Twin Cities Groups Receive Half-a-Million Dollars in General Mills Grants to Shore Up Programming Serving Communities of Color
01/02/2009
The General Mills Foundation awarded grants of $10,000 each to 50 nonprofits, schools, theaters and other Twin Cities organizations with programs that support people of color. The General Mills Celebrating Communities of Color grants program is a $500,000 initiative.
Since 2004, the program has served more than 500,000 children, families and individuals across the metro area with a total of $2.5 million in grants. The program was established in recognition of the Foundation’s 50th anniversary and aligns with General Mills’ commitment to diversity, which is a company core value and a key business strategy.
The 2008 grant recipients include:
- The Wicoie Nandagikendan Urban Early Childhood Immersion Program, one of the first kindergarten-readiness programs in the U.S. to incorporate a Native American language (Dakota or Ojibwe) immersion curriculum in the classroom. The program, which serves children in Minneapolis’ Phillips neighborhood, provides an immersion-based kindergarten readiness curriculum, projects, field trips, and parent involvement strategies that extend classroom learning into the home. The program is a collaboration of Four Directions Child Development Center, Anishinabe Academy, the Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals, and Little Earth of the United Tribes Early Learning Neighborhood Center. The Anishinabe Academy kindergarten is now one of the city’s top performing kindergartens.
- Centro Cultural Chicano’s Emergency Latino Food Shelf, which provides culturally specific foods to the growing number of hungry Latino families struggling with the downturn in the economy. The Centro food shelf reported a 55% rise in the number of individuals and the amount of food it distributed in the first two quarters of 2007 and 2008. Centro's food shelf is the only culturally specific food shelf for Latinos in Minneapolis. The food shelf also provides clients with referrals to the agency's other health, human service and educational programs.
- The Construction Careers Foundation, which supports UnderConstruction, a paid, hands-on summer construction jobs program for students from inner city high schools across the metro. The corner stone of UnderConstruction is to teach young people what it takes to be an employable worker by building on skills such as communication, listening and problem solving, math and accountability. The program focuses on key components including academic, life experience and work experience, with the goal of exposing students to a career pathway that can offer financial sustainability.
- Plymouth Christian Youth Center's (PCYC) Capri Summer Theater Arts Institute offers 8-14 year olds an intensive six-week experience in the performing arts, culminating in public performances of an original musical stage production at PCYC's Capri Theater, North Minneapolis’ only remaining theater. The performance revolves around a social theme of interest and relevance to students. Young people take classes in acting, dance, music, creative writing, and set design as well as go on field trips to local theaters. During the second half of the program, students either audition for a part in the cast or work on the technical crew or with writing and artwork for the program. Institute staff include Twin Cities performing artists including Dennis Spears, T. Mychael Rambo, Austene Van and others.
“Our mission at General Mills is to nourish communities, so we are pleased to support these vibrant programs that are reaching out to and fulfilling the needs of thousands of people of color in the metro area,” says Ellen Goldberg Luger, executive director of the General Mills Foundation.
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 nourishes communities by addressing societal needs with breakthrough ideas, championship people and financial resources. In fiscal 2008, General Mills awarded $87 million to communities across the country, representing more than 5 percent of company pretax profits that year. Of the total, the Foundation contributed $21 million in grants in the targeted areas of youth nutrition and fitness, social services, education, and arts and culture.
2008 Celebrating Communities of Color
Grant Recipients
| Organization | Program name |
| Alliance of Early Childhood Professionals | Wicoie Nandagikenden Urban Early Childhood Immersion Project |
| AMICUS | Men of Rafiki |
| Ananya Dance Theatre | Ashesh Barsha (Unending Monsoon) |
| The Bakken Library and Museum | Bakken/Minneapolis Public School Partnership Program |
| Cedar Cultural Center | Concerts for Youth |
| Cedar Riverside People's Center | Youth Nutrition and Fitness Initiative |
| Central Area Neighborhood Development Organization | Youth and Families Enterprise Project |
| Centre for Asians and Pacific Islanders | East African Food Shelf |
| Centro Cultural Chicano | Centro Emergency Latino Food Shelf |
| The Church of St. Peter Claver and St. Peter Claver School | After School Day Programming |
| College of St. Catherine | The First Step Institute |
| Community Action Council, Inc. | New American Services |
| Construction Careers Foundation | UnderConstruction |
| Dads Make a Difference | Strengthening Families of the Future |
| Eco Education | City Connections |
| El Colegio Charter School | Muralistas |
| Emerge Community Development | Homeless Youth Educational Support Program |
| Emergency Foodshelf Network, Inc. | African Food Project |
| Free Arts for Abused Children of Minnesota | YES to Art - Dancing with Dreams |
| Freeport West, Inc. | Freeport Saint Paul Youth Center |
| Hmong American Partnership | Hmong Youth Pride |
| Hope For The City | Community Partner Program |
| Hospitality House Boys and Girls Clubs | Urban Learning Center |
| Incarnation-Sagrado Corazon de Jesús | Familias Saludables |
| Intercongregation Communities Association | Lunch in the Sun |
| Joyce Preschool | Latino Family Education |
| Lifetrack Resources | Families Together |
| Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts | After-School Community Partnership Program |
| MAD DADS | MAD DADS Youth Community Outreach |
| Minnesota Landmarks, Inc. | Urban Expedition |
| Mixed Blood Theatre Company | World premiere production - RED INK |
| Mizna | Mideast in the Midwest Series |
| North American Council on Adoptable Children | The Harambee Village at NACAC |
| NorthPoint Health and Wellness Center | Family Health and Literacy Program |
| Old Arizona | Arizona Bridge Project |
| Partners for Violence Prevention | Holistic Approaches to Violence Prevention Project |
| Plymouth Christian Youth Center | Capri Summer Theater Arts Institute |
| Saint Paul Public Schools | Ramp-up to Readiness |
| Selby Area Community Development Corporation, Inc. | 8th Annual 2009 Selby Avenue JazzFest |
| Somali Success School | Support Services for Success |
| St. Paul Urban League | Youth Entrepreneurship Program |
| Theater Mu, Inc. | Outreach surrounding 'Flower Drum Song' |
| TU Dance | World premiere of 'New Blues' |
| Twin Cities RISE! | TCR! Participant Community Emergency Fund |
| United Nations Association of Minnesota | Global Classrooms Program |
| University of St. Thomas | National Youth Sports Program |
| The Vietnamese Community of Minnesota | Vietnamese Arts & Cultural Project |
| Volunteers of America of Minnesota | Service Adventure and Leadership Team |
| Wilderness Inquiry, Inc. | Inclusive Outdoor Youth Program |
| WOMEN OF NATIONS | Native American Dancing Colors |
