IYI & BBF: More Than Two Decades of Strengthening Youth-Serving Nonprofits
For more than 20 years, Ball Brothers Foundation has partnered with Indiana Youth Institute (IYI) to help youth-serving nonprofit organizations build their organizational capacity and increase their long-term effectiveness.
Now in its twenty-fourth year, the “East Central Indiana Consulting Grant” provides selected organizations with customized consulting services designed to strengthen leadership, governance, fundraising, strategic planning, communications, and other aspects of organizational capacity.
BBF 100: Marking Nearly a Century of Support for Camp Crosley
On the shores of Lake Little Tippecanoe, surrounded by hundreds of acres of woodlands, wetlands, and open water, Camp Crosley has been helping young people discover adventure, independence, and belonging for more than a century.
A Century of Supporting Teaching and Learning: Ball State University and Burris Laboratory School
Ball Brothers Foundation’s support for education in Muncie is deeply connected to the origins of Ball State University and the Ball family’s long-standing belief in the importance of teacher preparation and public education.
In 1917, after community efforts to sustain a struggling private college failed, the Ball brothers purchased the land and buildings of the institution and donated them to the State of Indiana.
White River Boulevard and Minnetrista Boulevard: A Gathering Place by the Water
Minnetrista Boulevard’s history goes back long before Muncie was founded, stretching back thousands of years.
Archaeological evidence suggests Native Americans lived along the north bend of the White River, between present-day Wheeling and Walnut streets, for thousands of years.
BBF 100: Historical Ties to Ivy Tech Muncie
As a private foundation, Ball Brothers Foundation has maintained a long-standing partnership with Ivy Tech Community College, supporting programs aligned with workforce development and higher education. Over the years, this has included funding for the startup of new academic programs designed to meet regional workforce needs.
BBF 100: Historical Ties to Cardinal Greenways
Cardinal Greenways began in the early 1990s as a community-led effort to transform an abandoned railroad corridor into a regional trail connecting East Central Indiana. Incorporated as a nonprofit in 1993, Cardinal Greenways purchased miles of former rail line and began building what would become Indiana’s longest rail-trail, with the first trail segment opening from Prairie Creek Reservoir to the Wysor Street Depot Muncie in the late 1990s.
BBF 100: Historical Ties to Ball Memorial Hospital
Ball Memorial Hospital’s story is closely tied to the Ball family’s long-standing connection to East Central Indiana. In the early 1900s, members of the Ball family recognized the growing need for a public hospital in Muncie—a need that expanded as the community grew. In the early 1920s, Edmund Ball committed to helping fund a new hospital once state authorization was secured.
BBF 100: Historical Ties to YMCA of Muncie
The relationship between the Ball family and the YMCA of Muncie spans more than a century—deeply rooted in a shared belief in the power of community, character, and opportunity. For decades, community leaders hoped for a more permanent facility. In 1911, the Ball brothers pledged funds toward a new YMCA building, encouraging the community to raise an additional $50,000 to bring the project to life.