The community of Stuart in north central Nebraska gathered in early December to celebrate a challenge met and a nearly $500,000 boost to its unrestricted endowment.
The Stuart Community Foundation Fund (SCFF), an affiliated fund of Nebraska Community Foundation, received a challenge two years ago: if volunteers could raise $300,000 by the end of 2025, two generous donors would contribute $100,000. Nebraska Community Foundation further incentivized SCFF by offering to match $50,000. Siblings Brian Murphy and Nancy Stovall issued the challenge in honor of their late parents, Frank and Edith Murphy.
The Fund Advisory Committee (FAC) brought the challenge to the community, knowing that residents have a long history of working together to realize big dreams.
“Stuart is a place that once you’re here, you feel comfortable,” said FAC member Jay Wallinger. “It’s a very welcoming community. It doesn’t take long and people know your name. They wave at you on the street, and they make you feel like you want to be here.”
An additional $450,000 will increase SCFF’s unrestricted endowment beyond $2 million and further empower the community to pursue quality-of-life improvements that benefit everyone.
“The Stuart Community Foundation Fund simply exists to help support our community’s efforts in many areas,” said FAC member Jon Schmaderer. “We certainly focus on people attraction. We focus on housing. We focus on childcare.”
Brain Builders Early Childhood Center in early May of this year. The new center has the capacity to serve up to 16 infants and 35 children, offering families in and around Stuart quality care and education without having to leave the community. The SCFF advisory committee has been a strong advocate for early childhood education, including a $160,000 multi-year commitment to the center.
“The support that we have gotten from the Stuart Community Foundation Fun has been huge in just the development of this center,” said Brain Builders Director Kylie Coyle.
“Without their significant donations, we wouldn’t have had our doors open as soon as we did, and we wouldn’t be able to have all the supplies necessary for kids to do their playbased learning.”
When making grants, the FAC strives to impact all aspects of the community, from recreation to housing. Jeff Yost, NCF’s president and CEO, credits Stuart’s culture of transparency and over-communication for its continued success.
“Over the past three decades nearly every home in Stuart has been rehabilitated or newly built,” Yost said. “The local and regional economy is strong with numerous locally owned financial services, manufacturing and value-added agriculture enterprises. Ten years ago, a 67-seat 3-D movie theater was created by rehabilitating an unused downtown building. Young families are consistently moving to or staying in Stuart.”
As Stuart celebrates its most recent achievement, there’s no doubt volunteers are already preparing to make the next big dream come true.
“The neat thing about the endowment fund is it can be as nimble as we need it to be,” Wallinger said. “Because I would guess that some of our largest projects in the future are things we couldn’t even dream about today.”
