February 2022

February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. During the month of February, teens, community members, and advocacy groups among others, raise awareness about the issue of teen dating violence. This campaign is headed by Love is Respect. Love is Respect is an initiative that engages, educates, and empowers young people to prevent and end abusive relationships. This is a safe, inclusive space where teens and young adults can access information and get support in an environment designed specifically for them. Love is Respect has a theme each year for Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month (TDVAM). The theme for 2022 is “Talk About It!” The goal of this is to theme is to emphasize the fact that everyone has their own valuable and unique story. Collective experiences and shared understandings can allow for better understanding and communication between teens and adults.

The GFACF would like to recognize the following memorials received by the Foundation from July1-December 31, 2021. Memorials to the GFACF endowment fund help the Foundation provide grants to local non-profit organizations for special projects that benefit the community. Thrivent Choice dollars are gratefully accepted. Memorial gifts may be sent to The Granite Falls Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 143, Granite Falls, MN 56241 or www.granitefallsfoundation.org.

Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, announced the students named to the Dean's List for the fall semester of the 2021-22 academic year. The Dean's List recognizes full-time students who have a minimum of 12 credit hours with grade-point averages at 3.5 or above (on a 4.0 scale).

A Community Pie & Praise hosted by the New Life Church was held at 4 pm last Sunday at the New Life Church.37 people representing 3 churches attended. Beautiful time of singing to the Lord & fellowship afterward!

Exploring the various cultures found in Southwest Minnesota will be the theme of the Cultures on the Prairie Conference Feb. 15 on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

Recently, Mediacom Communications, an Internet service provider for the Granite Falls area, announced the company has enrolled to participate in the Federal Government’s Affordable Connectivity Program, otherwise referred to as ACP. The program, administered by the Federal Communications Commission, provides an opportunity for lower-income households to maintain home Internet service at a lower cost through credits of up to $30 off of their monthly bill. Guidelines for who is eligible for the program include those households with income that is less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines.

At the regular monthly meeting of the Granite Falls City Council Monday evening, one of the topics of discussion was the possible construction of an eight-unit T-Hangar at the airport. In 2019, the Minnesota Department of Transportation designed a grant for the project with the plan to complete the project over 2020 and 2021. Due to an unavailability of funding from MnDOT, the project could not be completed during the proposed original time frame. MnDOT has now notified the City that the funding is available to complete a civil site and T-Hangar building construction in 2022. The project total amounts to $1,741,319.60, of which a portion is paid by grant and a portion would be paid by the City via a loan that would be paid for mostly through rental collections. The grant would pay for $796,640.89 of the cost.