Through its role as one of three supporting organizations, MAF will continue partnering with the Taylor Family Farms Foundation to expand the reach and long‑term impact of this philanthropic commitment.
Mankato Free Press (January 7, 2026) — MANKATO – One-time Comfrey farm boy and current Mankato billionaire Glen Taylor announced Tuesday another $100 million donation to a charitable foundation he created to benefit rural southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa.
Since the Taylor Family Farms Foundation came into existence in December 2023 with donated farmland valued at $172 million, proceeds from the land have benefited everything from Mankato’s ECHO Food Shelf to day care centers in Mapleton and Waseca to small town park and recreation facilities across southern Minnesota and northwest Iowa.
“I have received many blessings in my life and they can all be traced back to my upbringing on a farm here in southern Minnesota,” Taylor said in a written statement Tuesday. “With this latest gift, I can give back for years to come and make a positive impact on the lives of others in a region that I love so much.”
The nine-figure contributions represent the market value of farmland contributed by Taylor to his foundation, but the land is not being sold. Instead, annual rent payments by farmers who grow crops on the land is dedicated to the charitable causes supported by the foundation, meaning it will be providing ongoing support decade after decade to rural communities. The latest donation will boost the annual income for the foundation by roughly 60%.
“Perpetuity is a word we use,” said Kristin Duncanson of Mapleton, who is chair of the Taylor Family Farms Foundation Board of Directors. “So it’s a long, long-term commitment.”
The board directly issues some grants, and has thus far focused the contributions on three areas. First came support for small-town emergency services providers such as rural volunteer fire departments, helping to replace turnout gear, air tanks and other equipment. A second initiative provided grants to make small-town park and rec facilities ADA-compliant and available for all age groups, creating and renovating everything from ballfields to pickleball courts. Third, grants assisted small towns in providing child care centers to address the widespread shortage of daycare slots.
Along with those direct grants, the Taylor Family Farms Foundation relies on a trio of existing nonprofit organizations to find the best possible uses for the foundation’s annual income, Duncanson said. The St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation has special expertise in enhancing health care in rural communities, the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation has longstanding experience in boosting rural child care and the Mankato Area Foundation has a strong focus on reducing food insecurity.
The approach is somewhat unusual but allows the foundation to use existing knowledge and connections to push its resources to where they’re needed most.
“It really extends the reach to people who work in rural communities all the time,” she said.
SMIF, based in Owatonna and serving a 20-county area of southern Minnesota, offered grants of up to $30,000 in its last round of disbursements from the Taylor philanthropic endeavor. When winners were announced last month, they included nearly $30,000 for a new furnace and flooring at a Waseca women’s shelter, $26,250 to modernize a nonprofit thrift store that supports Waseca’s food shelf, and grants of various sizes to provide public access to internet and computer services in multiple small towns, including Blue Earth, Kilkenny, Hanska and the towns served by the Waseca-Le Sueur Library System.
Mankato Area Foundation CEO Nancy Zallek, who has worked with Taylor on charitable efforts for many years, said he is employing the same approach in philanthropy as he did in business: surrounding himself with people who have passion and expertise for the job and granting them freedom to do it.
“It allows us to look at the community from a 30,000-foot view and say ‘What can we do? How can we make a difference?” Zallek said. “It allows us some flexibility, and the ability to do some pretty exceptional things.”
The first round of funding for the Mankato Area Foundation totaled $300,000, and the foundation focused on supporting food programs at a time when more people were struggling to put food on the table even as state and federal cutbacks were occurring. ECHO received $200,000 for a new walk-in freezer, allowing more food to be preserved for future use there and at other food shelves in the region. Another $100,000 provided two years of funding for a new food rescue coordinator at the Region Nine Development Commission.
The person hired for the job connects food shelves with truckers who are hauling meat, produce and other foods that — for various reasons — is turned away at distribution centers. Sometimes, the loads are rejected simply because of logistical mix-ups. Other times, one portion of one pallet of produce is flawed and the entire truckload is rejected even though the vast majority of food is fine.
“That food, not just in Mankato but all over the country, goes into the landfill,” Zallek said.
Truckers now know they can call the new Region 9 employee, who is connected to food and meal programs around the region, and can get the food diverted to where it’s needed. That includes nine or 10 regional food shelves, medical clinics that have freezers to supply food to needy patients and the meal program operated out of Mankato’s Wooden Spoon bakery and restaurant.
“In the first 10 months, he saved over 100,000 pounds of food that ended up in our local food shelves,” Zallek said, adding that the value of the food approached $200,000.
The food rescue effort has been so successful that other parts of the country are looking to duplicate it, and Zallek expects Region Nine will be able to continue the position through its other partnerships with reduced support from the Taylor foundation.
Taylor indicated Tuesday that he likes the work being done in his name.
“The children and families of rural communities will always hold a special place in my heart because I have shared their experiences,” he said. “I can think of no better way to create opportunities for them than by working in partnership with these amazing nonprofit organizations.”
The decision to expand the foundation by another $100 million seems to be pretty solid proof that Taylor means what he says.
“I take that as incredibly humbling and incredibly flattering that he is entrusting us to make the kind of difference that he wants to make,” Zallek said.
Duncanson agreed: “It’s a good day.”
More information about the Taylor Family Farms Foundation is available at www.taylorfff.org.