24 hours left in the online giving challenge!

There's just 24 hours left in our first ever online giving challenge. So far, the results have been fantastic! 252 unique donors and $48,990 in funds raised for five Brainerd Lakes area nonprofits.

Now we have just one request...

The Salvation Army, one of the five charities, has until tomorrow (Friday, Aug 13) at 4 p.m. to raise another $1,255 to receive an anonymous donor’s matching grant of $5,000, and they are running out of time and options. They are now facing the reality of being the only charity that doesn’t reach their goal. Can you help?

If you have as little as $10 to spare, please consider helping out The Salvation Army or any of the other nonprofits. All five are very worthy organizations, meeting the most basic human needs in the Brainerd Lakes Area. Thank you, in advance, for your support!

www.givemn.org/ripples

Giving Challenge for Brainerd Nonprofits Starts Today!

Here's you're chance to help out Brainerd area individuals and families in need!

Starting Monday, August 2nd at 8 a.m. (& concluding on August 13th at 4 p.m.) an anonymous donor will be matching all online donation to five Brainerd Lakes Area nonprofits. Every donation, up $5,000 per organization, will be matched! The nonprofits included in this challenge are:

• Bridges of Hope
• Kinship Partners
• Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity
• Salem WEST
• The Salvation Army
  

As an extra incentive, the foundation will award another $1,000 to the nonprofit that ends the challenge with the most individual donors. That means every gift matters, regardless of the amount.

So, cast a pebble for your favorite nonprofit today, and check back often to see the ripples!

But Remember!
Gifts must be made online and during the challenge period in order to qualify for the match.

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(www.givemn.org/ripples)

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Other info:
> download the official news release
> visit the Initiative Foundation's GiveMN page
> get more information about GiveMN & online giving trends

And special thanks to The Brainerd Dispatch, BL Broadcasting, Brainerd Lakes Chamber and Range Printing for contributing advertising and other promotional support to the challenge.

Best of luck to all of the nonprofits!

Wadena Loan Fund

Today we announced a special, emergency loan fund for businesses affected by the recent storm damage in Wadena. For more information about the fund you can read the news release about it or download one of the following:

> Wadena Fund Fact Sheet

Fund Application:
- fillable Word version
- printable PDF version

Questions about the fund can be directed to Dean Uselman, the Wadena Development Authority's Executive Director, at 218-631-7710, wadenadevelopment@arvig.net or Paul Kleinwachter, the Initiative Foundation's Business Finance Officer, at 320-632-9255, pkleinwachter@ifound.org.

Also... last week our new intern, Lawrence, visited Wadena and put together a nice video about what's happening now. Take a look!

Wadena Update

The response to our online Wadena Relief Fund has been truly amazing! Because of this and an additional $5,000 in matching funds from the Minnesota Power Foundation we've decided to increase the goal to $25,000. (The original goal of $12,500, set by matching funds from us and West Central Initiative, was completely smashed within just 24 hours of announcing the online challenge.)

I think it's safe to say that community spirit is alive and well in Minnesota!

The supporters and followers on our GiveMN page really say it best though. If you have a few minutes to read their comments, it's well worth it! (visit: http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Wadena-Tornado-Relief-Fund)

And please help spread the word about this fund or other ways to help. I just spoke with a longtime Wadena resident this morning who quite simply said, "there's just a lot of heartache."

For more info about Wadena, the tornado & the recovery efforts visit the City of Wadena's website: www.wadena.org or the Wadena Pioneer Journal's website: www.wadenapj.com.


TO HELP WADENA:

Donations via credit card:
http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Wadena-Tornado-Relief-Fund

Donations via check or cash:
Wadena Tornado Relief Fund
c/o Mid-Central Federal Savings Bank
PO Box 152
Wadena, MN 56482
218-631-1414

Volunteering time or donating items:
Call United Way at 2-1-1 (from land line) or 1-800-534-7709 (from a cell) to get more details, up to date information and to make arrangements.

Thank you for your support!

Wadena's Tornado Relief

On Thursday, June 17th a devastating F4 tornado struck the city of Wadena, a city of 4,300 about 50 miles northwest of Little Falls.

According to Wadena County sources, the 1-mile by 10-mile tornado touched down at 5:10 p.m. and cut through both residential and commercial areas.

Thankfully (and amazingly), only minor injuries were reported but the city suffered extensive damage. Wadena-Deer Creek High School, the Wadena Community Center, Minnesota State Community College, the Wadena County Fairgrounds, the city cemetery and other areas all suffered severe damage. At least 235 homes were either damaged or destroyed.

Caring neighbors in Minnesota and beyond are now able to immediately help the residents of Wadena!

The Initiative Foundation, in partnership with the City of Wadena and the Mid-Central Federal Savings Bank, is now accepting donations to the Wadena Tornado Relief Fund. (download the news release to read more...)

The Initiative Foundation and West Central Initiative will match the first $12,500 in online donations made at http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Wadena-Tornado-Relief-Fund.

GiveMN.org, a Minnesota-based nonprofit giving portal, also allows donors to share the cause through Facebook and other social media sites.

