STAPLES — Almost $3 million was awarded in June to local nonprofit and government agencies throughout central Minnesota through Sourcewell’s Community Impact Funding. Eleven nonprofit organizations will receive a combined total of over $650,000 while 39 local government agencies will receive over $2.25 million in funding.
“We are immensely grateful to be a part of this empowering work,” said Paul Drange, director of regional services at Sourcewell, in a news release. “These public entities and nonprofit organizations are critical to the communities they serve, and every dollar of funding counts.” The selection and allocation of funds for local government agencies followed a similar structure to last year’s process: requests were reviewed and approved by the Community Solutions Advisory Committee, then projects were awarded by lottery until funding was exhausted.
Drange explained that this process helps fulfill basic office and service area needs such as office furniture, flooring, technology, and other administrative needs. Nonprofit applications followed a similar practice from prior years: Applications were reviewed by Sourcewell staff and its Nonprofit Advisory Council, with eligible projects advancing to Review Day, held June 18 at Sourcewell. Over 80 staff members, volunteers, and board members of nonprofit organizations in Sourcewell’s five-county area of service (Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena counties) heard each project proposal and then .
