By: Thomas Kinghorn—
Muncie, IN—On May 14, 2020 the Board of Directors for the George and Frances Ball Foundation met virtually to award a number of grants received through the Foundation’s second quarterly grant application process. The Foundation awarded $570,209 to a variety of organizations across Muncie, Delaware County, and East Central Indiana.
Grants were awarded as follows:
- Ball State University Muncie Community Schools Partnership – Awarded $335,000 as the second stint of a $1 million pledge, will be used to expand preschool offerings to all elementary school buildings, expand Project Lead The Way STEM curriculum to all buildings K-12, support efforts to continue aligning curriculum, and expansion of career training experiences at the Muncie Area Career Center.
- Destiny Christian Center – Awarded $25,000 to offset the purchase of the building that is home to Destiny Christian Academy Central, a Level 3 Paths to Quality child care center located in McKinley neighborhood.
- East Central Indiana Regional Partnership – Awarded $50,000 to offset the costs associated with promoting the region for new business investment and jobs, as well as the promotion of East Central Indiana as a great place to live, visit, and work.
- Innovation Connector – Awarded $50,209 for costs associated with the expansion of programs, including those provided through the Coding Connector.
- Inside Out, CDC – Awarded $25,000 to defray the cost associated with feeding local students through the Fresh Directions program across 9 youth-serving sites in Delaware County.
- TeenWorks – Awarded $50,000 to support 2020 Summer program and 2020-2021 Pro Program which provides paid work-learn experiences, professional and life skills training, and career and college exploration to 60 and 25 local teens respectively.
- Whitely Community Council – Awarded $35,000 to provide a new reading and mentoring program with youth at Longfellow Elementary, offset the costs of their food insecurity program, and support the salary of the executive director.
The George and Frances Ball Foundation was founded in 1937 as a private foundation endowed by George and Frances Ball. The Foundation was organized exclusively to promote charitable, scientific and educational purposes, with a strong commitment to the needs of East Central Indiana. The Foundation adopted a new proactive grantmaking strategy in 2018, which carries forward the legacy of George and Frances Ball with efforts to increase educational attainment through a community Cradle to Career Initiative.
The family is well known for their philanthropy and for numerous other accomplishments including championing education, collecting items such as rare children’s literature, and creating the Ball Jar Blue Book.
To learn more, please visit: www.gfballfdn.org or find the George and Frances Ball Foundation page on Facebook.
