Nearly 2,000 acres of land in western Iowa will be preserved, thanks in part to a grant from the Gilchrist Foundation. The Iowa National Heritage Foundation (INHF) has officially purchased the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in early 2023 after raising nearly $2 million in funds from donations from several organizations, including The Gilchrist Foundation. In 2022, the Gilchrist Foundation awarded INHF $150,000 project grant to use towards that purchase.
Read MoreArts education is an integral part of students’ lives. Arts education, including music, theater, dance and media and visual arts, teaches student innumerable lessons. According to Americans for the Arts, arts education teaches practice makes perfect, small differences can have large effects and collaboration leads to creativity. Arts education also teaches that there several paths to take when approaching problems and all problems can have more than one solution. The arts, including music, museums and theater were all passions of Jocelyn Gilchrist, which is why today the Gilchrist Foundation awards grants every year that foster arts education in students of all ages
Read MoreEvery year the Gilchrist Foundation awards millions of dollars in grant money to nonprofit organizations that make a difference in Siouxland. In 2022, the Foundation awarded $1,861,913 in grants to nonprofits committed to supporting the arts, wildlife and conservation and disaster relief.
Read MoreSoon there will be another outdoor theater experience in Siouxland, thanks in part to the Gilchrist Foundation. In 2022, the Foundation awarded the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center and the Betty Strong Encounter Center a $35,000 project grant for its Shipwreck Outdoor Theatre Project. The grant funded the project’s outdoor sound system which will soon host a future outdoor theatre fine arts series.
Read MoreThe Gilchrist Foundation is committed to supporting Siouxland nonprofits and has awarded 63 grants in 2022 totaling more than $1.8 million. Since 1998, the Foundation has awarded grants to local charities whose interests align with that of Jocelyn Gilchrist, who established the Foundation. The Foundation awards three types of grants: endowment, capital campaign and project grants during the annual grant cycle of April to mid-July. The Foundation also awards micro grants of a maximum of $5,000 throughout the year.
Read MoreThe Gilchrist Foundation, which continues to support the philanthropic interests of Jocelyn and the Gilchrist family, is proud to be a long-term supporter of the Siouxland Humane Society. The Gilchrist Foundation awarded the Siouxland Humane Society a $10,000 project grant in 2021 for its Every Day, Every Dog, Let Them Play! project and a project grant for $3,042 in 2019 for the Laptop Lapdog! project.
Read MoreArt is a natural extension of our lives. It enhances our surroundings, speaks to our emotions, tells us a story, lets us express ourselves and much more. Making art accessible to everyone in the community is the mission of several art-focused nonprofit organizations across Siouxland. It’s an important goal that can positively impact both adults and kids. Learning about art, i.e., art education, can positively impact a student’s motivation and attitude. According to Americans for the Arts, increasing access and involvement in arts education encourages students to stay in school and succeed in school, work and life.
Read MoreLatham Park, nestled in Sioux City’s Morningside area at 1915 S. Lemon Street, has been a beautiful sanctuary for visitors for almost 100 years. The nearly one-acre park plays host to weddings, picnics, church services, reunions and photo shoots. It’s also been a quiet place for the public to enjoy.. The Gilchrist Foundation awarded Latham Park a $45,600 project grant to help cover recent improvements made to the park.
Read MoreIn the 1800s, bighorn sheep roamed freely across the plains and bluffs of western Nebraska. The panhandle area of Nebraska was home to a species of bighorn sheep known as Audubon’s bighorn sheep. But by the early 1900s, that subspecies was nearly extinct due to disease, habitat loss and hunting, according to the National Park Service. The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), headquartered in Bozeman, Mont., has been working for decades to change that and is getting closer thanks to organizations like the Gilchrist Foundation.
Read MoreI scream, you scream, we all scream … for Ice Cream Days happening June 16 - 18, 2022 in Le Mars, Iowa. Ice Cream Days is a family-friendly, annual event that features vendors, activities and lots of ice cream. The Gilchrist Foundation is proud to be a continued supporter of this much-loved event. In 2021, the Gilchrist Foundation awarded a $2,900 micro grant to support musical entertainment and performing acts and has supported it again in 2022 by giving an award for the festival and its family activities.
