Community Foundation fete here next week

LINCOLN -- The Nebraska Community Foundation will celebrate its 15th Anniversary in McCook, on Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Republican River Valley Event Center, 905 East 7th Street.

The celebration event will include an affiliated fund exposition and reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. followed by the annual banquet, recognition program and Legacy Awards from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Mark Graff, Chairman of the Board of McCook National Bank, will be honored for his service as the retiring Chair of the Nebraska Community Foundation from 2006 to 2008.

Tickets are $35 and may be purchased online or by contacting Sheri Hink at (402) 323-7347 or shink@nebcommfound. org.

The McCook Community Foundation will serve as the host for NCF's annual event. The McCook Community Foundation is a model for other affiliated funds across the state.

It has received several hundred contributions, and now has $3.2 million in assets and planned gifts.

The McCook Community Foundation collaborates with numerous charitable organizations on improvement projects throughout the community.

McCook also is one of NCF's 16 HomeTown Competitiveness communities, with organized efforts to enhance leadership, entrepreneurship, youth engagement and philanthropy in a holistic approach to community and economic development.

The Nebraska Community Foundation, headquartered in Lincoln, Neb., serves communities, organizations and donors throughout the state. NCF provides financial management, strategic development, education and training to its network of more than 1,800 leaders of 199 local affiliated funds.

NCF has reinvested $76 million in Nebraska and its hometowns since its founding in 1993. NCF is heralded as a national model for rural development philanthropy, which uses charitable giving as a tool for revitalizing rural econ-omies.