Fifty-four local entities this year received grants totaling more than $300,000 from the Myra Foundation, the organization announced Friday.
Founded 78 years ago, the Myra Foundation annually makes charitable contributions throughout the community and region. This year’s disbursements totaled $309,803; all told, the Myra Foundation has made donations exceeding $9.9 million during its nearly eight decades of charitable giving.
The Myra Foundation was established in 1941 by the late John E. Myra of Emerado, N.D. It was the first private charitable foundation of its kind to be organized in the state.
Myra’s will stipulated that the bulk of his estate would be used to establish the Myra Foundation, to be administered by three trustees who would distribute the earnings for “charitable, character building, and educational purposes.” The current Board of Trustees includes Donna Gillig of Grand Forks; Kent Cronquist of Gilby, N.D.; and John Botsford, president, of Grand Forks.
The foundation recently completed the sale of all of its landholdings, redeploying its capital to financial investments. That move, according to Botsford, “has preserved the foundation.”
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“It will enable us to enhance our funding opportunities for local charitable organizations,” Botsford said. “It has been a monumental year in the history of the foundation.”
Following are this year’s Myra Foundation recipients: Altru Health Foundation; ArtWise; Boy Scouts of America; Circle of Friends Humane Society; Community Violence Intervention Center; Emerado Cemetery Fund; Emerado Public School PTO; Emerado School; Emerado Volunteer Fire Department; Empire Arts Center; Girl Scouts - Dakota Horizons; Global Friends Coalition; Grand Cities Children's Choir; Grand Forks Chorales Inc.; Grand Forks County Historical Society; Grand Forks Education Foundation - Kelly Elementary Playground; Grand Forks Parks & Recreation Foundation; Grand Forks Public Schools; Grand Forks Public Schools 2021 Myra Jazz Festival; Grand Forks Schools Renaissance Program; Grand Forks Senior Center; Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre; Greater Grand Forks Symphony Orchestra; L.I.S.T.E.N. Drop In; Larimore Girls Softball Program; Larimore High School Trap Team; Lutheran Social Services of North Dakota; Manvel Park Board; Manvel Public School; Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions North Dakota-Manitoba District; Muddy Water Clay Center; MyAlly Health; NDSU Extension Service; NDSU Extension Service Gardening Saturday; North Dakota Ballet Company; North Dakota Museum of Art; Northern Valley Youth Orchestras; Northlands Rescue Mission; Northwood Deaconess Health Center; Prairie Harvest Mental Health; Public Arts Commission; Santa Claus Girls; Sox for Kids (The Salvation Army); Special Olympics North Dakota; Spectra Health; St. Joseph's Social Care and Thrift Store; Summer Performing Arts; The Arc Upper Valley; The Salvation Army; The Village; The YMCA; UND Alumni Association & Foundation; United Day Nursery; and Valley Senior Living Foundation.