Read MoreSpring usually means warmer weather, blooming flowers and budding trees, but it also means severe weather. Season after season severe weather, like thunderstorms, tornados and floods, take their toll on Sioux City and the surrounding areas. Luckily when the area is impacted by a disaster, the American Red Cross is there to help, thanks to the support of the Gilchrist Foundation.
Read MoreThe 2022 Gilchrist Foundation grant process is officially underway! All Requests for Consideration for Invitation are due today, April 1, 2022. Last year the Foundation awarded $1,734,652 to more than 40 nonprofit organizations across the Siouxland area. The Foundation began as a way for Jocelyn Gilchrist to use her family’s wealth to support the mission’s of nonprofit organizations in and around Sioux City.
Read MoreWildlife and conservation efforts were important to Jocelyn Gilchrist and her family, and today are just as important to the foundation she created. In 2021, the Gilchrist Foundation gave awards to many new organizations, including a handful that support wildlife habitats and the humane treatment of animals.
Read MoreThe Gilchrist Foundation supports the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra’s 2021-2022 season by sponsoring the Gilchrist Pop Series. In 2021, the series included the popular holiday tradition Christmas with the Symphony, held on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021, and more exciting live events are coming this year yet. Upcoming shows include Don Felder and the SCSO, Immersive Vivaldi, The Music of ABBA featuring Rajaton and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert.
Read MoreThe Gilchrist Foundation made a huge impact on area nonprofit organizations in 2021. The Foundation awarded more than $1.7 million in grants, about $500,000 more than in 2020, to nonprofit organizations in and around Siouxland with ties to the arts and public broadcasting, wildlife and conservation and disaster relief. The selected nonprofits were invited to submit applications for the Foundation’s endowment, capital campaign and project grants during the annual grant cycle of April to mid-July. The Foundation also awarded multiple micro grants, which give of a maximum of $5,000, throughout the year.
Read MoreSiouxland Freedom Park in South Sioux City is closer to finishing its new interpretive center thanks to some generous donors and a challenge grant by the Gilchrist Foundation. This fall, the organization held its first Freedom Ball to raise funds for the project. More than $240,000 was raised, including a $50,000 challenge match grant by the Gilchrist Foundation, to help create and construct the exhibits that will be placed in the new Brigadier General Bud and Doris Day Interpretive Center, scheduled to open in Fall 2022.
Read MoreIn 2021, the Gilchrist Foundation awarded more than $1.7 million in grants to Siouxland nonprofit organizations whose interests align with the Foundation’s – the arts and public broadcasting, wildlife and conservation and disaster relief. Nonprofit organizations were invited to submit applications for the Foundation’s endowment and capital campaign grants and project grants during the annual grant cycle of April to mid-July. The foundation also awards micro grants of a maximum of $5,000 throughout the year.
Read MoreWest 7th Street between Hamilton Boulevard and Wesley Parkway looks quite a bit different today than it did just a handful of years ago. The vital and historic Sioux City street has changed a lot over the last several years. Millions of dollars have been invested on West 7th, including a complete street reconstruction and the façade improvement program, which includes art projects supported in part by the Gilchrist Foundation. In 2020, the Foundation awarded $30,000 to the Siouxland Chamber Foundation for art projects, like painted murals, along the street.
Read MoreThe 2021 ArtSplash festival will be held downtown at the Sioux City Art Center Labor Day weekend, Sept. 4-5. Entertainment, like live music and a film festival, and events will be held in and around the Art Center, including the Gilchrist Learning Center. Several local artists will have booths at the event. The in-person event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic but looks to return even stronger this year.
Read MoreThe Gilchrist Foundation supports the Sioux City Railroad Museum’s latest projects, including Storytime Saturdays and an archeological dig. In 2020, the museum was awarded a project grant for $52,078 from the Foundation to fund its Roundhouse Story Initiative: Art in the Railyard. The Siouxland Historical Railroad Association received grants from the Gilchrist Foundation to study archeological artifacts from the camps and create online educational resources and documentary films about the project.
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