Sue Sitter/PCT Members of the Rugby Community Endowment Fund Advisory Committee stand near Rockin’ Relics Cafe with representatives from seven local charities receiving grants this year. Standing from left are: Dale Niewoehner, committee member; Susie Schmaltz, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library; Cindy Heintz, Rugby Senior Center and Tri-County Senior Meals and Services; Vonnie Degenstein, Pierce County Food Pantry; Jennifer Willis, Geographical Center Historical Society; Bonnie Berginski, Village Arts; and Bob Wilmot, Rugby Community Endowment Fund Advisory Committee. Kneeling in front from left: Lila Harstad, Rugby Lions for Music in the Park; Cathy Jelsing, Tunbridge Lutheran Church Preservation Society; and Theone Stevenson, Rugby Community Endowment Fund Advisory Committee.

Members of the Rugby Community Fund Advisory Committee marked their 40th anniversary recently by doing what they’ve always done best for local charities – distributing donations.

Seven local non-profit organizations received more than $20,000 in donations from the fund this year, according to Theone Stevenson, advisory committee member.

Stevenson and fellow committee members Robert Wilmot and Dale Niewoehner met with representatives of the charities Nov. 8 at Rockin Relics Cafe to distribute donation checks.

“The organizations that are receiving money today are the Tri-County Senior Meals and Services; Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library; the Rugby Lions Music in the Park; The Geographical Center Historical Society; Tunbridge Lutheran Church Preservation Society; Village Arts and the Pierce County Food Pantry,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson and Wilmot said the fund started 40 years ago and grew over time with interest and contributions from people who wanted to support their community.

The fund is a part of the North Dakota Community Foundation, an organization that gives to charities in 69 different communities throughout the state, according to the foundation’s website.

The foundation’s website said it formed in 1976 “to create an easy way for North Dakotans to help their neighbors and friends, now and in the future, through charitable giving and promoting philanthropy here and at home.”

Wilmot said the Rugby Community Endowment Fund “supports local charities through the foundation. It raises money from throughout the community. The fund never uses the principle. With the interest, we support local charities in their efforts around town.”

More information on grant applications is available at www.ndcf.net. Stevenson said the grant application period opens after Jan. 1, 2022 and ends “usually on the first of July.”

To donate to the Rugby Community Endowment Fund, visit www.ndcf.net/donate.