ARC of Lincoln/Lancaster County — $15,000 General operating support for this agency that serves people with developmental disabilities and their families, including individual advocacy services, family support and respite programs, and supportive housing. Asian Community & Cultural Center — $20,000 Support for staff members of the Family Resource and Senior Programs. Bright Lights — $20,500 Support for the new position of Fundraising Coordinator and for website upgrades for Bright Lights, a summer learning program that serves over 1,800 students with 110 week-long classes and nine day camps. Center for People in Need — $5,000 Support for the Nebraska Truckloads of Help program providing new, donated merchandise from national retailers. This program provides the donated items to over 225 human services, non-profit agencies across the state at no charge. The merchandise, including personal care items, clothing, and cleaning supplies, is then distributed directly to disadvantaged populations across the state by the agencies that serve them. Clyde Malone Community Center — $30,000 Third-year operating support for this organization that serves Lincoln's diverse and evolving community through educational, social, recreational and cultural programming for youth and families. Community CROPS — $16,000 General operating support for this organization that works to improve food security and provide economic opportunities for refugee, immigrant and low-income families in Lincoln through the Community Garden Network and the Urban Farmers Pilot Project. Community Services Fund — $3,500 Support for the annual campaign of this fundraising coalition of 24 Nebraska nonprofit organizations. Eastmont Towers Foundation — $200 Memorials in honor of Leora McGrew and Brad Knudsen. El Centro de las Americas — $30,000 Support for salary costs and for accounting services in 2008. El Centro de las Americas, co-located with the Clyde Malone Community Center, works to enhance the lives of the diverse Latino community in Lincoln through education, supportive services, and cultural programs. Foundation Center — $2,750 General operation support of the Center’s mission to strengthen the nonprofit sector by advancing knowledge about philanthropy in the United States. Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools — $25,000 Second-year support for the Great Schools … Forever! campaign of the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools, to enhance reading, math and science programs, expand opportunities for low-income students and families, and to provide additional resources to schools and teachers so every student has a superb learning environment. Friendship Home — $30,000 Short-term mental health counseling services for women in shelter. Grant Managers Network, Inc., Metairie, LA — $750 General support for this organization that provides education and research on best practices in grantmaking and philanthropy. Grantmakers in the Arts — $500 Support for the 2008 Grantmakers in the Arts conference. Groundwater Foundation — $16,849 Support for executive leadership transition, board development and enhanced financial operations. Haydon Art Center — $10,000 Support for the salary of the Program Manager and funding to complete an audit. Haymarket Theatre — $5,000 General operating support. Houses of Hope — $36,950 Support for upgraded technology to enhance staff efficiency and data security for Houses of Hope, which provides case management, transitional housing and a supportive environment for those are recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. Legal Aid of Nebraska — $5,000 Support to increase delivery of legal services to low-income people in Lancaster County in 2008-09. Lincoln Children's Zoo — $25,000 Support for updated technology to enhance fundraising and development efforts. Lincoln Literacy Council — $25,000 Support for the English Language Academy, a program to provide English language instruction for refugees and immigrants and their children through a network of community partnerships. Lincoln Public Schools — $4,900 Support to organize and host a Climate Change Student Summit for sixth grade students in Lincoln. Lincoln Public Schools, Elliott Elementary School — $3,320 For the original production of “The Who that Horton Heard” for students at Elliott, McPhee, and Clinton Elementary Schools, emphasizing responsible action and the progress toward peace that can be achieved we work together as a group. Loup Basin RC & D Council, Ord, NE — $5,000 Support for staff positions at the Loup Basin Technology Center. Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach — $7,500 Support of the capacity building efforts, specifically for the enhancement of the organization’s website and on-line giving options. Matt Talbot Kitchen & Outreach is Lincoln’s largest provider of free nutritious meals and outreach services to the working poor and homeless. Meadowlark Music Festival — $5,000 Support for the 2008 Meadowlark Music Festival, Nebraska’s only summer classical music festival. Mediation Center — $8,500 General operating support for increased services to parents by legislatively mandated court referrals for separating or divorcing parents to create highly detailed parenting plans. Metropolitan Community College, Omaha, Ne. — $10,000 Support for the 2008 Great Plains Theatre Conference, featuring Pulitzer prize winning playwright Douglas Wright, May 24 - June 31, 2008 at the Fort Omaha campus. The conference focuses on new and emerging playwrights and includes staged readings by over 40 theatre companies, workshops, performances, and master classes where which participants can meet and interact with award-winning playwrights, directors, producers, and actors. Metropolitan Opera/Nebraska Auditions — $1,000 Support for the 2009 Nebraska auditions of the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Mid-America Arts Alliance — $5,000 HELP Project, to provide governance training for Nebraska arts organizations. Museum of Nebraska Art — $3,500 Support for the organization, presentation and education and outreach activity surrounding the exhibition "No Conservative Measures: Art and Nature Collide." Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest — $15,000 For the Choosing Education Program, to increase access to post-secondary educational opportunities for recipients of public assistance. Nebraska Art Association — $28,000 Support toward new technology to exhibit video art by contemporary artists and to provide enhanced education programming for school students, the UNL community and the public. Nebraska Community Foundation — $20,000 Support to implement a peer mentoring program for affiliated fund leaders. The Nebraska Community Foundation promotes philanthropy as a tool to enhance community development, and supports 200 affiliated funds in 171 Nebraska communities in their efforts to raise funds for special projects and community endowments. The peer mentoring project will recruit and train local leaders to provide technical assistance and share their expertise with other communities. Nebraska Conservation Educational Fund — $10,000 General operating support to increase public engagement in conservation policy formation in Nebraska. Nebraska Cultural Endowment — $20,000 Second-year support for Public Relations/Marketing materials and administrative expense for a fundraising campaign. Nebraska Cultural Endowment — $15,000 First-year support for Public Relations/Marketing materials and administrative expense for a fundraising campaign. Nebraska Humanities Council — $5,000 Second-year support of a partnership with the E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues to establish and promote the simulcasting of the Thompson Forum lecture series at educational institutions throughout Nebraska for the 2008-09 academic year. Nebraska Land Trust — $20,000 First-year funding for an effort to preserve the Schramm Bluffs area in Sarpy County, Nebraska, a biologically unique area that includes eastern hardwood forest, tallgrass prairie, and three kinds of shrubland, providing essential habitat for many species of plants and animals. The Nebraska Land Trust works with local private landowners to obtain conservation easements to preserve the natural amenities and scenic vistas of this area in the lower Platte region between Lincoln and Omaha, used for outdoor recreation by over two million people each year. Nebraska Shakespeare Festival — $5,000 Support for the traveling production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to high school and middle school students in underserved communities throughout Nebraska. Nebraska Water Center Foundation — $5,000 Support for educational programming at the Lake McConaughy Visitor/Water Interpetive Center. Northeast Family Center — $15,000 Operating support for administrative costs for this agency that provides programs and services in the areas of early childhood education, youth development and family support in Northeast Lincoln. Northern Prairies Land Trust — $8,000 General operating funding to support staffing for ranching and habitat protection projects in Nebraska. upport Opera Omaha — $10,000 Catalogue and educational guide for Opera Omaha's production of Aida. Panhandle Resource Conservation & Development, Scottsbluff, Ne. — $2,500 Support for the Ninth Annual Intertribal Gathering at Fort Robinson State Park, June 13-15, 2008. The Intertribal Gathering provides an opportunity to share, teach and display traditional Native American music, dance, arts, crafts, ceremony and other traditions. Planned Parenthood of Nebraska and Council Bluffs — $9,089 Support to expand and strengthen educational programming for individuals with developmental disabilities and the professionals that serve them in the Lincoln/Lancaster community. Post Playhouse, Chadron, Ne. — $8,460 For three internships in performance and technical theatre for Chadron State College theatre majors during the 2008 summer season. Since 1967 the Post Playhouse has provided professional family theatre and educational programs at Fort Robinson State Park. Prairie Plains Resource Institute, Aurora, Ne. — $8,750 Third-year funding to support comprehensive fund development and the Development Coordinator/Office Manager staff position. PPRI is a land trust with seven prairie preserves, and provides ecological restoration and management and youth education programs, and promotes the involvement of diverse people in the conservation process. Region V Systems — $20,000 Support toward the Let’s Build program, a federally funded initiative designed to help urban and rural faith-based and community organizations improve their operations and effectiveness to better meet the social service needs of their clients. Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center, Denton, NE — $15,000 General operating funding to support Spring Creek Prairie’s growing educational programming and management of an 808-acre tallgrass prairie nature preserve. The Thorpe, Inc., David City, NE — $18,000 Support for part-time Executive Director at the historic Thorpe Opera House. United Way of Lincoln/Lancaster County — $13,342 2008 Campaign. University of Nebraska Lincoln, Friends of the Libraries — $4,000 Support for the national traveling exhibit entitled, “Lewis & Clark and the Indian Country.” Focusing on the perspective of Native Americans, this exhibit examines Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the Pacific Ocean and back, its encounter with more than 50 native tribes along the way, and the long-term effects of that encounter on the Indian country and United States history. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lied Center for Performing Arts — $20,000 Support for Loop Divers, a project that involves dance, theatre, and interactive technology by Troika Ranch, a New York based multi-media company. In addition to the creation and premiere of an original performance work, the project will work with a diverse constituency including UNL students, hospitals and rehabilitation centers, community centers and schools across the Lincoln community. YMCA of Lincoln — $50,000 Second-year support for the development of after school programming at the new Fallbrook YMCA located with Schoo Middle School, currently being built in northwest Lincoln. This unique partnership will allow the YMCA and the middle school to share resources and common facilities and will provide much needed community-based family recreation facilities to this area of Lincoln.