BY RON PARKS AND MAXINE MOUL

Parks, of Papillion, and Moul, of Lincoln, are chairman and president of the Nebraska Community Foundation.

Rural Nebraska communities have much to be thankful for during this holiday season and many reasons to celebrate the generosity of their residents and former residents.

After an initial outpouring of help to the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, tragedies, many charitable organizations are reporting a decrease in donations. Newspapers across the nation report on the decreased assets of foundations and the difficulties some nonprofit campaigns are having meeting their goals.

In contrast, the rural communities served by the Nebraska Community Foundation have seen their residents respond with a renewed sense of community and commitment. While corporations, individuals and nonprofits have struggled through the economic uncertainties of the war on terrorism, corporate wrongdoing and the decline in the stock market, rural Nebraskans have been even more generous to their hometowns.

In 2001-02, donors gave more than 4,600 contributions to the Nebraska Community Foundation's affiliated funds, a 27.5 percent increase over the previous year. Distributions through those affiliated funds were more than $8.6 million, a 71 percent increase. Total distributions, over the foundation's nine-year history, now are at $27 million. Current assets of the foundation are now nearly $15 million.

Nebraskans are also making generous plans for remembering their hometowns in their wills, bequests and planned gifts. Another $12 million is expected through these avenues. With the foundation's current assets, expectancies and the money already distributed, donors have committed more than $50 million to Nebraska's hometowns, projects and programs.

But numbers are a cold way of showing the many ways Nebraskans and former Nebraskans are giving back to their state and communities.

Callaway (population 637) in central Nebraska has a new community center, with a gymnasium, an exercise room and a community meeting room. Callaway now has a place for events like school athletics, wedding receptions, reunions and auctions.

Red Cloud (population 1,131) has a $200,000 unrestricted endowment, thanks to a challenge grant from former residents and matching dollars from 98 individuals. The estate of Red Cloud native Lyndall Harris made a $60,000 donation to complete the campaign.

In Bloomfield (population 1,181), the late Robert Harm donated land in the beautiful Devil's Nest area along the Missouri River. The sale of the land resulted in $250,000 for Bloomfield, and Harm designated that $50,000 go to the Bloomfield Historical Society and its new museum in the former Carnegie library and $200,000 to the proposed agriculture center at the Knox County fairgrounds.

A new swimming pool and aquatic center is a reality in David City (population 2,597) because of a $600,000 fund-raising campaign. More than 140 individual gifts and multi-year pledges have already been received.

Two long-time residents of Wilber (population 1,527) recently each donated $500,000 toward a new swimming pool in that community. Other planned gifts and bequests have been reported for Spencer in Boyd County and Ord and Burwell in the Sand Hills.

Ord and Valley County already have received a $1.2-million bequest, from the late John and Alyce Wozab, enabling community leaders to make grants to the towns of Elyria, North Loup, Arcadia and Ord of more than $50,000 per year.

The 150 affiliated funds of the Nebraska Community Foundation include 79 that are community-based and dedicated to improving the quality of life in those rural towns. Efforts to raise permanent endowments are going on in 52 of those communities. Collectively, the affiliated funds of the Nebraska Community Foundation now have $7.1 million in permanent investments.

There is much to celebrate in Nebraska because of the hard work of community leaders and the generosity of Nebraskans and former Nebraskans to their hometowns.