This week, the Omaha Community Foundation awarded grants to 17 local organizations from three of the Foundation’s specialized grant funds: Creche Early Childhood Fund, Jetton Charitable Fund, and the Richard A. Shaw Fund. Each fund supports specific programming in the community driven by the intent of the Foundation donors who established the grant programs. In total $121,876 was awarded through the three funds.

“It is an honor and privilege to live out the life and legacy of our donors through these grant programs. Their generosity is so important to community programming focused on youth, education, arts and culture, history, or the natural sciences.”
Anne Meysenburg, OCF Director of Community Investment

Jetton Fund Grant Recipients

The Jetton Fund supports youth exposure to the performing and visual arts, in addition to student exposure to STEM and/or history programs. The Fund places an emphasis on programs offered by area cultural institutions or nonprofits, rather than traditional classroom instruction.

The following 12 organizations were awarded grants from the Jetton Fund this year:

  • African Culture Connection – $5,000 for Multicultural Arts/Middle School Social Studies Curriculum Integration Pilot Program
  • Durham Museum – $7,500 for Teaching Our Community History Initiative
  • Institute for Holocaust Education – $5,560 for Art & the Holocaust
  • Kids Can Community Center – $10,000 for STEMsmart Academy
  • Nebraska Writers Collective – $10,000 for Louder Than a Bomb: Great Plains Youth Poetry Festival
  • Omaha Academy of Ballet – $7,500 for Dance Away Your Afternoons: Omaha Academy of Ballet After School Program
  • Omaha Performing Arts Society – $10,000 for the Musical Explorers program
  • Omaha Symphony Association – $10,000 for Concerts For Youth
  • Omaha Theater Company/Rose Theater – $5,000 for Van Gogh & Me original theater production
  • Strategic Air & Space Museum – $5,000 STEM education equipment
  • The Big Garden – $14,838 for Big Garden educational programming
  • WHY ARTS Inc. –$6,500 for Magnificent Machines
Creche Fund Grant Recipients

The Creche Fund was established following the closure of the Creche Home for Children in 2014. The Fund continues the organization’s 127-year legacy of serving youth in Omaha by distributing a maximum of $25,000 a year to nonprofits providing educational services to underserved children.

This cycle, the Creche Fund awarded the following three grants:

  • Child Saving Institute – $7,785 for the Childcare Tuition Assistance Program
  • Completely KIDS – $7,575 for Reading at CK 26
  • YMCA of Greater Omaha – $6,500 for Ready in 5 Early Childhood Education
Shaw Fund Grant Recipients

The Shaw Fund awards grants to organizations with a focus on history, the natural sciences, outdoor education, or animals. It was established to honor the life and legacy of Richard A. Shaw, a graduate of Benson High School and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, who worked as a teacher in Ralston and Elkhorn schools throughout his life. Each year the fund distributes $3,500 through two grants that support an organization’s mission.

The Shaw Fund awarded the following two grants:

  • Nebraska Wildlife Rehab – $1,559 for Wild About Wildlife programming for middle school students
  • Victory Riding Academy – $1,559 for scholarships for their Unfinished Business program

Visit the Field of Interest Funds page for more information about each of these funds and their application dates.