Auto and truck dealership family provides financial boost to Beatrice Educational Foundation capital campaign

BEATRICE – A family that owns a southeast Nebraska auto and truck dealership provided a big boost to a new elementary school project, Thursday.
The Zoellner family, which owns Zoellner Ford-Lincoln in Beatrice, donated $30,000 to the capital campaign that will help fund furniture and equipment for the new school in east Beatrice.

"If there's great schools, hospitals, good infrastructure...that to me is such a big thing and a big draw. As we were in Ogallala and cut our teeth in small business, it was a small, small town....and there was not enough gym space for kids. We constantly were fighting for things like that. We feel our role in business....at the end of the year, we look for things if we're able. This year we were blessed to be able, so we thought we would share," Jason Zoellner said.

Zoellner says having a new school for today’s style of teaching and educating carries recruitment advantages with it.  "The new teachers and new teaching styles, if a teacher has a choice of coming to Beatrice with a new school, or going to a place with an old school, I think they'll choose Beatrice. All around, it's a win-win."

The capital campaign through the Beatrice Educational Foundation has a goal to raise $1.3 million to help equipment the new prekindergarten-to-fifth grade building. President of the foundation board, Andy Carothers says the campaign is getting closer to the half-way mark.

"It's a huge boost to the campaign from a valued community business member. We're excited about it, and hope it leads into additional donations from business and community members."'

The campaign has now generated just over $400,000. Carothers says the special event announced earlier this week with Nebraska’s head volleyball coach John Cook in February is one of several events in the making to help the campaign.  The Zoellner family, along with school and foundation officials met outside the district’s administration building Thursday, to mark the donation to the campaign.