The City of Minneapolis announced yesterday the awarding of $1 million in grants for “recovery of local businesses” after Operation Metro Surge. Of course, none of the money went to actual businesses, all of it was awarded to nonprofits, mostly neighborhood associations.
Curiously, one recipient receiving a taxpayer-funded grant of $35,000 was the Minneapolis Foundation, a charity which holds more than $1 billion (with a “b”) in net assets. The money seems to be flowing in the wrong direction in this instance.
Another grantee is a nonprofit named the New American Development Center (NADC), who received $18,000 from the City. If that name sounds familiar, you may have seen this March KARE-11 report under the headline,
Meal site sponsor who billed taxpayers $7.8 million received another $1 million even after the state ordered money paid back.
During the Covid period, NADC operated an independent free-food distribution site, under that same program once utilized by Feeding Our Future, and overseen by the state Dept. of Education (MDE).
NADC billed the food program $7.8 million, of which MDE determined that $1.1 million was overbilled. KARE-11 reports that NADC is in the process of paying the money back.
KARE-11 also notes that since then, the state legislature (then-all-Democrat-controlled) gave NADC an additional $1 million in grant money. Now the City of Minneapolis has thrown another $18,000 onto the pile.
Your tax dollars at work.