Dighton receives $15,000 from CHS to help rebuild grocery store
The CHS Foundation of St. Paul, Minnesota, has awarded $47,500 in 10 rural community grants to support safety and basic needs services in six states. The foundation is funded by charitable gifts from the nation’s leading agribusiness cooperative.
Attendees at the 2024 CHS Annual Meeting in Minneapolis participated in a live voting process to select the top grant winner, Lane County Community Foundation, which will receive $15,000 to help build a community grocery in Dighton, Kansas, where the county’s only grocery was destroyed by fire.
Based on the voting, the Balaton (Minnesota) Fire Department will receive $10,000 to purchase a new rescue trailer, and Jamestown (North Dakota) Parks and Recreation will receive $5,000 to help create an accessible, all-abilities park and playground.
“We are happy to celebrate the terrific organizations that help keep rural America thriving,” said Megan Wolle, president of the CHS Foundation. “We know rural organizations often have small budgets to fund their big ideas. The CHS Foundation board of trustees increased the budget for this program after receiving so many worthy grant submissions.”
“We are grateful to the CHS Foundation for this $15,000 grant to help us open up a brand-new grocery store,” said Casey Venters, executive director, Lane County Community Foundation. “We anticipate the new store will be open in late 2025 to serve our county, which has about 1,400 residents.”
The following organizations received honorable-mention awards of $2,500 each: Cutting Fences Foundation, Laurel, Montana, for adaptive equipment for farmers with injuries and disabilities; Feeding Our Community Partners, North Mankato, Minnesota, for rural student hunger relief; Richland-Wilkin Emergency Food Pantry, Wahpeton, North Dakota, for mobile food pantry vehicles; Lil Chompers Child Care Center, Greenbush, Minnesota, for rural community child care; Grant Regional Health Center, Lancaster, Wisconsin, for EMT training for students; Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque, Delmar, Iowa, for a therapy dog for a rural school; and Graceville Fire Department, Graceville, Minnesota, for grain bin extraction gear.
