Resilient. Rural. Community.
Blandin Foundation is all about Minnesotans imagining, leading, and growing resourceful, inclusive communities.
For full information about us and our programs, visit our website:
blandinfoundation.org
Grand Rapids Giving Area
Blandin Foundation has a perpetual and primary responsibility to the Grand Rapids area. Charles Blandin, founder of the Blandin Foundation, owned the Grand-Rapids based Blandin Paper Company in the early 20th Century.
While no longer legally connected in any way with the paper company, Itasca County communities continue
to be the focus of the majority of the Foundation’s resources, supporting
a wide spectrum of partners and initiatives focused on the vibrancy of these communities and the
organizations strengthening them.
Foundation News
Blandin Foundation Announces 2025 Local Grant Opportunities Open March 7, 2025
New grant portfolios are designed to strengthen Community Wealth Building, Small Communities, and Rural Placemaking.
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Minnesota Women's Press Profiles Blandin Trustee Alice Moren
Alice Moren: Taking the Big View in Grand Rapids
Alice has been a Foundation trustee since 2015, and completed a 3-year term as board chair this past December.
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Blandin Foundation Grant to Assist with Highway 2 Corridor Planning
A grant to the Grand Rapids Economic Development Authority (GREDA) has been awarded to drive regional growth and revitalization along the local Highway 2 (TH2) corridor from 5th Ave. E to 17th Ave. W.
This grant will provide for community-driven planning to strengthen Grand Rapids as a regional hub and improve infrastructure, safety and economic opportunity.
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Q&A: What Are the Challenges and Opportunities of Small-Town Philanthropy?
The Daily Yonder talks with Jennifer Bevis, Blandin Foundation’s Senior Rural Advocacy Manager, about the charms of living in rural Minnesota, some of the unique challenges and opportunities of small-town philanthropy, and a big picture view on how we might reach a more prosperous future for rural people and places.
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Blandin Foundation Goes Big on Small Communities
Announcing funding to 72 grantees in rural MN communities with populations under 5,000 in Blandin’s local giving area and throughout the state.
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