Tax rebates available for Lindsay Events Center donors
The proposed Lindsay Area Event & Wellness Center received its first “wins.”
The Lindsay Area Development (LAD) group was approved to be able to provide tax rebates to donors who make contributions.
“This announcement was recently shared to us by Nebraska Department of Economic Development, and while there are additional steps to complete the process before donations will qualify, it is that first big win we wanted to kickoff our fundraising campaign,” Jenny Korth, LAD secretary/ treasurer said. “More details will be communicated to the public once the final contract accepting this program are completed.”
Project work continues to move forward on the Lindsay Area Event & Wellness Center.
LAD spent the month of August preparing for the community fundraising required to meet the final match requirements for grants to be applied for in the latter part of the year and seen the first wins come in.
Also, the project team is working on the accounting system and process to accept grain donations for the project also have been set up with the Farmer’s Co-op in Lindsay to streamline the process and ensure accurate reporting for any tax-deductible donation or rebates to be reported. The committee said it has been a lot of work to get the systems setup, but with continued positive feedback from the community, the effort now will provide significant payoffs later.
Recent meetings at Lindsay Holy Family and Humphrey St. Francis regarding the Archdiocese’s 10-year plan has raised concerns regarding the project and some have questioned if changes to the schools would prevent the project from moving forward.
“While the timing of these meetings from the Archdiocese have not been ideal, it provides an opportunity for us to remind the community that this is a project independent of the church and school. While the local school in Lindsay would have access to the facility to be able to host many of its events that it currently doesn’t have the capability to, this project addresses the larger needs of the region,” project committee member Aaron Reichmuth said. “When we consider the current facilities of all the regional schools, there is an opportunity to serve the larger region.”
This was further reinforced during a brainstorming session hosted by LAD’s project committee that brought together representatives from Central Community College, administration from Lindsay Holy Family and a mix of local business leaders around the community.
“We learned a lot about what other programs are in need of to provide training and education for both adults and ways to integrate into the school systems to start developing the talent needed in the future and ensuring our youth know they will be able to find opportunities after college back home,” Shelly Reichmuth, committee member, said.
After this first collaboration session Aug. 3 in Lindsay, additional steps have started to introduce the vision LAD has to other communities to continue to brainstorm on ways to collaborate to meet the collective needs for the future.
“It is with the knowledge that in order for a project like this to be successful in a small community, having regional support and contributions will be critical for long-term success,” Shelly Reichmuth said.
With the early pledges and donations starting to be made from those eager to demonstrate their support and the announcement of getting approved for the first incentive program, the fundraising is off to a strong start.
“We will be launching more information soon on our fundraising plan, but are almost done with the back-end logistics to be prepared,” Micaela Wegener, LAD president, said. “We will be sharing more information on the project to alumni and a new website to keep everyone informed is coming soon. We also can take pledges in the form of cash, grain, cattle, commodities and other property and want to keep the process simple and easy for anyone who wants to support.”
What’s next for the project committee?
In addition to a strong start with the fundraising campaign, refining potential locations for the center is a parallel priority. In last week’s village board meeting the Village of Lindsay provided insight into the process and approach around a purchase of village-owned property for the center.
The committee said it will need to continue to evaluate and determine the best approach and compare all potential locations. More research is being planned to be completed and future updates provided, but before a final decision is made, the project committee will want to provide the community an opportunity to weigh-in.