BEATRICE – Sixty-one non-profit entities received their checks Tuesday night from this year’s Big Give Gage fundraising drive.  Counting donations, matching funds, a grant and other sponsor support, this year’s drive brought in $329,663. President of the Gage County Foundation, Don Vetrovsky says that was barely below the total amount raised in last year’s drive.


"We were only $6,600 off of what we raised in 2021. So, with the stock market being down and everything that we've had this year, I think it speaks volumes for what our county and communities do and how they work within the non-profits to get their people involved in this."


Non-profit supporters gathered at Classic’s Restaurant Tuesday night to hear about the success of this year’s effort and receive their donations. About a third of the organizations made their individual goals this year. Vetrovsky said contributions came from 58 communities and 23 states. The campaign logged a total of 673 individual donors.


The drive coordinator, Gina Heckey, Senior Executive for the Beatrice Community Hospital Foundation, said the drive received matching funds from about 18 local sponsors, along with a grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation.  "We were very fortunate to receive a grant from the Peter Kiewit Foundation so they provided a really large amount of money so that we raised more this year for matching funds than we ever have. We raised $26,000 in matching funds."

Big Give Gage total raised this year
Big Give Gage total raised this year  

The Gage County Foundation also provided additional monetary support for organizations that did not reach their goals.  A co-coordinator for the Big Give Gage event, Terry Doyle said two organizations are being honored with Legacy Awards this year…..those that has exceeded their goals over several years. One is the Adult and Teen Challenge organization, which has now been in the community for five years.


"They raised $26,230 this year. They raised a little over $102,000 over the past four years....they've been a partner in this for the last four years. They ranked third in the most money raised this year and third in the number of donations. They had 87 donors."


Doyle said the second Legacy Award winner was the Community Food Pantry of Beatrice, which has now been operating for fifty years. "They raised $12,100..a little more than that this year...a little over $40,100 in the past four years. They've also been a group that's been with us from the very beginning. Their donors this year totaled 72."  This next year, the Community Food Pantry will move to the lower level of the Beatrice Municipal Auditorium in the former fire department headquarters, after serving the community for five decades in St. John’s Lutheran Church lower level. Both of the Legacy Award winners received an additional $500.


Doyle encouraged non-profits to celebrate the success of the drive but challenged them to brainstorm new ways to generate even more support next year…including growth in sponsorships for matching contributions.