2023 Recipients

Buffalo County Community Partners – $8,000

MHFA Train the Trainer Training for Spanish speakers is an evidence based practice designed to improve mental health literacy though an interactive 8-hour training for persons who are experiencing a mental health challenge or is in crisis. Wellness Recovery Action Plan is a personalized wellness and recovery system through a peer-led and peer-engaged group process that will focus on primarily Spanish speaking household living in Kearney.

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Buffalo County Historical Society/Trails & Rails Museum – $5,000

Host events to celebrate Kearney's 150th celebration, including hosting a huge party downtown, publishing a Sesquicentennial Book with family histories and the community’s most recent history, bringing two traveling exhibits available to the public for free, and hosting a vintage baseball game with Stuhr Museum in Kearney to coincide with the 150th.

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City of Gibbon – $25,000

Renovate approximately 6,000 square feet of an existing building to create a Gibbon Community Center.

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Classic Car Collection – $2,000

Replace the 11-year-old camera/surveillance system in the museum.

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Crossroads Center – $20,000

Renovate the kitchen at Kearney Crossroads Mission Avenue into a commercial kitchen.

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Elm Creek Public Schools – $10,000

Build a greenhouse to support the school's agricultural education program.

Kearney Rescue Cats – $2,000

Assist area mobile home neighborhoods dealing with a high number of feral cats by trapping, neutering or spaying, vaccinating, & returning cats to their original location. This improves the lives of the cats, reduces population growth, and makes the area safer for pets, children and adults. Trapped cats are tested for diseases prior to returning to their feral colonies. Tame cats and kittens will be fostered by volunteers & placed for adoption.

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Museum of Nebraska Art – $10,000

Build a new interactive gallery that provides a safe and welcoming environment for learners of all abilities to engage and explore art related topics.

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Ravenna Trap – $1,500

Build a covered structure with a cement floor to protect spectators and equipment from the weather elements and for an electronic microphone.

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Two Rivers Public Health Department – $5,000

LifeSmiles Dental Program provides preventive dental screenings, education, early childhood starter kits, fluoride treatments, tooth sealants, Silver Diamine Fluoride treatments, and dental health guidance to parents in preschools, Head Start, schools, and WIC clinics, The primary goals are prevention, education, empowering parents to create and maintain positive habits, and ensuring children establish a dental home with a local dentist before the dental disease can develop.

2022 Recipients

City of Ravenna – $5,000

Additional funding for work that is going into creating the Ravenna Hike & Bike Trail.

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Crossroads Mission Avenue – $5,000

Replace aging, poorly functioning refrigeration units with new commercial reach-in refrigerator and freezer to provide healthy, nutritious food products to the homeless and needy in Kearney.

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Kearney Family YMCA – $20,000

Capital Campaign for their remodel and expansion to better serve the community.

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McKenna's Rae of Hope Foundation – $10,000

Law Enforcement Peer Support training to provide officers with an outlet to relieve their stressors and Law Enforcement Resiliency training to provide tools for officer mental health wellness.

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Pleasanton Agriculture Department (Pleasanton High School) – $5,000

Operation GROW is intended to fulfill a community need of establishing an educational component through Agriculture Education to construct a greenhouse and a community garden as part of the project.

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Ravenna Public Library – $5,000

Create a music garden located in the front of the library. 

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Shelton Public Library Friends– $10,000
Fund new flooring in the library building to improve the environment for library patrons.

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