OSBORNE – Despite the economic struggles rural counties are going through, the Osborne County Community Foundation almost doubled its $50,000 fundraising goal during Match Month in February! That meant that not only did the foundation receive the full $100,000 matching funds from the Hansen Foundation, but they also qualified for a $70,000 Rural Community Foundation matching grant from the Patterson Family Foundation!

Awareness of what the foundation does in the county is spreading.  Past grants were highlighted during a 28 Days of Impact social media campaign.

A big part of the success this year came from area schools getting involved. Osborne High School students came up with a ‘Kiss-a-Donkey’ contest to raise funds. Junior High and High School students voted on which teacher they wanted to kiss the donkey by placing coins or money in that teacher’s jar.

In the elementary school, each class had a jar, and the top four classes received cupcakes and a certificate.  Their jars went towards having an elementary school teacher kiss the donkey.  There was an assembly at the end of the contest, and all the students got to watch the two teachers kiss the tiny donkey!

The Lakeside Junior High KESA groups supported the OCCF fundraiser by having different themed days and a ‘Pay to Play’ Week.  During a specific game time each day, they could pay to play or stay in study hall.  The games were open to the entire Junior High.  The Natoma schools did coin jar competitions and did a fantastic job raising funds.