Grant offers emergency relief

Friday, February 20, 2009

An emergency relief grant fund designed to help organizations in Greater Nebraska meet essential human needs in 2009 will be a source of help in Southwest Nebraska. The McCook Community Foundation has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation which will be allocated to several organizations, helping provide essential needs to hundreds of people in the McCook area during this economic downturn.

Specifically, these grant funds will be used to help provide food, heating and energy assistance to those in need in Southwest Nebraska in the next few months.

With recent layoffs and rising food and energy prices, Southwest Nebraska is experiencing a growing number of individuals and families finding it difficult to make ends meet. The Peter Kiewit Foundation, based in Omaha and widely known for its support of children and families in Nebraska, has recognized this need and has chosen the McCook Community Foundation as the organization to ensure that these grant funds reach those struggling to meet these basic needs in the McCook area.

The McCook Community Foundation will work with four local organizations to help those impacted by the national economic turmoil. These organizations will include the McCook Pantry, Inc. which is currently providing an average of 50 families per week with food supplies.

The Share the Heat Program works in collaboration with Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska to provide energy assistance needs. Last year approximately 372 families received assistance and the organization is seeing additional requests for assistance this year.

The United Methodist Church's Thursday Night Supper Program began in 2005 and at that time only served one meal per month. In 2008 an average of 90 people per week were served a hot meal. As with the other charitable services collaborating in this effort, the Thursday Night Supper program continues to grow as the national recession deepens.

Finally, the Community Action Partnership's Commodity Supplemental Food Program delivers nutritional commodities to improve the health of low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, other new mothers up to one year postpartum, infants, children up to age six, and elderly people at least 60 years of age. These commodities are delivered six times per year. Kiewit Foundation funds will be used to help offset fuel costs from CSFP's deliveries.

If you are in need of assistance in one of these areas, please contact one of the four service providers referred to above or contact Lindsey Foster, Administrative Assistant for the McCook Community Foundation at foundation@mccookne.org.

McCook Community Foundation through its affiliation with the Nebraska Community Foundation, receives tax deductible charitable donations to fund numerous community betterment projects in McCook and the surrounding area. Don Harpst, Chairman of the McCook Community Foundation, would like to acknowledge and thank the organization's annual donors who make community betterment activities like this possible. He also appreciates the support from the Peter Kiewit Foundation which is making such a great positive difference in the lives of those they touch across Nebraska. If you would like to learn more about how the McCook Community Foundation is positively affecting lives in Southwest Nebraska, please visit MCF's Web site at www.mccookcf.org.

If you would like to contribute to this effort or help the McCook Community Foundation continue to further its charitable work in the McCook area, contributions can be sent to the McCook Community Foundation, P. O. Box 36, McCook, NE 69001-0036.

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