Gilchrist Supports Siouxland Freedom Park
Siouxland Freedom Park in South Sioux City is closer to finishing its new interpretive center thanks to some generous donors and a challenge grant by the Gilchrist Foundation.
This fall, the organization held its first Freedom Ball to raise funds for the project. More than $240,000 was raised, including a $50,000 challenge match grant by the Gilchrist Foundation, to help create and construct the exhibits that will be placed in the new Brigadier General Bud and Doris Day Interpretive Center, scheduled to open in Fall 2022. Exhibit funding is part of Phase 3 of the project which has a goal to raise approximately $400,000. Fundraising will continue into 2022.
The 5,000-square-foot Interpretive Center will be home to interactive displays, memorabilia and exhibits from all conflicts of war where United States’ soldiers fought. The goal of the Interpretive Center is to educate and empower visitors while paying tribute to those who have served.
About Siouxland Freedom Park
The idea for the Siouxland Freedom Park came after South Sioux City hosted the traveling Vietnam Wall that Heals in October of 2007. In 2011, a group of veterans and community members began to design and fundraise for a regional park. Donations consisted of school children dropping off quarters in a bucket to large businesses donating thousands of dollars. The organization notes that individual donations to the park accounted for the $1.6 million needed for Phase I of its funding.
The half-scale replica exhibit of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Wall was erected on May 28, 2014. The wall is part of Phase I of the project for Siouxland Freedom Park which also includes building the structure for the Interpretive Center, the John Douangdara Memorial Dog Park, the 150-foot flag pole featuring a 30’x60′ U.S. Flag, trails and exterior lighting.
Phase 2 of the project included raising $400,000 to complete the inside construction of the Brigadier General Bud and Doris Day Interpretive Center, which held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Veterans Day 2021.
About The Gilchrist Foundation
The Gilchrist Foundation is proud to support the Siouxland Freedom Park. The park’s mission to educate the public on the role the American military plays in preserving American’s freedom, oral histories of those who served, and a healing place for reflection and contemplation, aligns with the Foundation’s interests. Established by Jocelyn Gilchrist in December 1998, the Gilchrist Foundation has supported numerous nonprofit organizations across Siouxland. The Foundation gives more than a million dollars annually each to organizations whose interests match that of Foundations including wildlife and conservation, the arts and public broadcasting and disaster relief.
Organizations whose interests align with the Foundation are encouraged to investigate how to apply for a grant.