• Finnegans Fund Grant Application
• Facts: The Working Poor
• The Link
• Admission Possible
• Cheerful Givers
• Northwest Youth and Family Services
• Plymouth Foundation
• St. Cloud Area Crisis Nursery
• Bridge For Youth
• Bolder Options
• Lindquist Apartments
• Testimonials
• Links

2005 Recipients

Admission Possible
Admission Possible is dedicated to helping make college admission possible for talented, motivated and economically disadvantaged students in Minnesota. Funds from Finnegan’s Community Fund will help Admission Possible provide three critical services for their students: SAT/ACT test preparation, college admission and financial aid consulting and guidance in transitioning into college.

Cheerful Givers
The mission of Cheerful Givers is to “brighten and celebrate the lives of children in need.” These birthday bags, available at local shelters, food shelves and other agencies, help parents recognize and celebrate this special day for their children. Since Cheerful Givers began in 1997, over 100,000 birthday bags have been distributed. Funds from FINNEGANS Community Fund will help Cheerful Givers expand their program so even more birthdays can be celebrated.

Life’s Missing Link
For a second year FINNEGANS Community Fund is providing support to Life’s Missing Link for their summer youth program. Their Truancy Intervention program provides intensive case-management and role modeling to youth at high risk for delinquency and school drop out. New programs at Life’s Missing Link include a “Women Educating Women” after school/summer program and a service-learning program – Youth for Justice.Funding from FINNEGANS Community Fund provides access to cultural, recreational and educational experiences that will be used as incentives for youth participating in their programs.

North Side Youth Rugby Football Club
The North Side Youth Rugby Football Club wants to bring this sport to kids in the inner city as well, especially in north and northeast Minneapolis. Coaches for this club are donating their time to help kids learn, enjoy and compete in the game of rugby. One of the biggest roadblocks in establishing this new rugby program is providing transportation to the games. Support from FINNEGANS Community Fund will provide rental vans for this purpose, allowing kids to compete with a wide variety of teams.

Northwest Youth and Family Services
Preparing youth and families for healthy lives is the mission of Northwest Youth and Family Services, which focuses its efforts in the suburbs of northern Ramsey and southern Anoka counties. An example of their work is the Youth-Run Business Program, which helps hard-to-employ youth develop job skills and work habits necessary to succeed in any employment setting. Funds from FINNEGANS Community Fund will help Northwest Youth and Family Services operate its Youth-Run Business Program, providing stipends for participating youth and program supplies.

Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation
The Plymouth Church Neighborhood Foundation has pulled together the funding and partners to develop a new supportive housing program specifically for homeless teen parents. This program will provide stable, affordable housing and services to help teen parents become employed and/or complete their schooling. An important “finishing” piece for this project is being provided through FINNEGANS Community Fund funding – an outdoor play area to be located at the facility. The play site, to be constructed by volunteers from the church and neighborhood, will provide a fun play area for children, an inviting green space in an urban area, and an amenity for the neighborhood.

St. Cloud Area Crisis Nursery
The St. Cloud Area Crisis Nursery provides a safe place for children whose families are experiencing a crisis. This organization offers safe, professional care to any child between the ages of 0 – 12 living in Stearns and Benton Counties. Emergency overnight care continues to be one of the most needed programs the Crisis Nursery offers. The number of families served by the Crisis Nursery continues to increase. Support from FINNEGANS Community Fund will help fund stipends paid to emergency overnight care providers, to cover their costs while caring for these children.

Bridge for Youth
The Bridge was the beneficiary of our first annual Spudtoberfest Fundraiser held in October. Thanks to generous community support, we were able to raise over $10,000 for this outstanding organization. This year 21 youth mentors from Bolder Options formed a team to run in the Dublin Marathon. To raise money and awareness for the organization, Finnegan’s hosted a “Half-way to St. Patrick’s Day” pub-crawl. In September we donated 20 cents of every pint sold in 10 local pubs to the effort. Over $3,500 was donated to support Team Dublin and the Bolder Options mentoring program. This local nonprofit runs amazing programs for at-risk youth in the Twin Cities and suburbs. They are open 24 hours a day for any youth in crisis, offering shelter and safety to homeless and runaway kids. Their services include crisis intervention, street outreach, emergency shelter, family reunification and transitional and permanent supportive housing for youth.

Bolder Options
Bolder Options is a local nonprofit with a unique mentoring program that matches at-risk kids (ages 10-15) with caring adults to run, bike and work on educational goals. Its mission is to teach youth to succeed in all of life’s races. Nearly 350 youth have benefited from Bolder Options’ services since 1998.