Area Community Groups Receive Half-a-Million Dollars in General Mills Grants for Programs that Support Communities of Color
12/11/2007
The General Mills Foundation recently awarded grants of $10,000 each to 50 nonprofits, schools and other organizations across the Twin Cities with programs designed to improve the lives of the region’s growing number of people of color.
The General Mills Celebrating Communities of Color grants program is a $500,000 initiative now in its fourth year. Since 2004, the program has served more than 250,000 people in the metro area, most of whom are people of color.
The 2007 grant recipients include:
- The ThreeSixty journalism program at the University of St. Thomas, which works primarily with teens of color, training the next generation of journalists and civic leaders to ensure that the stories and perspectives of all communities are accurately represented. The program provides students academic and career skills as well as access to college and internship opportunities in Twin Cities newsrooms. The program recently launched an online magazine created by and for teens.
- Teatro del Pueblo’s interactive production of “Real Women Have Curves,” which addresses the issues of body image, identity and social pressure in the Latina community. The production concludes the theater’s identity series which highlights the cultural heritage of the Latino community on St. Paul’s West Side.
- The Somali Student Ambassador Program, a partnership between the League of Women Voters and Somali Family Services, which trains Somali college students to help increase the level of civic involvement in the Somali community leading up to the 2008 elections. The students will work on a grassroots level to engage the community in voter education through initiatives such as voter registration, candidate and issue information sessions, and translation services at the polls.
- Healthy Families and Communities, a program of the Lao Advancement Organization of America. The project will provide Laotian parents and caregivers in North Minneapolis and surrounding suburbs with nutrition and fitness education to help them improve the health and wellness of their families.
- Circle of Discipline’s Youth Accepting Challenge, which is a classroom-based program for students at Sanford Middle School and Roosevelt High School experiencing academic, behavioral or truancy issues. The academic program focuses on reading, writing, math, cultural awareness, the arts as well as health and nutrition. It also features “Circle,” which teaches students how to positively resolve conflicts and difficult situations. Parents and caretakers are also involved in the program.
- The Adventures in Engineering Program, sponsored by the Works Science and Engineering Museum and Minneapolis Public Schools, which is designed to provide third-grade students a hands-on engineering experience. Workshops are provided in which students build a working kaleidoscope to help them study light reflection, refraction and absorption or they build a wooden lap harp to learn about the science of sound, vibration and pitch. The program will help students maintain their curiosity and excitement about math and science while supporting academic achievement.
- The Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library’s Homework Helper program, which provides professional, after-school tutoring/mentoring services to K-12th grade students in many of Minneapolis’ low-income neighborhoods. The majority of students served are from homes where English is the second language.
“General Mills is proud to support these innovative, community-based programs that are having a positive impact on the lives of thousands of people of color and others in the Twin Cities,” says Ellen Goldberg Luger, executive director of the General Mills Foundation. “These programs exemplify what community building is all about.”
As a unique part of the grants program, General Mills employees volunteer to accompany staff on site visits to organizations and help the Foundation in the evaluation process.
The General Mills Foundation, celebrating more than 50 years of giving, is a champion for stronger communities. In fiscal 2007, General Mills awarded $82 million to communities across the country, representing more than 5 percent of company pretax profits that year. Of the total, the Foundation contributed more than $20 million in grants in the targeted areas of youth nutrition and fitness, social services, education, and arts and culture. BusinessWeek magazine recently ranked General Mills as the one of the nation’s “Most Generous Corporate Donors.” In addition, the company was listed as one of the top 10 “Best Corporate Citizens” by CRO Magazine, and in 2007, United Way of America honored General Mills with the 20th annual Spirit of America® Corporate Community Investment Summit Award.
2007 Celebrating Communities of Color Grant Recipients:
| Organization | Project Name |
| African American Adoption & Permanency Planning Agency | Black Children in Need of Adoption |
| American Indian Neighborhood Development Corporation | Regenerations: Legacy & Tradition |
| ARTS-US | The Kumbayah Collective |
| Aurora/St Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation | The Guardian Project |
| Bediam Theatre | Cedar/Riverside Drama Club for Youth |
| Center for Communication and Development (CCD) | Youth Outreach and Education Initiative |
| Centre for Asian and Pacific Islanders | Hmong |
| Circle of Discipline, Inc. | Youth Accepting Challenge (YAC) & Peer Leadership |
| Communidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio | Aprendiendo Juntos/Learning Together |
| Cookie Cart | 360 Degree Program |
| Creatives for Causes | After-School Art Buddies Program |
| Eco Education | Urban Stewards |
| Folwell Neighborhood Association | City Kids Co-op |
| The Friends of the |
Homework helper |
| Greater |
Youth Leadership Development Program (YLDP) American Indian Math Project |
| The History Theatre, Inc. | The Meeting |
| Hollywood Studio of Dance | Childhood Obesity Nutrition Program |
| Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Centro Guadalupano | After-School Enrichment Program |
| Illusion Theater and School, Inc. | Arts & Literacy for Inner City Youth |
| Intermedia Arts of Minnesota, Inc. | B-Girl Be |
| Jordan Area Community Council - JACC | Detention Alternative Program |
| Lao Advancement Organization of America, Inc | Healthy Families and Communities |
| League of Women Voters of |
Somali Student Ambassadors Project |
| MacPhail |
MacPhail |
| MAD DADS | Youth Development for Prevention and Intervention in High Risk Youth |
| MIGIZI Communications, Inc. | Community Media Team |
| Minnesota Humanities Commission | Multicultural Professional Development for Teachers Initiative |
| Minnesota Literacy Council (MLC) | Early Literacy and Families Program |
| Minnesota |
Zoo Safari |
| Na-way-ee Center School, Inc. | Math Our Way |
| Neighborhood Involvement Program, Inc. (N.I.P.) | N.I.P. North |
| Neighborhood House | For All Youth |
| Northwestern |
Summer |
| Osiris Organization | Osiris Organization Computer Program |
| Parenting With Purpose | Mentoring For Life Change (MLC) |
| Ragamala Music and Dance Theater | Sva (Vital Force) |
| Sabathani Community Center, Inc. | Food Shelf "Choice" Project |
| Saint Paul Public Schools | African American Culture Camp |
| Momentum-Moving you Forward | Momentum-Moving you Forward |
| Teatro |
Real Women Have Curves |
| Ten Thousand Things Theater Company | Once On This |
| TVbyGIRLS | Undercover |
| Twin Cities Urban Squash | Squash-The game AND the vegetable |
| University of |
This is My Home: Human Rights in Action |
| University of |
ThreeSixty |
| Walker |
Wacouta Street Music Program |
| WE WIN Institute, Inc. | Kujichagulia |
| West Side Community Health Services, Inc. | The Fitness and Nutrition (FAN) Project |
| The Works | Adventures in Engineering for |
| Young Men's Christian Association Of Metropolitan |
YMCA Multicultural Achievers |
For More Information, Contact:
Donna Nicholson Svendsen
The General Mills Foundation
763-764-6364
