MACF unveils largest grant in its history

Posted: Jul 11 2018
The Minot Area Community Foundation (MACF) has made its largest grant to date in the amount of $750,000 to The Magic City Discovery Center (MCDC) for the Magic Climber exhibit to be located inside the new children’s museum in Minot.
 
The Magic Climber will be a signature and unique multi-story climbing experience for visitors of all ages. Children will climb and maneuver through the many multi-dimensional levels with stops along the way to experience science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
 
“This is an incredibly exciting time for all of us at The Minot Area Community Foundation. To be able to make this significant of an impact on our community and region truly fits our mission,” said Ken Kitzman, president of The Minot Area Community Foundation. “In our 18-year history, we have now granted out over $16.2 million which translates to a priceless amount of impact on the quality of life for the communities we serve.”
 
The MCDC is in the early stages of raising funds for a full-scale, permanent children’s museum in Minot, located on Minot Park District land on North Hill. MCDC operated a temporary museum during the winter months out of the Dakota Territory Air Museum over the past four years. The capital campaign that is currently underway will raise $7 million to construct a 20,000 square-foot building, design and build 4-5 exhibit galleries of varying sizes, and set up funding for a museum endowment – along with other items.  
 
“A gift of this magnitude, this early in our campaign, is just wonderful! The Minot Area Community Foundation has been doing amazing things within our region for years, and we couldn’t be more humbled and excited to be the non-profit group that is the recipient of the largest Minot Area Community Foundation gift to date,” said Mark Lyman, Magic City Discovery Center Board president. “The Foundation has been a strong supporter of this project for more than five years, when it was just a concept being considered by a passionate group of supporters. This gift takes us one big step closer to making the dream of a new, stand-alone, regional children’s museum a distinct reality.”