| 
|
Published Nov
12 2000 6:43:00:000PM
Foundation Begins
Challenge Legacies for Project Grants
BY PAUL HAMMEL
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
Lincoln - As a 7-year-old orphan, a boy named James was loaded on the
train in New York City in 1923. A note pinned to his jacket read:
"Off in Omaha. Deliver to Peter W. and Bessie Fischer."
The orphan, James Fischer, never forgot his adopted home of Tekamah,
Neb., even after he grew up and moved away to California.
When he died in 1998, Fischer left about $2 million to the eastern Nebraska community, money that will help build a new Catholic church,
operate the county museum and provide new ballfields for kids in
Tekamah.
A statewide foundation is now hoping to find others like James Fischer
to help fund projects in other towns.
Friday, the Nebraska Community Foundation announced a goal of forming
self-perpetuating endowments of at least $200,000 in small communities
across the state. Income from the endowments would be used for community
betterment grants in those towns.
Maxine Moul, the president of the Community Foundation, said that such
grants can make "a world of difference" in the quality of life
of a small community by making previously unaffordable projects a
reality.
"It can help change the attitude of a small community," Moul
said.
The new effort, called the "Nebraska Legacy Challenge," was
announced at the new Lake McConaughy Visitors Center near Ogallala, Neb.
The foundation plans to provide matching "challenge" grants of
$100,000 to as many small towns as possible over the next five years to
get local endowments started. The challenge grant funds would be
provided by donations from corporations, foundations or individuals.
Local donations or bequests would then be sought to match that.
Albion rancher and businessman Jim Wolf, the chairman of the state community foundation, and his wife, Elaine, have issued the first
challenge grant of $100,000 to establish an endowment in the Boone and
Wheeler Counties area.
The idea, said Moul, is to help small communities by tapping into the estimated $100 billion in wealth that is expected to be transferred from
generation to generation in Nebraska's rural areas over the next 50
years.
Getting only a small portion of that money willed to community
foundations or endowments would mean millions for small-town betterment,
Moul said.
"We're hoping to find people who lived their whole lives in a
community or those who left town or left the state and still have very,
very strong feelings for it," she said.
Like James Fischer.
He moved away from Tekamah after serving in the Navy in World War II. He
settled in San Marino, Calif., where he ran a successful travel agency.
He never married. When he visited Tekamah, he would visit his boyhood
church, St. Patrick's, and the Burt County Historical Museum.
When he died, he gave both institutions large gifts, as well as a
$660,000 bequest to the City of Tekamah.
"He made sure he sent money back to benefit the Tekamah people
because he has such wonderful memories of living here," said Velma
Cooper of Tekamah.
The city's share of Fischer's gift became an endowment, which provides
about $50,000 a year in income for local projects.
Tekamah City Clerk Linda Spenner said one $30,000 grant from the
endowment has helped install new lights and dugouts at local youth
ballfields. Another grant is currently being considered for a
skateboard park and for other new youth activities in town.
"There will be a lot of projects done," Spenner said.
"They are things that were just wish-list items in the past because the money was not
there before."
Valley County, in central Nebraska, has a similar endowment program. It
started with a $1.25 million gift from a local couple and provided
$54,000 in grants this June.
Moul said that South Dakota and Arkansas also have launched efforts to
build community endowment funds in their states.
The Nebraska Community Foundation, begun in 1993, manages affiliated
funds for 170 communities across Nebraska and has distributed $13
million for betterment projects through those funds.
For more information about the Legacy Challenge, call the foundation at
(402) 323-7330.
Return
to TOP
Return
to Nebraska Legacy Challenge
Return
to Nebraska Community Foundation HOME
|
