A monthly newsletter for Community Foundation friends, donors, and fund holders. | |
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Happy New Year from the Community Foundation! We hope your 2024 is off to a good start!
Through our new monthly newsletter - Giving Matters - we will provide you with highlights on our grantees, funds, and volunteers; important updates that may impact your charitable giving; and upcoming opportunities for regional nonprofits and students. Please share this publication with colleagues, family, or friends that may find it useful.
Here are a few highlights from this issue:
- A familiar face to many on both sides of the river, learn more about the President of the Community Foundation's Board of Directors, Sheila Bruhn.
- Hosting over 30,000 visitors each year, the Empire Arts Center and its historic marquee remain a staple for arts and entertainment in Downtown Grand Forks.
- As you build your charitable plans for 2024, remember that you can work with the Community Foundation to achieve your goals for supporting favorite charities with gifts this year and also establish plans to ensure that your support for these causes continues far into the future through tax-savvy “planned giving” techniques.
- The new year brings new numbers! Be sure you’re up-to-date on the various IRS thresholds and inflation adjustments that could impact your charitable giving and tax planning through your fund or funds at the Community Foundation.
- Calling all 2024 graduates! Scholarship applications, with awards ranging from $500 to $3,000, are now available for students across the region.
As always, please reach out anytime if you have questions or would like to discuss your charitable goals.
Thanks for partnering with us!
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Becca Baumbach
Executive Director
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WHY I SERVE: SHEILA BRUHN | |
Learn about a volunteer member of the Community Foundation's Board of Directors. | |
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 Sheila Bruhn |
Serving others is woven into my DNA. The statement "It is better to give than to receive" has always been my constant. The reward of giving my time, energy, and resources to others always comes back 10-fold.
With so many worthwhile causes, one person cannot do it all so you must be strategic in how you serve. My faith is important to me and over the years I have served in many capacities at my church, including council president. Children are my passion and I serve them in all I do, especially by being an Optimist member. This service organization’s motto is “Friend of Youth." Giving back to my community is also important so I currently serve as a Civil Service Commissioner for the City of East Grand Forks and previously in other mayor appointed roles. And, over the years I have served on several nonprofit area boards. All of which has helped me grow both personally and professionally.
Serving on the Board of Directors for the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks and Region is the pinnacle of providing service to my community and beyond. What better way to serve than to help build the framework for financial security for nonprofit organizations in their support of individuals who are on the front line serving our community. I am privileged to be a small part of this very important work.
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MAKING AN IMPACT: EMPIRE ARTS CENTER | |
Highlights from a recent grantee of the Community Foundation. | |
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The SpongeBob Musical. Left: Ginny Hutton (SpongeBob). Right: Tyler Hebert (Patrick). Photo Credit: Michael Bogert. | | |
The Empire Arts Center is a place for people of all ages to gather and be inspired. Since its rebirth as an arts center in 1998, the Empire has become a cultural anchor of historic downtown Grand Forks, welcoming over 30,000 visitors each year. No longer just a movie house, you can find Broadway stars, regional actors, ballerinas, and budding young musicians on our stage. The Empire Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which means we rely on the support of individuals and businesses to fulfill our mission and remain a flourishing home for the arts.
The Empire Arts Center’s mission is to promote culture and lifelong learning by presenting our own artistic programming while providing a distinctive, welcoming venue for the arts, businesses, and community of the upper Red River Valley.
Thanks to partnerships with the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks & Region, the Empire is able to host many programs. From the Empire Theatre Company's 12th season debut of "The SpongeBob Musical" to a summer filmmaking camp for teen girls, the Community Foundation provides over 400 performers and creators a space to share their talents with nearly 30,000 audience members across the Greater Grand Forks area and beyond each year.
Seeing an opportunity to fill a hole in the arts, the Empire added its very own programming in 2012:
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The Empire Theatre Company, a professional theatre company focused on producing contemporary work that is rarely or never seen in our region, is in its 12th season of producing live theatre. Since its inception, the Empire Theatre Company’s audiences have quadrupled.
- Following the Empire Theatre Company, The 1919 Lounge was born in 2016. Featuring world-class Broadway and recording artists, The 1919 Lounge brings contemporary cabaret to the upper Midwest.
- In 2021, the Empire started the Music Box which is held monthly and showcases local musical talent.
- Films are once again being shown at the Empire with film series that include classic films, locally produced films, and other themes.
- The Empire’s art gallery is curated through a partnership with the University of North Dakota Art Collections, and sees a variety of exhibits throughout a calendar year.
- Other in-house programs include the Empire Community Orchestra, Late Nite at the Empire, and Workshop Underground.
The Empire Arts Center also serves other performers, businesses, and individuals as a rentable space. From nationally touring acts looking to bring their shows to Grand Forks, to individuals looking for a wedding venue, the Empire Arts Center serves as a space for all to make new memories in.
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The Empire Arts Center Endowment Fund provides an annual distribution to support the ongoing operations of the nonprofit and the upkeep of its historic building.
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Stay up-to-date on benefits, opportunities, and changes that may impact your charitable giving. | |
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 | | The start of a new year is an excellent time to get organized and provide your next of kin or key advisors with the information they’d need to take care of your affairs if something were to happen to you. |
|  | | Here are a few pointers to help break down the concept of planned giving, along with ways the Community Foundation can help you achieve your charitable goals. |
|  | | A new year is such a great time to plan and reboot. Cliche as it may be to talk about resolutions this time of year, it’s tough to deny that January represents a clean slate for “to do” lists, goals, and your overall mindset. | |
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SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS
- Grand Forks Republic Women Young Leader Scholarship ($500)
- Muir Spengler Scholarship for Midway Public School Students ($500)
- Muriel and Svend Andersen Scholarships for Larimore High School Students ($1,250 to $3,000)
Applications are now available.
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ISEMINGER ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS GRANT PROGRAM
The Iseminger Endowment for the Arts was established by Gordon and Trudy Iseminger in 2017 to provide support for the arts across the region. Funds seek to provide exposure and access to artistic and cultural experiences which generate artistic growth and creativity for all ages. The application will open on Feb. 5 and close on Mar. 1.
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COMMUNITY FOUNDATION HOURS
Our office is open Monday through Thursday from 10am to 4pm. Meetings are by appointment. We keep remote hours on Fridays from 10am to 4pm and are available by phone and email.
This newsletter as well as any referenced materials are provided for informational purposes only. They are not intended as legal, accounting, or financial planning advice.
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