News

The Itasca County Sharing Fund, a fund managed by the Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation, has been instrumental in assisting individuals in our community with crisis funding during challenging times.  Crisis grants have been issued for items such as housing, transportation, and utilities. The Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation will be transitioning the responsibility of overseeing the Itasca County Sharing Fund to First Call 211 effective date of January 1, 2024.  The change aims to enhance efficiency, transparency, and impact of the fund, ensuring that it continues to serve the needs of our community in the best possible way.  First

As the year draws to a close, the Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation is reflecting on the incredible impact we’ve achieved together throughout the past months.  The community and local nonprofit organizations are still recovering from the last few tumultuous years and exploring how they will navigate in the future.  Now, as we approach the year’s end, we invite each member of the community to join us in a collective effort to make a lasting impact through year-end giving. Year-end giving is a powerful tradition that allows us to come together, celebrating the spirit of generosity that defines our community. 

At the end of September 2023, in collaboration with First Call for Help of Itasca County, Great Tails Animal Rescue established a pet food shelf for dogs and cats.  Great Tails and First Call are collaborating to manage this pet food shelf for all residents of Itasca County who are in need of dog or cat food. Since September, the pet food shelf has helped 36 Itasca County families feed 17 dogs, 8 puppies, 32 cats and 26 kittens for a total of 83 pets fed and 801.3 pounds of food distributed.  To date, all pet food donated has come

Any area students interested in pursuing their education during the 2024-2025 school year are encouraged to apply for scholarships through the Grand Rapids Area Community Foundation. All students, both traditional and nontraditional, are encouraged to apply, as there is a wide variety of scholarships available.  The application period runs from January 1, 2024, to midnight on March 1, 2024.  Grand Rapids Community Foundation Executive Director, Mindy Nuhring, states, “We have over 100 scholarships worth over $250,000 to award to area students.  Over the next month we will be adding a few items to our website Scholarship page to provide more

Ever since its inception in 2014, the non-profit Mobility Mania has been fighting for “Accessibility for All” in Itasca County and their mission continues today.  Recently, Mobility Mania was the recipient of the Essentia Health Community Engagement Grant, a grant that will be used to provide people in wheelchairs a transportation option on evenings and weekends when public transportation is not available.  The goal of this program is to provide people in wheelchairs with an opportunity to participate in community, social and family engagements. The bigger mission is to help decrease isolation and disconnectedness that so many people in wheelchairs