The Boys & Girls Club received a $6,000 grant to purchase technology equipment to provide better services for students who need to do school work while visiting the Club. The upgrade is also meant to prepare the Club in case schools change their current in person class schedules. The new equipment allows for increased demand for virtual programming, mentoring and outreach. As needs have increased, the Boys & Girls Club has seen reduced revenue as a result of the need to cancel fundraisers due to the pandemic. The grant helps address the need. The funds came from the Knight COVID-19 Aberdeen Sub-fund within the AACF.
In March 2020, 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 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 Knight Foundation has identified in Aberdeen. Through September 2020, the fund has made more than $120,000 in grants in the Aberdeen area to address the impact of the pandemic.