some wrenching changes… changes in demographics, economic base, the number of farms, land use, school consolidation and the list goes on. I saw many positive and uplifting programs first-hand on this late fall trek!

 


Nokomis Child Care Center, Fargo
      Russell Stegman and I saw a new ice arena in Langdon – an arena that was built with mostly locally-raised monies and literally thousands of hours of donated time and effort. Talk about community spirit! I was given a tour of a new library building in Forman by the librarian who had previously worked from a small room in City Hall. She told me how the usage had gone up exponentially since the library moved to its main street location. 
 

Kevin, Nina and George at Cafe Kosmos, Grand Forks		     Dave Trottier and I went to the Towner Senior Center to deliver a grant to upgrade the computers and software in their computer lab where they train seniors – a senior center helping to bridge the digital divide. Dave also helped to deliver a grant to the Heart of America Library in Rugby for their expansion. George Cox, Amy Kliniske and I delivered a grant to the Café Kosmos in Grand Forks. We saw 
what plain old-fashioned gumption had accomplished for the youth of the Grand Forks area. 
 
                 Minot Alliance and Taube Museum Board
    Orlin Backes helped deliver grants to the Taube Museum and the Leave-A-Legacy program in Minot. The pride was evident in the board members of the Taube Museum in what they had accomplished with their special building. The collaboration that the Minot Leave-A-Legacy program represented is a model of how this type of program can be implemented. 
 

Kevin, Linda and Deb at Wigs, Inc., Dickinson 		   Linda Steve helped to present grants to the Best Friends program and Wigs, Inc. in Dickinson. The Best Friends program pairs responsible adults with children who need guidance. Wigs, Inc. donates wigs to women who have lost their hair due to medical treatment. Both of these programs touch the lives of people on a very personal level. 
     Tara Holt helped deliver grants that supported the Gateway to Science Center, Ruth Meyers Hospitality House, AID, Inc., Northern Plains Ballet, the Bismarck Mandan Civic Chorus, Young Life and the North Dakota Council on Abused Women’s Services. 
 
   These grants all came from the North Dakota Community Foundation’s Unrestricted Fund. In the year 2000, the Unrestricted Fund received a bequest from the estate of Wayne and Magdalen Roberts. The Roberts’ $400,000+ gift is the largest single gift to the Unrestricted Fund of the Community Foundation. Most of the Community Foundation’s donors have 
Jamestown High School Marching Band
very specific charitable activities in mind when they give to the Foundation. We welcome specific gifts, and are especially grateful to donors like the Roberts who can see the value of an unrestricted pool of monies available to meet the changing needs of North Dakota and its citizens.