We’ve all heard the expression: “I’m not trying to solve world hunger here; I’m just trying to …” Hunger. It’s an issue so pervasive and complex—widespread and close to home; ageless yet ever-changing— that it’s become the epitome of unsolvable problems in our everyday speech. Hunger can be as painfully obvious as famine in a third-world country, or as clandestine as the kids next door counting on the local school lunch program for their main source of nourishment. The numbers [...]

GOD’S CHILD’s Business Advice for any Nonprofit By Lisa Jackson, Today’s Giving The GOD’S CHILD Project is an impressive organization. It is an educational-development nonprofit dedicated to “breaking the chains of poverty through education and formation.” That’s a simple explanation, but fully defining what they do would take writing a small book. Since its founding by Patrick Atkinson in 1991, the organization has grown into more than 17 distinct programs worldwide dedicated to making sustainable and permanent positive changes in education. [...]

The statistics are startling and shine a light on the glaring reality of the ugly, often hidden truth about domestic violence in America: One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime1. Eighty-five percent of domestic violence victims are women2 and an estimated 1.3 million are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year3. Every day in the U.S. more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends; about one-third of all female [...]

Many things about our part of the country are special, including the genuine people –most of whom go by, “do what you say and say what you do.” The work ethic is unparalleled and our land includes some of the most beautiful rolling plains that are home to wildlife and many outdoor activities. The combination of these demographics gives rise to a special way of life and truly remarkable accomplishments. Last year at the Fargodome’s annual sportsman show, while my [...]

Combating cancer can take the wind from the sails of even the fittest, including avid athletes. World-renown cyclist Lance Armstrong knows. By age 25, he had already won the World Championships, the Tour Du Pont and multiple Tour de France races. But within a year (in 1996) he found that his biggest challenge had become beating cancer. Armstrong took an active and competitive approach to fighting his opponent—not just for himself, but for all cancer patients and survivors.  In 1997, [...]

Associate degrees from technical, two-year and state colleges help fulfill region’s needs By Shannon Schweigert, Today’s Giving North Dakota State College of Science (NDSCS) president Dr. John Richman is leading a charge to help reverse decades of “incomplete” messages to North Dakota’s youth touting success as a destiny that requires them to “get off the farm, leave your hometown, get a four-year degree and move out of state.” Those long-held beliefs obscure the opportunities available through the quality, well-paying careers [...]

State university system grades are high on national curve for return on funding Over the past decade, the decreasing power of the U.S. dollar and the increasing costs of a college education has left parents and students worried about how they’ll bare the financial burden of postsecondary education. In the meantime, complex legislation at both the state and national level presents an annual struggle with the challenges of appropriating funding across all sectors of the economy.  But those on the [...]

by Kate Henne, Today’s Giving Society. Economy. Technology. Diversity. Across the multitude of factors that affect primary and secondary school needs across the nation, the only constant is change itself.  While the economic downturn of recent years has strained funding for kids in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12), it’s by no means the only budget challenge, and both public and private schools are increasingly trying to meet growing demands with shrinking resources. A study of U.S. students ages 16-18 between [...]

Special feature by Father James P. Shea, President, University of Mary in Bismarck The English writer G.K. Chesterton called education “simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” Those of us who serve in colleges and universities are right to concern ourselves with quality career preparation and great job placement for our students. We do pass along skill and competence. But we should also pass along “soul,” and education falls short unless it attends [...]

Students Help Inspire Economic Development and Dreams through NDSU Project By Lisa Jackson, Today’s Giving “If you build it, they will come.”  The Enchanted Highway, Regent, North Dakota is also a story about a field of dreams. Big, metal, economic-development dreams. The first sculpture on Highway 5 began with sparks off steel, donated metal and over three dozen farmers. Gary Greff, who had never been an artist or a welder prior to 1989, created and built the first metal sculpture, [...]