BB King Museum Awarded $200,000 Grant

INDIANOLA – The Foundation for the Mid South has awarded a $200,000 grant to the B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola.

The Foundation for the Mid South is a regional community foundation serving Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana. It seeks to strengthen the capacities

and resources of individuals, institutions and communities to improve the quality of life by investing in people and strategies that build philanthropy and promote racial, social and economic equity in its three-state area.

The grant will be given over two years – $100,000 this year and $100,000 in 2011. It is one of the largest grants awarded by the Foundation in years.

“We at the B.B. King Museum are pleased to receive this wonderful news, and we are grateful to the Foundation for the Mid South for supporting our mission in this generous way,” said Ann Shackelford, the museum’s

Communications Director.

Since 1990, the Foundation has helped strengthen non-profits like the B.B. King Museum, enabling them to better serve their communities.

Regional priorities of the Mid South Foundation include community development, education, health and wellness, and wealth building.

Since its opening in Sept. 2008, the Indianola museum has not only served as a catalyst for community engagement, it has spurred the development of a

number of cultural initiatives throughout the state.

The museum has become more than a place to house artifacts to celebrate and interpret history. It has become a gathering place, an incubator for ideas to enhance the community and develop the best of the Delta area.

With education a big part of the Museum’s mission, school groups continue to arrive. Just last week, busloads of students from West Tallahatchie and

Shelby school districts visited the museum. This weekend, students from a Colorado school will visit. Today, college students from Duke University and

the University of North Carolina will be at the museum.

 

After-school programs in arts and music and in health and wellness are being designed. Some already have started and are having a positive impact like the museum’s Fannie Lou Hamer Empowerment Program for young women.

The museum partners with the Indianola Chamber of Commerce and Indianola Main Street in various community events, including the annual B.B. King Homecoming, the Open Air Farmers Market and more.

The museum has a commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, and seeks to bridge cultural and racial differences here.

Since it opened, the museum has had a positive effect on the sales tax revenues in the Indianola community, and the tourism tax receipts are up by almost 12 percent while the statewide average is down almost seven percent.

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