GREAT FALLS — On Thursday, May 1, 2025, the Newberry in downtown Great Falls hosted 63 non-profit agencies in the concert hall to share their missions with the public and one another as part of Give Great Falls week.
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“It's a huge networking time. This is one of the only times that we're going to see all of the nonprofits in one space,” says Sarah Cawley, Chair of the Great Falls Area Community Foundation.
From the Great Falls Theater Club to Spouses of Malmstrom, organizations were well represented.
The event one of the largest fundraisers for the non-profits of the year. For other’s, it’s an even more crucial time to collect funds given recent events.
RDI Financial Wellness fell victim to the Americorps cuts from DOGE at the federal level.
“About 40% of the grantees, which RDI was one of were slashed on Friday. Yeah, it was a nationwide decision,” says Executive Director, Jordyn Rogers.
That grant allowed RDI to utilize Americorps volunteers to provide free tax prep to Great Falls residents. Americorps is a federal agency utilizing volunteers to tackle the nation’s challenges. For the time being, many of its services, including tax help may not return.
“We’re not going to be able to return, you know, those millions of dollars back into the economy without them providing that free tax prep where they get a return,” says Rogers.
The Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art was also met with a roadblock within the State Legislature.
The museum had hoped to receive a Historical Preservation Grant that would fund the construction of a climate controlled storage vault for permanent artworks as well as improve accessibility for one of their classrooms.
“Due to some different policy changes in the legislature this year, we were not awarded that grant,” says Sara Johnson, Operations Manager at the Square.
But like others affected by grant roadblocks stemming from the federal and/or state levels, the path forward is similar, and rooted in the local community.
“We’re just going to really focus on how we can recruit volunteers locally,” says Rogers.
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