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November
17, 2003 Nebraska Communities Honored for Charitable Giving Efforts Lincoln—The communities of Mullen, Plattsmouth, Keith County, McCook and Wayne and Consolidated Companies of Lincoln were honored for their work with the Nebraska Community Foundation at its annual banquet in Lincoln Thursday, November 13. The Mullen Area Community Foundation was named the Nebraska Community Foundation’s New Affiliate Fund of the Year. It began its charitable giving work in June 2003. The town of 600 and the county seat of Hooker County is one of the communities implementing the Hometown Competitiveness Program. HTC is a comprehensive economic development strategy developed and offered by the Nebraska Community Foundation, the Heartland Center for Leadership Development and the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. Mullen is working in several areas, including building an unrestricted endowment, business transfer, business startup and development and entrepreneurial training with high school students, focusing on youth retention. Representing the Mullen fund were Ron Boyer, chairman; Larry Ridenour, vice chairman; and Kirk Jacobs, treasurer, and his wife Jodi. The Keith County Community Foundation is the second Nebraska Community Foundation affiliated fund to successfully match a $100,000 challenge grant under the Foundation’s Legacy Challenge program. In honor of their parents, Keith county natives Mary Lynn and Larry Callen offered a $100,000 challenge to the Keith County Community Foundation to create an unrestricted endowment to benefit Keith County now and for generations to come. The goal was to match the challenge 3 to 1. A Legacy Committee of five volunteers was formed, a timeline was set and in four short months, 71 individuals, businesses and clubs made donations and pledges over the next five years to accomplish the goal. Total amount raised was $329,410. Receiving the award were Pete Peterson, Bev Pollock and Jack Pollock, three of the Legacy Committee members, on behalf of the Keith County Community Foundation. The Plattsmouth Fund was recognized as the best existing fund, for exemplifying several of the best practices that the Nebraska Community Foundation shares with the rest of its 169 affiliated funds. Established in 2000, they already have an impressive track record. They have an active board of community leaders who have been strategically chosen. They have assisted 10 community betterment projects in Plattsmouth; are building an unrestricted endowment, which has a current balance of $199,000; and made the first grants, totaling $9,000, from the earnings on this endowment a few weeks ago during a highly publicized event. Accepting the award on behalf of the Plattsmouth fund were chairman Mike Schuldt; Ross and Alison Barnes; Barbara and Tom Davenport; Roy Newton; Jerome and Mary Reinholt; William and Pam Reinsch; and Judy and Keith Roby. Grassroots, community-based, and from the bottom-up are fitting phrases for the work of the McCook Community Foundation Fund, according to Nebraska Community Foundation President and CEO, Jeff Yost, who presented the endowment-building award to the McCook fund. Eight community leaders have dedicated themselves to building a community foundation and an unrestricted endowment fund in which nearly every current and former resident can participate. For $1,000, anyone can become a Founder of the McCook Community Foundation. Over the last two years, 41 families or business have become Founders; and more are still signing up. Founders Clubs are a wonderful model to spur on community-wide philanthropy and make sense in any community of any size, Yost said. Founded in 1999, the McCook Community Foundation Fund is now a community-wide umbrella containing seven separate accounts. With causes ranging from the Senior Center to the Concert Association to Heritage Square to the “Cool the School” campaign, this vehicle has become a well-known tool for getting projects completed and to spur on charitable giving. The McCook Community Foundation has already reinvested nearly $50,000 and is just getting started. The award was presented to Mark Graff and Susie Harris Bloomfield of McCook. The Wayne Community Foundation affiliated fund was recognized for the best completed project. The Wayne Community Activities Center was built in 2003 after six hard years of work. This $4.2 million state-of-the-art facility was financed by combining municipal bonds (funded by a local option sales tax), a community development block grant and charitable gifts. At nearly 27,000 square feet, it contains a community room, a youth center, a fitness center and a 20,000 square foot gymnasium. The local committee is now embarking on an endowment campaign to raise $1 million to fund the estimated $50,000 operating requirements. Brian Thompson, General Manager of Consolidated Companies of Lincoln, received the award for corporate partnership for his company, which provides telephone, high-speed internet and cable to 29 communities in central and western Nebraska. A year ago, Consolidated entered into a partnership with the Nebraska Community Foundation to attempt to spur on charitable giving in the communities they serve. This partnership includes helping the Foundation fund its development staff, dedicating key leaders from its organization to lead and organize local efforts, and providing five $15,000 challenge grants to some of its communities to catalyze the building of community-based unrestricted endowment funds. The medical clinic in Dunning is a reality today because Consolidated led the way in supporting the effort and providing the technology to allow medical personnel to staff the clinic while connecting to their offices in Broken Bow. That project is a great example of the power of partnerships, according to Yost. A new Legacy Society for the Foundation and its members was introduced at the banquet. The Society recognizes donors who have made cumulative, lifetime gifts of $100,000 or more or who have made planned gifts through their wills, a beneficiary designation or a life income gift. Rick Foster, a program officer of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, was a guest speaker. The Kellogg Foundation recently awarded the Nebraska Community Foundation a two-year, $100,0000 per year grant, for development and training services to affiliated funds. At the Foundation’s board of directors annual meeting on Friday, officers were elected, new affiliated funds were accepted and new board members were elected. Re-elected to an additional one-year term were Ron Parks of Papillion, chairman; Kathy Thuman of Maywood, vice-chair; Beverly Pollock of Ogallala, secretary; and Mark Graff of McCook, treasurer. Immediate past chair is Frank Sibert of Valentine. Staff and officers are Jeff Yost, President and CEO, and Maxine Moul of Lincoln, President Emeritus. New board members are Bob Kathol of Omaha, Beth Klosterman of David City and Pete Peterson of Ogallala. Rodrigo Lopez of Omaha was elected as an honorary board member. New funds accepted by the Foundation board were community funds for Carroll and Naper; the Badstieber Trust Donor-Advised Fund from the estate of a Columbus resident to endow scholarships to blind or visually handicapped student and to benefit the Columbus Humane Society; and for the EndowNebraska effort to support building endowments for Nebraska non-profits. The Nebraska Community Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization that provides financial management, strategic development and education/training services to communities, organizations and donors throughout Nebraska. It was incorporated in August 1993 and received its 501(C)(3) charitable foundation status from the Internal Revenue Service in 1994. It accepted its first affiliated funds in 1994 and now has 169 affiliated funds operating in 72 of the state’s 93 counties. For more information, please contact Jeff Yost, President and CEO of the Nebraska Community Foundation, at 402-323-7332 or e-mail him at jeffyost@nebcommfound.org. Return to TOP |
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Nebraska Community Foundation PO Box 83107 Lincoln, NE 68501 Phone: (402) 323-7330 Fax: (402) 323-7349 E-mail: webmaster@nebcommfound.org |
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