For many years, and often quietly, the Minot Area Community Foundation has been doing tremendous, essential work in the area. Behind the scenes, they connect potential donors and estate managers with giving opportunities that benefit the Minot community in singular projects and long-term efforts. The work that MACF does is essential, impactful and often quiet.

Well, this week, MACF made some noise. On Wednesday, MACF announced its largest grant to date in the amount of $750,000 to The Magic City Discovery Center 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.

The Discovery Center is one of the most promising developments in the pipeline in Minot. It 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.

MACF’s sizable donation will help propel the Discovery Center to eventual success, which bodes well for Minot.

“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.”

This grant will expand MACF’s footprint on Minot and will be a tremendous component of the MDCD campaign.

Congratulations are due MACF for its generous grant and also for the MDCD for its moving closer to actualization.

Working together, this project will be an important one for all of Minot.