Hart and Twamley to receive awards from Brainerd Lakes Area Women's Fund

By Dispatch staff report

March 24, 2022 at 7:00 AM

BRAINERD — The Brainerd Lakes Area Women's Fund announced Kaytlin Hart as the 2022 recipient of the Ripple Maker Award.

The Ripple Maker award recognizes a Brainerd Lakes area young woman (under the age of 25) who is giving back to the community in a positive way — making ripples of change. Hart will be recognized on April 13 at the Women Making Waves event and is the first person to ever receive this award. This event will be from 5-8 p.m. at the Norway Center at Grand View Lodge resort, Nisswa. To register to attend the event, visit www.communitygiving.org/events .

Hart serves on the Smiles for Jake Board and volunteers regularly to bring awareness to the organization's mission.

"Kaytlin is a young woman making ripples now, but she is capable of creating waves in the future," said Deb Mitzel, Hart’s nominator.

At the April 13 event, Becky Twamley will also be recognized and receive the "Women Making Waves" award which recognizes a woman who has significantly contributed to the field of philanthropy in the region by their personal and/or professional contributions. Twamley helped found and serves as the executive director of WeARE, a Brainerd Lakes area clinic that provides reproductive education and health care services to youths and young adults.

The Women Making Waves event will also feature the Brainerd Women's Fund announcing the recipients of their recent grant round. They plan to award $25,000 to local organizations.

Since 2009, the Brainerd Lakes Area Women's Fund has been an initiative of the Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation. The Brainerd Lakes Area Community Foundation attracts and administers charitable funds for the benefit of the local Brainerd area. Since 1998, the foundation has grown to over $18.5 million in assets and awarded over $7.4 million in grants to nonprofits. The foundation is governed by a local board of directors and is a partner of CommunityGiving, which is a collaborative of many community foundations united under a single framework to create efficiencies that maximize the impact of donors. Collectively, CommunityGiving administers more than 900 funds totaling nearly $201 million. Go to www.communitygiving.org/BLACF for more information.

By Dispatch staff report

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Hart and Twamley to receive awards from Brainerd Lakes Area Women's Fund

The women will be recognized April 13 at the Women Making Waves event at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa.