Two groups that help feed the hungry, an organization that teaches environmentally wise practices to businesses and nonprofits, and a group that brought together people from all 19 bands of Ojibwe on Madeline Island were named winners Tuesday of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation's 2011 Touchstone Awards.
The foundation provided grants in 2009 for the work of each group. In addition, the award carries a $2,500 prize.
The four winners come from three categories: generosity, civic engagement and inclusiveness.
The two winners of the generosity category were the Grand Marais Arts Colony and Second Harvest Northern Lakes Food Bank. Winner of the civic engagement category was Sustainable Twin Ports. Winner of the inclusiveness category was the Madeline Island Anishinaabeg Gathering.
"This is work that makes our community stronger and makes our community special," said Holly C. Sampson, president of the Community Foundation. "All nine of our Touchstone Award nominees this year offer great examples of the concepts of generosity, civic engagement and inclusiveness. They make this a better place to live."
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The Grand Marais Arts Colony was chosen for its Empty Bowls hunger awareness project, which helps stock the shelves at the Cook County Food Shelf each year. Area artists, students and community members craft ceramic bowls to be filled with soup and bread.
Second Harvest food bank was nominated for increasing food distribution in response to more urgent needs of recent years. From 2008 to 2010, Second Harvest encouraged more local giving, enabling the food bank to distribute 25 percent more food. That meant 4 million pounds of food went to those who most need it, while volunteer hours increased and financial contributions from individuals and businesses increased 32 percent.
Sustainable Twin Ports was honored for helping to create a sustainable community. The group teaches sustainability principles to local businesses and nonprofit groups. Sustainability involves managing the use of resources by individuals or groups with the least possible harm to the environment. Twenty-three organizations have taken Early Adopters training since Sustainable Twin Ports began the program. This year's group included Spirit Mountain Recreation Area, Duluth Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Common Ground Construction, ECOLIBRIUM3, and Clyde Park Association: Heritage Sports Center, Boys & Girls Clubs of the Northland, Duluth Children's Museum and Clyde Iron Works Restaurant.
The Madeline Island Anishinaabeg Gathering brought together more than 650 people from all 19 bands of Ojibwe for educational and celebratory event on the island on Sept. 25, 2009. Madeline Island is the sacred center of the Anishinaabeg world, though band members have seldom lived on the island in the past century. The gathering committee organized a day of presentations, traditional performances and feasts that revived that historical spirit. A similar event also was held this fall.
The other five nominees were Range Transitional Housing Inc. for the Hibbing Transitional Housing Project (generosity); the College of St. Scholastica, for its Alworth Center for the Study of Peace and Justice (civic engagement); Friends of the Finland Community, which built a community center (civic engagement); CHOICE Unlimited: BOLD Choice Theatre Company (inclusiveness); and the Duluth Task Force on Police Accountability (inclusiveness).
