The Curious Kids Museum’s campaign to raise funds for the renovation of its new building at 601 Main Street in St. Joseph has received a boost from the Berrien Community Foundation, and it’s thanks to the BCF’s youth advisory committee.

Berrien Community Foundation President Lisa Cripps-Downey tells us TEAM, or Teens Exhibiting Able Minds, was reviewing a Curious Kids application for a $15,000 For Good Grant and had no trouble recommending it for approval.

“They all had just such incredible memories of their time there, either with their families or with school groups or when Curious Kids had come into their classrooms,” Cripps-Downey said. “They remembered it so fondly and how important that was to their childhood.”

But that’s not all. Cripps-Downey says the TEAM students offered a challenge to the BCF senior board senior with a message. What was it?

“They said, ‘Hey, if we the youth that are representing the Berrien Community Foundation are doing this, we really want to challenge the senior board and say we think this is so important to the young people in our community that if we put in $15,000, will the board match our donation?’  And the board stepped up and said absolutely agreed, that it was just a gem of our community.”

So, the Curious Kids Museum’s “Building Curiosity — Play a Part, Fund the Fun!” capital campaign is receiving a $30,000 For Good Grant from the BCF.

Cripps-Downey notes the museum right now is about halfway to raising its campaign goal of $9.2 million to renovate the former Heritage Museum and Cultural Center building. That’s after a fire damaged its longtime location at 415 Lake Boulevard in 2022. Curious Kids says the Main Street location could open in 2027 if the funding is raised.

You can learn more about the Building Curiosity — “Play a Part, Fund the Fun!” campaign right here.