FREMONT, NE – Six area nonprofits were recently awarded grants totaling $87,500 during the Fremont Area Community Foundation’s third competitive grant cycle of 2024. Grants were awarded to the following nonprofits and projects:

• CASA of the Midlands. $30,000 to help the organization fulfill their mission of providing best interest advocacy for children under the supervision of the court. Due to unforeseen circumstances, their federal government funding was decreased by 40% last year and this year.
• Cuming County Fair Foundation. $15,000 for a new livestock building that was needed to replace multiple livestock buildings that needed to be demolished;
• DAV Joseph C.H. Bales Chapter #18. $15,000 for improvements to the DAV facility that will continue to serve many individuals in the community who have served in the armed forces.
• Midland University. $7,500 to support the Moller Field improvements, including the addition of handrails in the grandstand and new benches, bat and helmet racks in the dugouts.
• Heartland Workers Center. $10,000 to continue literacy classes for English language learners (ELL), provide interpreter support for the community, and facilitate customized ELL and Spanish classes on location at area businesses to minimize communication barriers;
• The Set Me Free Project. $10,000 to help train Fremont Public School educators and staff on the Ready to Stand Curriculum, a human trafficking prevention education, so they can facilitate prevention training in their classrooms.

FACF competitive grants are funded in part by:

• The Lester Walker Fund, which provides grant funding to 501(c)3 organizations in the Fremont area for civic, cultural, educational, health and welfare purposes, and honors the life and philanthropy of the late Lester A. Walker, former owner and publisher of the Fremont Tribune,
• The Fremont Forever Fund, the foundation’s unrestricted endowment fund which transcends generations to support the improvement of the quality of life in our community, today and in the future, and
• Fremont Forever Friends who have created the following unrestricted endowment funds: Tanya and Blake Dillon Family Endowment Fund, RVR Bank Giving Fund, Todd and Shannon Hansen Family Endowment Fund, Libby and John Headid Endowment Fund, Robert and Dian Hillis Endowment Fund, Roger and Pam Pannier Charitable Fund, Peg and Steve Pribnow Family Fund, Neil and Bonnie Schilke Endowment Fund, Wikert Endowment Fund, Tom and Deanna Wolf Endowment Fund.

“The foundation is blessed and grateful to be able to support these organizations,” said Melissa Diers, Executive Director of the Fremont Area Community Foundation. “We couldn’t do it without the support of many in our community who entrust us to carry out their charitable goals.”

Founded in 1980 with a single estate gift, the Fremont Area Community Foundation connects donors, nonprofits and community leaders to address the needs of the community, creating positive local impact. Over the life of the foundation so far, more than $40 million has been distributed throughout Fremont and the greater Dodge County area in the form of scholarships and grants in five areas of interest including arts and culture, civic improvement, education, health and recreation, and social services. The foundation currently administers approximately $34 million in community assets.

The next deadline for competitive grant applications is October 1st. For more information or an application, visit www.facfoundation.org or call 402-721-4252.

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