By Eliza Guion—
MUNCIE, IND — Ball Brothers Foundation approved 28 grants totaling $3 million in its first round of grants for 2023. The grants reflect the foundation’s long-standing commitment to place-based grantmaking. Two of the largest grants approved in this round were to boost facility capital projects in downtown Muncie—YMCA of Muncie and Muncie Civic Theatre.
A $500,000 grant awarded to the YMCA of Muncie will be used to support construction of its new state-of-the-art facility on the campus of Muncie Community Schools. The YMCA’s commitment to this location will further enhance the vibrancy of downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.
“BBF provided the lead gift for this effort, serving as a catalyst to build momentum and ultimately creating transformational change in our community,” said Chad Zaucha, president and CEO of YMCA of Muncie. “We are in the final stages of securing the support needed to create a world class social gathering hub for whole person health in collaboration with Muncie Community Schools, IU Health, Open Door, Healthy Lifestyle Center, and in the heart of our city. The impact of this vision coming to fruition has the potential to drastically impact quality of life and quality of place initiatives, while enhancing economic development and improving health and educational outcomes for our community.”
This year’s grant of $500,000 is in addition to $1.5 million already awarded by Ball Brothers Foundation in 2021, bringing the foundation’s total commitment for the project to $2 million—one the largest grants for a single project in the foundation’s history.
“The Ball family has a long historic connection to the YMCA of Muncie that stretches back to the YMCA’s first campaign for a downtown building in 1911. We are excited to see this new facility get its footing in downtown,” said Jud Fisher, president and CEO of Ball Brothers Foundation. “Many YMCAs are establishing on the periphery of cities and suburbs, so the decision to stay downtown is a great vote of confidence in the downtown area. The neighborhood where the new YMCA will be located is undergoing a fundamental transformation, and the Y will make a big impact in revitalizing this up-and-coming area.”
The YMCA is currently seeking public donations for the final phase of its capital campaign and First Merchant’s Bank is providing a matching donation up to $1 million. For more information, including how to donate, visit muncieymca.org/capital-campaign. The YMCA aims to open the facility to the public in 2025.
Muncie Civic Theatre also received a $100,000 grant for the final phase of remodeling its historic building, one of the oldest in downtown Muncie. This grant will help bring the theater’s technical and backstage elements into the 21st century by updating the antique rigging system and improving its safety and ease of use. The new system is slated to be installed this summer.
“The antique rigging which was suspended by ropes, pulleys, and the weight of sandbags required a person to have incredible strength in order to raise or lower anything onto the stage,” said Laura Williamson, artistic & executive director of Muncie Civic Theatre. “The antiquated rigging will be replaced by an electrical system that uses motors that can be operated with the touch of an iPad by anyone.”
For nearly a century, Muncie Civic Theatre has been a staple of downtown Muncie’s arts and culture scene. Over the years, Muncie’s community has rallied around the theater to continue its legacy. Previous campaigns raised funds to renovate and preserve the theater and provide better accessibility to the community. The current campaign will help to continue the theater’s long tradition of adapting to and providing for its community.
“Speaking on behalf of Muncie Civic Theatre’s Board of Directors, staff, and many volunteers, we are very grateful for Ball Brothers Foundation’s generous financial support of our rigging renovation. This gift allows us to move closer to our mission of being ‘the theatre for the whole community,’” said Williamson. “BBF’s love for our community and their commitment to helping Muncie become the best version of itself is contagious, they lead by a great and generous example.”
Muncie Civic Theatre is still currently fundraising for the theater rigging project. For information about the campaign, including how to donate, visit munciecivic.org/support-us/.
The YMCA of Muncie and Muncie Civic Theatre are both key institutions in Muncie and play key roles in the vitality of downtown. Also as part of the foundation’s continued commitment to downtown, Ball Brothers Foundation awarded $40,000 to assist Muncie Downtown Development Partnership—the nonprofit organization at the heart of organizing downtown events and marketing—with general operations and event support as the organization transitions to a new executive director following the upcoming retirement of long-time director, Vicki Veach.
This round of grants also supported a range of other organizations and projects in the areas of arts and culture, public/society benefit, health, education, environment, and human services.
