By TODD GOTTULA
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – Seven nonprofits in central Nebraska are receiving a total of $10,000 in grant money as part of a Helping Humanity class project at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
The class — Marketing 388, “Philanthropy: Learning to Give” — received the grant from the Learning by Giving Foundation. On Wednesday, UNK students named the nonprofit organizations that received grants ranging from $500 to $2,000. More than 30 organizations from Buffalo, Hall and Adams counties applied for the grants.
Grant recipients, their service areas, amounts received and programs the money will be used for include:
- Families Care, Kearney/Grand Island/Broken Bow — $2,000 to provide children in low-income households with backpacks, school supplies and clean undergarments.
- Arc of Buffalo County, Buffalo County — $2,000 for Arc KidZone Respite evenings, Teens in Action programs and one-on-one support for Kearney Inclusive Recreation Project that serves young adults, teens and children with developmental disabilities.
- Buffalo County Community Partners, Buffalo County — $2,000 to educate caregivers, students and others about Alzheimer’s disease and strategies that can improve the lives of affected individuals and families.
- Nebraska Children’s Home Society, Tri-Cities — $2,000 for Pregnancy Navigators program that targets low-income pregnant women, with the primary focus of ensuring that healthy babies are born to women with unplanned pregnancies.
- Crane River Theater Co., Tri-Cities — $1,000 for children’s theater production workshops.
- Grand Island Literacy Council, Grand Island — $500 to teach English and literacy skills for free to low-income populations.
- Rowe Sanctuary, Tri-Cities — $500 for CPR, first aid and automated external defibrillator training for staff and volunteers.
This is the third year the UNK class distributed funds to area nonprofits. The annual class project allows junior- and senior-level students to learn the importance and process of philanthropy, said UNK Marketing Professor Sri Seshadri.
“I am absolutely ecstatic for our students who were engaged deeply in this semester-long multifaceted learning activity on philanthropy,” Seshadri said. “I am fortunate to be able to provide UNK students this wonderful opportunity to help local nonprofits in the pursuit of their mission to help those in need. I and my students are most thankful to the Learning by Giving Foundation for providing the funds to make this happen.”
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Source: Sri Seshadri, seshadris@unk.edu, 308.865.8190
Writer: Todd Gottula, gottulatm@unk.edu, 308.865.8454
LEARNING BY GIVING FOUNDATION
The Learning by Giving Foundation seeks to advance the next generation’s understanding of philanthropy by providing the financial, technological, and intellectual tools to experience community impact and to make that knowledge widely accessible through an online forum.