TOWER— The Gunder-sen Endowment Fund awarded its first set of grants Tuesday, dividing $13,675 among the five grant applications received.
This is the first time money has been awarded from the fund, which was created when the city decided to move the money in the original Gundersen Trust to a fund overseen by the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation, now named the Boreal Waters Community Foundation. The city’s fund was created back in the early 1990s with proceeds from the sales of forest land given to the city by former mayor Martin Gundersen. While the fund had grown to almost $1 million, interest income from the fund had dwindled over the years, and the decision was made to have the fund professionally managed. The majority of the annual income goes to the city’s general fund, but a portion is dedicated to community needs. The new Gundersen committee is tasked with awarded these funds.
Five grant applications were received, and all were determined to meet the grant guidelines, which also specify financial management and reporting for grant funds awarded.
Grant requests totaled $19,600, and the committee discussed whether they wanted to fund each grant proportionally (at approximately 70-percent of each request), or to determine which applications it made sense to fund more fully.
“I was so excited looking through the requests,” said committee member Bob Anderson. “At first I thought we could fund them all.”
In the end, the committee decided to fully fund two requests and partially fund the others. They noted that some of the requests were more likely to be successful applying for other grant funding available in the community, including from the Tower Firemen’s Relief Association, Tower-Soudan Joint Powers Recreation Board, and grants available from Minnesota Power.
Two grant requests relating to Tower-Soudan Elementary were funded in full: $1,000 to the elementary girls’ basketball team costs and $5,000 to purchase cross-country skis and poles for the school’s outdoor education program. The skis use bindings that attach to a child’s snow boots, and the school will be purchasing two different lengths of skis so they can be used by both younger and older students.
Both applications were for projects expected to get underway in December, which was also a factor in the board’s decision making.
“The skis have more urgency,” said committee member Aaron Kania. “I think they will be well used.” Kania noted the skis can be used for other community events, including a winter ski day sponsored by the Wagoner Trails Club.
The board partially funded a request from Tower-Soudan Athletic Association, awarding $4,675 to help build a storage shed on the football field. The shed will be used to store athletic gear including the soccer goals, flag football equipment, and possibly the new skis. This is a project that hopes to get underway this spring.
The board awarded $2,000 to the Tower-Soudan-Lake Vermilion Events Board to help with funding children’s Fourth of July activities, including the kiddie parade, sawdust scramble, and kids’ races.
Kania noted that these four grant requests really focus on the youth in Tower-Soudan.
The one grant application that received the least financial support was the request for $4,100 to help with the costs of professionally painting the interior of the train’s coach car. The board awarded $1,000 to this project, noting they support the project, but at this time felt this project was most likely to find success from other grant sources, and they were also welcome to apply again next year. They noted the board should have grant funds to disburse again in June.
The board will hold their next meetings on March 11 and June 10, both at 6 p.m., in the civic center. Grant guidelines and applications are available at Tower City Hall.