Seven area nonprofits were recently awarded grants totaling nearly $200,000 during the Fremont Area Community Foundation’s first competitive grant cycle of 2025. Grants were awarded to the following nonprofits and projects:
- Care Corps’ LifeHouse. $47,000 to help shore up its food pantry;
- Community Action Partnership of Lancaster/Saunders Counties. $5,000 to fund a needs assessment to improve resource allocation and support in Saunders County;
- Douglas County (DC) West Parent-Teacher-Student Association. $10,000 to support the construction of an inclusive playground at the DC West Elementary School;
- Fremont Family YMCA. $25,000 to support efforts to identify and secure a sustainable future for the YMCA, the largest childcare provider in the Fremont area;
- Fremont Rural Fire Department. $10,558 to provide 24 state-of-the-art portable radios, enhancing interoperability with other agencies and ensuring seamless communication during multi-jurisdictional emergencies;
- Lutheran Family Services. Up to $50,000 to expand access to crisis coordinators and peer responders for the Fremont Police Department and Dodge County Sheriff’s Office;
- Midland University. $50,000 to resurface the 200-meter track at MU’s Heedum Field, enabling it to host the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Track & Field Championships in the Spring of 2026.
FACF’s quarterly 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 legacy 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 quality of life in the Fremont area, today and in the future; and
- Fremont Forever Friends who have created the following unrestricted endowment funds: Keith & Linda Chapman Fund, Tanya and Blake Dillon Family Endowment 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, RVR Bank Giving Fund, Darlene G. Saeger Charitable Fund, Neil and Bonnie Schilke Endowment Fund, Wikert Endowment Fund, and Tom and Deanna Wolf Endowment Fund.
“The foundation is blessed and grateful to be able to support these organizations,” Fremont Area Community Foundation Executive Director Melissa Diers said. “We couldn’t do it without the support of many in our community who entrust us with their charitable dollars so we can strategically address the evolving needs and opportunities of the Fremont area.”
