A little friendly competition never hurt anyone. For three communities located on a 13.5-mile stretch of Nebraska Highway 91, it’s making all the difference.
“If Howells can do it, we can do it,” said Justine Fischer, a local teacher and member of the Leigh Legacy Fund Advisory Committee. Fischer and her peers watched with admiration as Howells (pop. 571) transformed the success of a community-wide quasquicentennial celebration into a campaign to grow its unrestricted endowment by $750,000. Ever since, the Howells Community Fund has been making sizeable annual investments into the kind of quality-of-life initiatives that are enticing young folks and families to return.
Trent Mastny is one such returner. Since moving back, he has become a member of his local Fund Advisory Committee, a decision that recently landed him in a room of Highway 91 peers from Leigh (pop. 435) and neighboring Clarkson (pop. 641), which affiliated with the NCF network in 2024. He says that sense of competition works both ways.
“It rejuvenates us and reminds us that we need to step up and continue to improve Howells,” said Mastny.
The Leigh Legacy Fund joined the NCF network just five years ago but already has become a model, particularly for its work with local youth. Like Howells, Leigh recognized the transformational potential of a challenge grant and thankfully a group of distinguished alumni stepped up to offer $200,000 should the Fund be successful in raising another $500,000. As part of its Homegrown Challenge initiative, NCF kicked in an additional $50,000.
The opportunity unleashed the passion of fund advisory committee and community members alike, and the fund handily met its goal with no intention of stopping its efforts to grow its unrestricted endowment. With increased capacity comes more responsibility, and Leigh Legacy Fund has found an abundance of inspiration from peers across the NCF network in hometowns like Diller. Diller’s Serviceship Camp, an event designed to teach young people about the importance of giving back, inspired Leigh to create its own version. The Fund convinced dozens of local young people to return to school over the summer for a day to reflect on Leigh’s past and look to its future. As the last activity of the day, students were challenged to their own brand of friendly competition—the best pitch for a community improvement project could be rewarded with up to $5,000 to bring it to fruition.
“We truly care about what you want,” Fischer told the group of eager youngsters. “This is going to be your community someday.”
Eight miles away, the Clarkson Future Fund is quickly establishing itself as another NCF community to watch. “We’ve been fortunate that to the east and to the west of us we’ve had incredible role models to show us the power of NCF and what you can do,” said Lee Schneider, member for the Clarkson Future Fund Advisory Committee.
NCF staff members immediately connected Clarkson members with fellow community builders in Howells and Leigh. According to member Adam Cerv, they text and connect routinely.
“We’re going to have funds to use every year,” said Cerv. “We looked at what Howells did and how much they have every year, and Leigh is right behind them. We thought, we gotta get there too. And we’re going to do it. The possibilities are endless.”
