In The News: Eastern Montana groups awarded Otto Bremer Trust Grants

CASEY PAGE, Billings Gazette, December 10th, 2021

The Otto Bremer Trust has awarded $15.9 million nationwide as part of its most recent grantmaking cycle, making it the largest grant round in the organization’s 77-year history.

“All these grants represent OBT’s ongoing commitment to responsive grantmaking,” said Daniel Reardon in a press release, the trust’s co-CEO and trustee. “These organizations are providing much-needed services despite the effects of the lingering pandemic and its continued economic impact.”

A list of grants awarded to organizations in Eastern Montana include:

• Billings Family YMCA, Inc, Billings, $50,000. For general operations to support programs and activities to strengthen community well-being.
• Billings Public Library Foundation, Inc., Billings, $35,000. To purchase a lending kiosk to increase access to literacy in Billings.
• Yellowstone CASA, Inc., Billings, $50,000. For general operations to provide judicial advocacy for children experiencing abuse and neglect in Yellowstone County.
• Planned Parenthood of Montana, Billings, $37,500. To provide reproductive health education programs and outreach to young people and community members across Montana.
• Messengers for Health, Crow Agency, $30,000. For general operations to improve health and well-being of individuals on and near the Crow Indian Reservation.
• Red Lodge Area Community Foundation, $31,000. For Connect Youth Program to provide resources for youth-focused opportunities and pre-K education and increase childcare access in Carbon County.

The Otto Bremer Trust is a bank holding company and a private charitable trust based in Saint Paul, Minn., that works at the intersection of finance and philanthropy. Created in 1944 by Otto Bremer, it is today one of the nation’s largest philanthropic organizations and is committed to supporting a better quality of life for residents of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. Since its founding, OBT has invested more than $841 million in people, places, and opportunities in the Upper Midwest.