It's Official! $200,000 Grant Awarded to the Gem!

Athena’s Gem, Inc. is pleased to announce a $200,000 grant award from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for renovation of the Gem Theatre/Star Saloon in Athena.

This award will serve as a match to release the funds from another $200,000.00 grant awarded in November 2013 by the Ford Family Foundation.

The project has now progressed far enough fiscally to allow construction to begin while at the same time we will continue the grant and fund raising campaign for the remainder needed to finish the project.  The groundbreaking will occur this coming summer.

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust was created in 1975 by the will of the late Melvin J. (Jack) Murdock, a co-founder of Tektronix, Inc. of Beaverton Oregon and a resident of Vancouver, Washington.  The Trust’s current assets are valued at about $800 million and over the life of the Trust more than $658 million has been distributed through 4,818 grants.  The Trust’s mission is to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants to organizations that seek to strengthen the region’s educational, cultural, and spiritual base in creative and sustainable ways.

For more information, visit them at www.Murdock-Trust.org.