General Mills Foundation Celebrates Communities of Color Grants Program
General Mills, the marketer behind such names as Betty Crocker and Pillsbury, has a philanthropic facet to it. The General Mills Foundation, as it is called, has four grants, one of which is called Celebrating Communities of Color.
Celebrating Communities of Color invariably awards 50 nonprofit groups with $10,000 in grants. Qualified nonprofits are those situated in the Minnesota-St. Paul metropolitan area and the seven counties therein, namely Washington, Scott, Ramsey, Hennepin, Dakota, Carver, and Anoka. Above all, the nonprofits must cater to people of color.
Celebrating Communities of Color grants prioritize nonprofits in education, particularly those who help K-12 learners. Likewise, the grants are for organizations that supply social welfare services. They are also partial to nonprofits that seek to enhance fitness and boost nutrition among children and the youth. The “color” grants are also designed with the arts and culture nonprofits in mind.
The 2009 Celebrating Communities of Color program has already started accepting applications since April 15, 2009, via The Foundation website. All applications must be in on or before August 1, 2009.
Last year’s recipients included:
• Somali Success School
• Women of Nations
• Partners for Violence Prevention
• North American Council on Adoptable Children
• Lundstrum Center for the Performing Arts
• AMICUS
• Free Arts for Abused Children of Minnesota
• Bakken Library
• College of St. Catherine
• Eco Education
• Hmong American Partnership
• Ananya Dance Theatre
• Centre for Asians and Pacific Islanders
• St. Peter Claver School
• Emergency Foodshelf Network
• Mizna
• Hope For The City
• Incarnation-Sagrado Corazon de Jesús
• Lifetrack Resources
• The Vietnamese Community of Minnesota
Apart from the Celebrating Communities of Color grants, The General Mills Foundation also offers the Champions for Healthy Kids Grants, Twin Cities Grants, and Community Action Council Grants. In FY 2008 alone, the foundation has awarded $21 million worth of grants.
Already, The General Mills Foundation is vintage philanthropy. It was founded in 1954 as General Mills’ community relations arm. Located in the General Mills corporate headquarters in Minneapolis, the foundation has made $400 million in donations to many local nonprofits.