Austin,
Minn. (Nov. 17, 2021) The Hormel
Foundation board of directors approved record distributions of $14.7 million today
to nonprofit agencies for 2022.
“The
dedicated effort, hard work and success of Hormel Foods’ employees has once
again put us in a privileged position to distribute funds to nonprofit
organizations that will benefit everyone in our community,” said Jeffrey M.
Ettinger, chair of The Hormel Foundation.
“We
can be thankful to the founders of The Hormel Foundation who 80 years ago had
the foresight to create a plan to safeguard our community throughout generations.”
The Hormel Foundation grants advance the missions of
nonprofit organizations in Austin. Those organizations are
Austin Area Foundation, Austin Community Charitable
Fund, Austin Community Growth Ventures, Austin Community Scholarship Committee,
Austin Public Schools, Cedar Valley Services, City of Austin, The Hormel
Institute, Mayo Clinic Health Systems - Austin, Parenting Resource Center,
Riverland Community College, Salvation Army, United Way of Mower County and the
YMCA of Austin. The Hormel Institute, a world-renowned cancer and biomedical
research center and part of University of Minnesota, is a principal recipient
of The Hormel Foundation's annual contributions.
In addition to foregoing, the Cedar
River Watershed District received a grant to build two large projects in the
headwaters of Dobbins Creek to improve water quality and reduce peak flooding.
Earthen berms will be built to temporarily hold large amounts of stormwater and
snow before slowly releasing it.
“We have made great progress toward
cleaner water and less flooding but, without the huge, ongoing support from The
Hormel Foundation, we would not be anywhere close to where we are today,” CRWD
administrator Justin Hanson said. To date, CRWD has built 14 upland-storage
projects and achieved at least a 10-percent reduction in peak flow at the
Cedar-Dobbins confluence in Austin.
Another
grant was approved by the Foundation to supplement the budget for
MnDot’s replacement and refurbishing of I-90 bridges to allow for aesthetic
upgrades and safety improvements. “These improvements will improve pedestrian access across the bridges
for both walkers and bikers,” said Tom Dankert, “City of Austin’s Director of
Administrative Services.