MANKATO — Three new recipients, along with a past winner, will benefit from Mankato’s Special Event Support Grants in 2026.
A overdose awareness and prevention event, a local Juneteenth celebration and a softball tournament that draws teams from throughout North America were awarded funding by the Mankato City Council for the first time. In addition, the council is continuing its support for the late-December memorial to the Dakota men executed in Mankato in 1862.
The Mahkato Okawitaya was once again granted $2,000 for the sacred ceremony and meals recognizing the arrival of the riders on horseback from South Dakota and Nebraska, along with runners from the Twin Cities, who come to Mankato on Dec. 26 to memorialize the Dakota 38 who were hanged in the city on that date following the U.S.-Dakota war of 1862. The purpose of the annual gathering is to celebrate “healing and reconciliation between Dakota people and Minnesota communities, especially the city of Mankato,” according to the grant award approved by the council.
Three other events are new grant winners. The Greater Mankato Diversity Council is receiving $2,000 for its Juneteenth event paying homage to the day — June 19, 1865 — when “the last enslaved people in Texas learned they were free, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation,” according to the city. “It is a celebration of liberation, resilience and the enduring struggle for justice and dignity.”
Another $2,000 is supporting the Mankato Pepper Classic, described as “a premier fastpitch softball tournament showcasing top youth teams from across the nation and Canada.” The city referenced the economic impact the event provides with 90% of attendance coming from outside the Mankato area. The most recent tournament, held from July 4-6, featured nearly 80 teams from the Upper Midwest and Manitoba competing in four age divisions ranging from 18 and under to 12 and younger.
And $700 is headed to the Travis James Gustavson Foundation for its fifth annual Fentanyl Poisoning and Overdose Awareness and Prevention Day. The community event educates about the widespread damage caused by the opioid epidemic, gives parents strategies for protecting their children and makes lifesaving Narcan available. The foundation is named in honor of the 21-year-old Mankato man who died of fentanyl poisoning in 2021.
All four organizations received the full amount requested, and no other nonprofits applied for the 2026 grants, according to City Clerk Renae Kopischke, who oversees Mankato’s various community grant programs.
Mankato this year offered $7,500 for Special Event Support Grants, which aim to assist not-for-profit organizations initiate and develop new events or maintain ongoing annual events. With a total of $6,700 awarded, the unused $800 will be added to funds offered through the Community Grant Program, which supports performing arts, neighborhood beautification and social services. Those grants are to be awarded March 9.