BETTENDORF, IOWA (December 13, 2023) — Every year, the Grant W Brissman and Virginia M Brissman Foundation awards grants for projects and organizations that improve the quality of life in the Village of Milan, Illinois. The Brissman Foundation is a private foundation administered by the Quad Cities Community Foundation.
This year, foundation trustees awarded $131,000 to local organizations. This is the largest amount the foundation has ever awarded through their annual competitive grant cycle. “Grant and Virginia Brissman had a deep love for Milan, and their foundation is keeping that love alive,” said Steve Gottcent, grantmaking specialist at the Community Foundation. “The foundation has grown, and their giving has set another record this year. These 27 organizations are going to make an immediate impact in the area.”
Grant Brissman was a graduate of Rock Island High School and the former Brown's Business College. He was a pioneer Milan business owner, starting Brissman's Auto Supply in 1948. The business served Milan and the surrounding communities for almost thirty years before he retired in 1978. He was also a founding director and shareholder of Blackhawk State Bank in Milan, where he served on the board of directors for many years.
Virginia Brissman worked for Illinois Bell Telephone Company for forty years before retiring in 1977. They had been married for sixty years when Grant died at age 88 in 2004. Virginia died at the age of 94. The Brissman Foundation honors Grant and Virginia’s legacy of generosity. The foundation was established through their estates, and the Community Foundation provides administrative and grant-making services for the Brissman Foundation.
This year’s grants range from $1,000 to $10,000. Next year’s grant cycle opens on August 15, 2024. Nonprofits working to enhance youth development, foster community development, support cultural activities, and relieve the suffering of underprivileged people in the Milan area are encouraged to learn more and apply at qccommunityfoundation.org/brissmangrants.
Full list of awarded organizations:
Alternatives for the Older Adults — $7,500
Augustana College — Advancement Office — $1,500
Ballet Quad Cities — $2,500
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Mississippi Valley — $6,000
Children's Therapy Center of the Quad Cities — $10,000
Community Health Care Inc — $5,000
EveryChild — $1,500
Family Resources Inc — Davenport—$5,000
Figge Art Museum — $5,000
Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois — Quad Cities — $2,000
Humility Homes and Services Inc — $5,000
Junior Achievement of the Heartland — $2,500
Marriage and Family Counseling Service — $2,500
Milan Christian Food Pantry — $10,000
New Kingdom Trailriders — $1,000
Prairie State Legal Service Inc — $2,500
Project NOW, CAA — $10,000
Quad Cities Open Network — $2,500
Quad City Symphony Orchestra — $3,000
Rock Island - Milan Kiwanis Club First Day Fund — $2,500
Rock Island Milan Little League — $2,500
Safer Foundation — Quad Cities — $10,000
SAL Family and Community Services (Skip-a-Long) — $10,000
Spring Forward Learning Center — $7,500
Two Rivers YMCA — $2,500
Youth Service Bureau of RI County — $6,000
YWCA of the Quad Cities — $5,000
