This week the New Ulm Area Foundation has announced the biggest gift it has ever received. The Mickelson Media Foundation has promised a $250,000 matching grant gift over three years, matching dollar-for-dollar contributions raised in the community. If community donations match the Mickelson challenge, a total of $500,000 will be added to the $1.2 million already in the foundation’s endowment fund.

This is a huge gift for the New Ulm Area Foundation. It would increase the endowment fund by nearly 50 percent, which would also increase the investment earnings available for grants and programs each year.

Older New Ulm residents fondly remember Walter K. Mickelson, who moved to New Ulm in 1938 to become publisher of what is now The Journal. He and his son, Walter K. “Bill Mickelson published The Journal and a number of other daily and weekly papers in southern Minnesota, branching into radio and cable television. The company sold its newspaper holdings in 1980 and moved its headquarters to Santa Fe, New Mexico, but the family has never forgotten its ties to the communities where it found its initial success.

Walt Mickelson was a tremendous proponent and supporter of New Ulm, and his family, led by his grandson Thor Mickelson, continues that tradition today with this magnificent gift to New Ulm.

We are confident New Ulm residents will show their gratitude by joining with the Mickelson family in donating funds for this matching grant challenge. Together we can add $500,000 to the Foundation to support it in its work of building a better New Ulm.