Central Minnesota Emergency Child Care Fund

Our child care providers are struggling. And we’re doing our best to help with the launch of the Emergency Child Care Grant Program. But here’s a startling figure: To date, the Initiative Foundation has received nearly 800 grant applications from Central Minnesota providers. And the money we’ve awarded during first-round grants—$150,500—simply won’t go far enough.

Here’s another sobering number: 110. That’s how many grants we were able to award the week of March 31 (an average of $1,368 per grant) with the resources we had available.  

You can help. Make a difference today by supporting the Initiative Foundation’s Emergency Child Care Grant program.  

Without our child care providers, many in Central Minnesota's workforce could not perform day-to-day duties that are essential to keeping our communities safe, especially health care and emergency personnel, during this COVID-19 pandemic.

In Minnesota, there are an estimated 420,000 children under the age of 12 belonging to the state’s essential workforce. Of these, more than 130,000 are in a household where all available parents are employed in an essential sector.

The Initiative Foundation and its five Greater Minnesota sister organizations, at the request of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s office, have committed $300,000 to create regional grant programs because we know that accessible child care is critical—now, and after the coronavirus outbreak is over.

“We have asked our child care providers to stay open to serve the families of emergency workers and they have responded with passion, commitment, and love for their communities,” said Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan. “A special thank you to the Minnesota Initiative Foundations … for standing up for our littlest Minnesotans and putting their resources on the line to provide a bridge of relief to our child care providers statewide.” 

The Initiative Foundation was created in response to challenging times more than three decades ago and, thanks to your support, we will be here to respond to the challenging times ahead.

Will you join us with your support for the Emergency Child Care Grant Program? Your gift will immediately be turned around to licensed child care providers across Central Minnesota who are serving the region’s essential workforce. And that helps all of us.

Thinking of a large donation? Contact us today for one-on-one guidance to maximize your investment. Contact Carl Newbanks at (320) 631-2042 or via email at cnewbanks@ifound.org.

If you’d rather make an offline donation, make checks payable to the Initiative Foundation, 405 1st St. SE, Little Falls, MN 56345. Please note "Central Minnesota Emergency Child Care Fund” in the memo line.

Your generous gift will be available immediately to support grants to the region.