Grant applications are due by Thursday, Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. to be eligible for the fall grant cycle. Grant applications are available online at mccookfoundation.org. 

This past spring, eight different grants were distributed to local organizations and projects. But like everything in 2020, even those grants are bit different this year. Several of the grants have not been used yet, because they were planned for events which were cancelled or postponed or took on a new purpose. 

Simply Strings received $1,000 for its September 2020 concert, but that event has been postponed with a date still to be determined, hopefully in early 2021. 
Cultivate Rural Leaders (CLR) was to host a leadership symposium as part of the Nebraska Community Foundation’s annual training and banquet, planned for McCook in November 2020. While NCF’s 2020 banquet is now a virtual event, McCook is scheduled to host the 2021 annual banquet which will include CRL’s leadership symposium.

And 2020 was supposed to be the fifth anniversary of the Prairie Roots Festival, the free outdoor music festival at Barnett Park. When Prairie Roots was cancelled like most events, the McCook Arts Council decided to donate the $1,500 to local arts teachers to purchase additional art supplies. 

But the remaining spring 2020 grants are in use throughout the community:

• McCook Community College received $5,000 toward the Hormel Business Competition, planned for this fall/winter
• High Plains Historical Society received $800 for a new Red Willow County 4-H display
• Ed Thomas YMCA received $4,000 to replace aging water fountains throughout the facility
• McCook Public Schools received $1,500 for its special education sensory room at the McCook Elementary School
• And the Family Resource Center received $1,500 for its patient assistance program, a collaboration with the Community Hospital Foundation

Of the nearly $140,000 in grants this year, more than $100,000 of those funds have been part of the MCFF’s new COVID-19 Response Account. Those projects have included everything from a $40,000 Bridging the Homework Gap program at McCook schools to $20,000 for utility and rent assistance funding through Community Action Partners. MCFF also collaborated with McCook Christian for the COVID-Cash spending program, which wrapped up earlier this month.

Funds for projects relating to the pandemic are still available on an on-going basis with no specific deadline. The grant application for the COVID account is also available on the MCFF website.

Twice a year, the McCook Community Foundation Fund distributes grants to local non-profit organizations and other charitable programs, which meet MCFF’s mission: Making McCook a better place to call home. 

Since its inception in 2001, MCFF has distributed more than $560,000 in grants and scholarships with a complete list available on the MCFF website.

McCook Community Foundation Fund is an affiliated fund of the Nebraska Community Foundation.