The Aberdeen Area Community Foundation recently made grants to three local organizations for projects serving people in the Aberdeen area and beyond. The grantees include the Aberdeen Catholic School System (ACSS), the Bath Bulldogs baseball team, and the Northeast South Dakota Area Health Education Center (AHEC).
The ACSS received $5,000 for its project to renovate the athletic track on the Roncalli Junior/Senior High School campus. The Roncalli track team had practiced at the old Swisher Field track for years, but the City removed the track there to build softball fields. The Roncalli project will add track lanes around the practice football field. Student-athletes will practice there, and the track will be available to the public for walking and running and to other local schools.
The Bath Bulldogs is a youth baseball team composed of players from Bath, Aberdeen, and the area. The team received a $1,000 grant for the purchase of equipment which will be used for several years.
The final grant was made in partnership with the Knight Foundation through the Knight COVID Sub-fund within the AACF. AHEC promotes rural health educational opportunities in 26 counties in northeastern and north central South Dakota. It received $5,000 to support development of a telehealth training webinar and a telehealth toolkit for mental health professionals. The purpose will be to enhance the patients’ experience and providers’ understanding of telemedicine especially in the current COVID environment. NESD AHEC will provide 10 to 20 hours of online training over an 11-month period.
In March, the Knight Foundation committed $225,000 in partnership with the Aberdeen Area Community Foundation and the South Dakota Community Foundation to provide short-term and long-term relief in response to the pandemic through the AACF Knight COVID Sub-fund. These funds were a portion of the over $10 million the Knight Foundation committed to its 26 Knight communities around the country. The funds are meant to address immediate needs within the community while also focusing on priority areas the Knight Foundation has identified in Aberdeen. More information on the Knight Foundation’s commitment and the Aberdeen Area Community Foundation’s role, visit https://aberdeencommunityfoundation.com/.
The Aberdeen Area Community Foundation was established in 1984 as a standalone 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation but also enjoys a relationship with the South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF) as a Community Savings Account. Their goal was to create a long-term funding source for charitable causes in the local area. With careful investment, the fund will continue to grow and enhance quality of life in the local area forever. This fund is one of 80 community savings accounts in partnership with SDCF.
About the South Dakota Community Foundation (SDCF)
SDCF is a public non-profit organization established in 1987 and has helped people reach their philanthropic goals and strengthened communities across the state ever since. Today, SDCF manages assets of over $350 million. With offices in Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Aberdeen, SDCF administers over 980 funds benefiting hundreds of charitable organizations annually. The Foundation distributed nearly $18 million in grants in 2019 which made a tremendous difference in communities statewide. This would not have been possible without the generosity of our donors. If you have a specific cause you would like to support or would prefer to give for the general good of our state, please visit https://sdcommunityfoundation.org/for-donors/ to learn more or call 1-800-888-1842.