Community Pathways of Steele County Gets Grant Money and a C-Note

Dom Korbel, Executive Director of Community Pathways of Steele County thanked the Owatonna Foundation for its enormous grant at Thursday's GEM Days concert in Owatonna's Central Park. He also shared a feel-good story on a smaller donation received this week.

He spoke of a woman at GEM Days on Thursday, "She found a hundred-dollar bill on the ground. And she walked up to this individual who came to see us and said, Did you drop this? This might be yours. A hundred dollars,' The individual said, 'No, it's not mine. So if you want to keep it, you keep it."

"And the woman who found it said, 'I tell you what. I'm going to give it to you. I know it's not yours. But I'm going to encourage you to pass it on and do some good with it.' She took that one hundred dollars and came to Community Pathways and donated it to us."

Korbel continued, "I tell that story because the fabric of our community in Owatonna and Steele County is so generous and so giving and they make what we do possible. And part of that fabric is the Owatonna Foundation. And as [Owatonna Foundation President] Tom [Dufresne] said all the things around us that the foundation has done. We cannot do what we do alone. We cannot do without your support and we certainly cannot do it without the support of the Owatonna Foundation. I'm here to say thanks."

Community Pathways is well into its expansion project. Korbell said they will be closed from August 1 through 5 to move into its new building expansion, reopening on August 8 for normal hours.

New Executive Director of the Owatonna Foundation Angela Gonzales stated in a news release of the foundation's completion of the grant to Community Pathways "with a check for $150,000 as the final installment of the $250,000 grant that the Board of Trustees approved in fall 2021. We paid the first $100,000 after the grant was approved this winter."

The foundation helped sponsor the performance of the band Street Talk Thursday night which drew approximately 400 people to Central Park. GEM Days continues on Friday, July 22, and Saturday, July 23 in Owatonna.