Following significant tornado and storm damage in the Kokomo, Indiana area, Ball Brothers Foundation awarded a $25,000 grant to the Indiana Region of the American Red Cross. The emergency grant will support the organization’s work to provide disaster relief.

As Purdue Polytechnic Anderson prepares to open its new facility later this year, Muncie-based Ball Brothers Foundation has announced a $50,000 grant to support a “Beginning Makerspace” within the facility. This Beginning Makerspace will provide a hands-on laboratory where students and community members can make, innovate, and create.

Two Muncie-based family foundations are hosting a summit this week that will bring together grantees focused on the environment, outdoor education, and outdoor recreation. Ball Brothers Foundation is the lead host of the summit which will introduce Muncie area grantees to like-minded organizations from the Leelanau area of northern Michigan which are supported by the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Foundation.

BBF honors the life of John Pruis, former Ball State University President, who passed away this weekend. We were honored that Dr. Pruis served on BBF’s board of directors from 1977-2011, providing 34 years of outstanding service and leadership.

Ball Brothers Foundation will be honoring local teachers in 2016 through the Foundation’s Excellence in Teaching Award. As in previous years, the top honor includes a $15,000 grant to promote innovation in the winning teacher’s district, school, and classroom.

With the start of the new year, BBF is looking back to highlights from 2015. During the 2015 year, grants to organizations in Muncie, Delaware County, and Indiana totaled over $6.8 million.

Ball Brothers Foundation has issued grants totaling $10,000 to protect the health and safety of local law enforcement officers who come into contact with hazardous drug manufacturing materials. As meth lab seizures are at an all-time high in Delaware County, BBF funding will provide officers from the Muncie Police Department and the Delaware County Sheriff’s Department with personal protective equipment.

Ball Brothers Foundation, The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, and the Sherman and Marjorie Zeigler Foundation, Inc. were all recognized last week as grantmaking organizations that were founding members of the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA). IPA, the state’s membership association of grantmakers, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

A five-acre training facility for emergency responders will add a range of new training features through a $100,000 Ball Brothers Foundation grant awarded last month.