100 percent of tax-deductible donations will go to the City of Wadena to meet the needs of impacted families and help with volunteers and clean-up efforts.

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OTHER WAYS TO HELP:

Donation checks (not eligible for matching funds) may also be addressed and mailed to:

Wadena Tornado Relief Fund
c/o Mid-Central Federal Savings Bank
PO Box 152
Wadena, MN 56482
www.midcentralbank.org

If people are interested in volunteering or making donations, please call United Way at 2-1-1 (from land line) or 1-800-534-7709 (from a cell) to get more details, up to date information and to make arrangements.

Please consider helping your friends and neighbors in Wadena!

(photo by Brian Hansel/Wadena Pioneer Journal)

IOC Featured on Lakeland Public TV

Inside-Out Connections coalition members (including our own Jolene Howard) were featured on the Lakeland Currents show hosted by Ray Gildow on Thursday, May 27. Lakeland Currents is Lakeland Public Television's public affairs program based out of the Brainerd studio.

On the show they discussed our Inside-Out Connections project and the impact of parental incarceration on the lives of children. They described the work the coalitions are doing to support children, educate parents and inform the community.

Inside-Out Connections was created in 2008 and is supported, in part, by organizations like the Minneapolis Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Minnesota and Mid-Minnesota Federal Credit Union.

If you're interested in learning more about what it's all about, and have 30 minutes or so, watching the video is well worth your time! Just visit: www.lakelandptv.org.

Thanks for all of your work on such an important issue, Jolene!

"I can't imagine a better place to live."

Our very own Kathy Gaalswyk was recently featured on a new website!

Mymn.org is a new, local website that zooms in on our Minnesota communities and celebrates the reasons why we love living and working here.

The site is packed with resources and opportunities to share your story by allowing us to comment on hot topics, submit photos, videos and even get our voices heard by our elected leaders!

Mymn.org is a nonpartisan grassroots effort to unite Minnesotans around the shared goals of growing our economy, maintaining our quality of life and creating a secure future for our children.

Hear what Kathy has to say:

Thrive: helping our youngest little citizens.

THRIVE-verb {thriv};
1. To prosper; be fortunate or successful.
2. To grow or develop vigorously; to flourish.

To thrive in life is probably a goal for many of us; to be the best we can be.

But what about the young children in our communities who have little or no support? What help is out there for them?

Statewide surveys revealed that an alarming number of greater Minnesota children are struggling with mental health issues and a striking lack of access to professional help.

Working together, the six Minnesota Initiative Foundations launched the Minnesota Thrive Initiative in 2007 in order to address the healthy social and emotional development of infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

The Thrive Initiative didn’t come easy; it took years of hard work and research to gather the necessary information, contacts, grants, etc. But it’s worth it because it’s SO important for our very youngest children to have the opportunities to learn and grow.

And that hard work has paid off. According to a recent project report: “Together, we have helped connect practitioners across multiple disciplines, educate community members about healthy social and emotional development, coordinate and expand mental health services, and make Greater Minnesota a better place for children and families."

The Thrive Report, published back in March, contains background information, case studies and outcomes. I'd also invite you to become inspired and better informed by reading our Winter 2008 IQ Magazine,, where all 56 pages are dedicated to the issue!

Ground Level Hits the Ground Running

Some of our staff received an email from Dave Peters, at Minnesota Public Radio, last week. Part of it read: "Sitting in your offices last summer and fall as we planned this out, I would have been tickled to think it would go as well as it did."

We couldn't agree more.

Nearly 200 people joined MPR and Initiative Foundation staff in Long Prairie last Thursday night as they held a community forum to explore Todd County's future.

This forum illustrates how well things have been going for Ground Level, a new project that MPR, the Initiative Foundation and Bush Foundation all banded together to create.

The purpose of the project is to see how people are trying to make their communities better places to live, work and play. The Initiative Foundation is doing this by guiding them through the HCP program while MPR is exploring each community through a variety of mediums including videos, pictures, sound bites, blogs and articles. They want to reach the people on the ground level to hear what is happening in the areas they live in and to get conversations started.

• In January MPR started with Baldwin Township (in Sherburne County just south of Princeton) and focused on its growing population - which has created transportation, housing, planning and lifestyle issues. Reporters began by immersing themselves in the Baldwin community to learn as much as they could. Learn more about the results...
• In April MPR began their work in Todd County, focusing on their aging population and concern for the well-being of residents - trying to uncover the answers they have to support an aging and changing population. Learn more about the results...

We are excited to be a part of this project as we ALL work to make these communities better!

To read more about Ground Level and join the conversation, visit the MPR website: http://minnesota.publicradio.org.

Important Tax Alert for MN Nonprofits!

According to the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits there are an estimated 4,000 nonprofits in Minnesota that will lose their 501(c)(3) tax exempt status unless they go online and file form 990-N. The nonprofits are small organizations that operate on the calendar year with financial activity under $25,000.

They will have their tax deductible status revoked (and will need to pay $750 to be reinstated to the tax status and receive tax deductible contributions) if they do not file the 990-N by May 15th, 2010.

For more information and/or to download a list of the affected nonprofits visit the MCN website at www.mncn.org.