A couple from Fort Pierre has fulfilled their commitment to give $1-million to an endowment held by the South Dakota Community Foundation.
Gary and Connie Grittner intended to pay into their endowment fund over a 10-year period. Seven years later (Oct. 26, 2019), the Grittners delivered the final payment of the $1-million pledge.
SDCF President Stephanie Judson says Gary and Connie have been generous and thoughtful members of the Pierre and Fort Pierre communities since they retired here from the suburbs of Washington, DC, nearly 16 years ago. She says the Grittner’s investment in the SDCF will leave a lasting legacy.
Priorities of the Grittner’s giving include: summer camp tuition at the South Dakota School of Mines for high school STEM students; monthly books for Stanley and Hughes County children from birth to age five through the United Way and the Dolly Parton Imagination Library; a laser cutting machine for a high school engineering classroom; the first fort in Fort Pierre in 150 years; a matching grant for STEM projects at a middle school; a sponsorship of four bronze statues in the Pierre Trail of Governors; matching grants to the Greater Lyman Foundation; a contribution to rehabilitate the Pat Duffy Community Center in Fort Pierre; and support to rehabilitate the 1906 train depot in Fort Pierre.
