Oakes Family Scholarship

10/18/2026

WOW! An update from one of our recent donations:

“Our daily read aloud is so essential to our classroom community. It grounds us and inspires us for the day ahead.

Thank you for providing us with the resources we need to maintain this essential element and to make it vibrant, and surprising and meaningful and fun. There is such a balance between contemporary and timeless in the books we received--they fulfill so many different needs-windows and mirrors to the experiences of my students, full-on belly laughs on Friday mornings and exciting, scientific thinking.

These last couple of months we have needed a lot of funny and inspiring books--and the books in this project fulfilled that need. We particularly enjoyed "A Book of Maps for You" and "This Land (Race to the Truth)” so many new classics in this bunch of books. Thank you for making this happen!

Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for believing in my students.

With gratitude,
Mrs. Solis”

Thanks Mrs. Solis! We hope you had a restful MEA break!

10/12/2026

🚨 IMPORTANT COMMUNITY NOTICE: MINNEAPOLIS URBAN OFFICE FIRE

Aaniin gakina awiiya,
We are writing to share an urgent real-time update with our community regarding our Fond du Lac Band’s Minneapolis Urban Office, located within the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe building at 1308 Franklin Avenue in Minneapolis.

The Minneapolis Fire Department and emergency crews are currently on the scene actively working to suppress a major fire at this location.

This is an incredibly sad and heavy moment for our relatives down in the Minneapolis metro area, for our dedicated Fond du Lac Band staff who use this space to care for our community daily and for our Fond du Lac Band as a whole. This building is a vital lifeline where our staff comes together every day to feed, support, and uplift our people. Hearing the heartbreak of our frontline staff processing this loss in real time reminds us just how deeply rooted this office is in the lives of our urban relatives.

Thankfully, there are no reports of injuries to any community members or staff. Our thoughts are also with the responding firefighters who are working to control the blaze.

Because the situation remains active and the building has suffered significant damage, the Minneapolis Urban Office will be closed for operations until further notice. Please do not travel to the facility at this time so that emergency personnel can maintain clear access to the scene.

We know how much our community relies on the daily care provided at this office. We ask for your patience as our Band navigates this crisis. We are actively monitoring the situation and will provide clear, verified updates as soon as we can safely plan for temporary service adjustments and find new ways to continue our support.

Chi miigwech to the first responders, and a deep chi miigwech to our community and dedicated staff of our Minneapolis Urban Office for your resilience, love, and support during this difficult moment.

10/08/2026

So excited to say that we have ANOTHER Hopkins Class Reunion offering to use their time and celebration to support our communities in need.

We are looking for businesses or individuals willing to donate items, products, services, experiences or anything at all for a silent auction. Please contact us or Alexandra Hilst at [email protected] to donate!

10/02/2026

Our biggest micro grants yet! With your support, these two grants are supporting hundreds of students across multiple districts, classrooms and a small, local Ojibwa business in an area across hundreds of miles inside of Minnesota. Also, our new website!

Linda Sweno, an Indian Education Advisor from Mesabi East Schools, in partnership with ndgnsbeadsngifts in Cloquet, MN, was given resources to purchase materials for Anishinaabe projects. This can be used for materials like beads, tools for leather work, and so much more.

With these materials, students can have hands on experience crafting and learning about their culture, and the cultures of others. This will
be used by multiple staff in multiple buildings.

Sarah Perpruner, a paraprofessional and Mrs. Lesemann, 4th and 5th grade teacher from Cherry Elementary School in Iron, MN, were given supplies through our micro grant for their 4th and 5th graders annual biography boxes. We shipped them items like modeling clay, hole punchers, new glue guns, stencils, cleaning supplies, pencils, pipe cleaners, tacky glue, and more. These supplies will be used across multiple classrooms at Cherry.

Annual projects like this are a fun and memorable event in many students lives (you can remember that one project EVERYONE had to do towards the end of elementary school). We are grateful to be apart of building those memories for students and staff.

In other news, we’re also excited to announce our new website is almost complete! We’ve been tweaking the fine details, but we should be ready to launch next week. Check back soon!

10/01/2026

Another two micro grant recipients were Mrs. Solis at Wellstone Elementary in St. Paul and Mrs. Truax at Parkers Prairie Elementary School in Parkers Prairie (thanks to The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation for matching our donations)!

Mrs. Solis was given a collection of read aloud books for her 4th grade classroom. These books will help build literacy skills, social-emotional skills, and give collective experiences. These picture books will give her students an outlet for their imaginations, feelings and satisfy their academic and social-emotional needs. Solis says:

“In my 4th grade classroom we read a picture book together every morning--and it's a crucial part of our day and building our classroom community. Thank you for making this a reality and thank you for believing in my students. We are so grateful.”

Mrs. Truax was given materials for classroom organization. These plastic storage bins and baskets will give her teaching supplies, learning games, books, and classroom materials a consistent place to be stored and easily accessed. A well-organized classroom helps reduce distractions, maximize learning time, and create a welcoming environment where students know what to expect. Truax says:

“Your support means so much to me and will help make my classroom a more organized, welcoming, and productive place for my students to learn and become confident and independent. I truly appreciate your kindness and generosity! It means so much.”

Check with us tomorrow to see our biggest micro grants awarded in our charity’s history!

09/30/2026

Our first back to school grant recipient was Ms. Shay at North Woods School up in Cook, MN!

Ms. Shay’s special education students received a new library of graphic novels featuring classic books like Macbeth, Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies, A Wrinkle in Time, The Odyssey, and many others.

By combining compelling storytelling with supportive visual art, graphic novels bridge the gap between decoding text and comprehension. These new books will allow for whole group instruction and building confidence in reading skills.

09/29/2026

Stay tuned this week as we highlight some of our back to school micro grant recipients and a fun little update on something we’ve been working on 😉 We’ve been busy helping classrooms around Minnesota. Hope your school year has been off to a great start!

09/12/2026

We funded a classroom last night

Thanks to everyone who came out to our fundraiser and thanks to Arcana 81 for playing a super cool set, because of you we were able to raise enough money to fund another microgrant!

The classroom will be provided with requested supplies including pencils, cleaning materials, art supplies, snacks, and materials for Anishinaabe curriculum.

Remember: your support did this and we couldn’t have done it without you! See you at the next fundraiser!

09/11/2026

06/05/2026

Happy that we have opportunities to be involved with our communities in many different ways! From ICA Food Shelf, to Hopkins and St. Louis Park students, to making memories with volunteers and students, this school year has been a blast! Have a great summer Transition Plus students and thanks for all your hard work!

With the school year coming to a close, we wanted to give a big shoutout to Transition Plus students for volunteering at ICA! Each week, groups come in to help out with various tasks at the shelf. From bagging coffee grounds, separating pet food, assembling Grab-N-Go bags, and sorting compost, these students have been helping hands since the school year started. We are so grateful to have them volunteer - have a great summer Transition Plus!

Oakes Family Scholarship