In addition to the grants previously listed, the 2023 spring round of grants included:
Arts & Culture
- Music for All: $30,000 for support of the 2023 Music for All Summer Symposium.
Public Society Benefit
- Ball State University: $25,000 for equipment and training to assist BSU’s Police Department in fighting cybercrime.
- Cardinal Greenways: two-year funding totaling $400,000 to supplement the Cardinal Greenways’ operating budget including staffing support, routine trail maintenance, trail amenity support, equipment needs, and other basic operational items.
- Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office: $50,000 for the purchase of newer and more expansive digital forensic tools for Delaware County’s High-Tech Crimes Unit.
- Delaware County Sheriff’s Office: $25,000 to establish a forensic workstation and purchase hardware for cybercrime investigations.
- Muncie Police Department: $25,000 to advance training and purchase equipment to conduct digital forensics investigations.
- Ross Community Center: $95,000 for salaries of core staff and utilities, security, and field maintenance.
Health
- City of Muncie: $45,000 to bolster recreational programming through the purchase of equipment and hiring of certified instructors/referees; supporting the Muncie Youth Summer Employment Program; supporting the hiring of a community peace officer to provide security at Tuhey Pool during peak summer hours.
- James Whitcomb Riley Memorial Association: $100,000 to provide physicians, scientists, and lab technicians with a state-of-the-art microscope to discover new pathways that influence type 1 diabetes.
- Muncie Sports Commission, Inc.: $75,000 for program support of the ICE League (a basketball league that emphasizes academics) and to support operations.
Education
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Muncie: two-year funding totaling $350,000 to help offset operational expenses and provide expansion opportunities in Muncie and Delaware County.
- Daleville Community Schools: $51,500 to build restrooms for the district’s outdoor learning laboratory.
- Ivy Tech Foundation: $50,000 to be used for the planning, investigation, feasibility, and implementation of the early stages of an early childhood learning center to be located at the Cowan Road campus.
- Project Leadership: two-year funding totaling $380,000 to support middle/high school students and their families as they prepare to transition to college and careers.
- Vision Corner, Inc.: $10,000 for the installation of an HVAC system at the new Vision Corner Learning Center in Union City.
- Wes-Del Community Schools: $25,000 for furniture and equipment for the district’s newly established STEM lab.
- Youth Opportunity Center: $75,000 to support the salary and benefits for a behavior specialist for a new therapeutic day treatment in collaboration with Muncie Community Schools.
Environment
- Delaware County Soil & Water Conservation District: $25,000 to assist in the next phase of a watershed management plan for the Upper White River Watershed through report writing, outreach, and development of partnerships.
- The White River Alliance: $20,000 to communicate the results of the first White River Report Card to increase public awareness and improve the health of the watershed.
Human Services
- Greater Muncie, IN Habitat for Humanity Inc.: two-year funding totaling $400,000 to support general operations and home construction/repairs.
- Heart of Indiana United Way: $75,000 to strengthen United Way’s annual campaign by providing a match to incentivize giving by new and previous donors.
- Indiana Youth Institute: $50,000 to support a total of 200 consulting hours for up to three East Central Indiana youth-serving organizations to enhance organizational capacity.
- Inside Out Community Development Corporation: $50,000 to launch the new Fresh Market program, a walk-in style food pantry operating as a small grocery store.
- Muncie Delaware County Senior Citizens Center: $20,000 for urgent building repairs.
- YWCA: $40,000 to aid with expenses associated with the emergency shelter and C.O.T.S Stay programs.
Preliminary applications for the foundation’s next round of grants are due July 15. The foundation also regularly accepts applications for Rapid Grants of up to $5,000 from February through November of each year. For more information on Ball Brothers Foundation grants, visit ballfdn.org/grants.
About Ball Brothers Foundation
Ball Brothers Foundation is one of the state’s oldest and largest family foundations. In 2022, the foundation paid out $10 million in grants to support arts and culture, education, the environment, health, human services, and public affairs. The Muncie-based private foundation gives priority to projects and programs that improve the quality of life in the foundation’s home city, county, and state.
