Community Center gets another big grant
LAUREL — Thankful. Grateful. Blessed.
These are a few words that come to mind when someone receives a gift.
These are also words uttered by the Laurel Community Center Committee upon learning of a $150,000 grant to help the community build the new facility.
Committee members say the gift is even more special and memorable because it comes from someone they’ve never had the opportunity to meet.
William and Ruth Scott’s foundation made the announcement this week of the grant.
William and Ruth Scott are native Nebraskans who met in Ashland as children. They dated throughout high school and college, marrying after their junior year.
Ruth earned a bachelor’s degree in education in 1952. She taught school in Lincoln and later founded the Omaha Bridge Studio, where she continues to teach.
Bill Scott earned a degree from the UNL College of Business Administration in 1953. He joined Buffett Partnership in 1959 and Berkshire Hathaway in 1970 where he remained until his retirement in 1993.
To say the least, the Scotts’ Berkshire investment turned out well. The Scotts established the William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation in 1999.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott prefer to stay out of the limelight while simply going about their philanthropic way to help others.
The list of individuals and projects their foundation has benefited goes on and on.
John Levy, president of the Foundation, notified Community Center Committee co-chair, Keith Knudsen, that the Foundation’s board of directors had approved a grant in the amount of $150,000 to help with the construction of the new Laurel Community Center.
“We are grateful to The William and Ruth Scott Family Foundation for this grant award,” Knudsen said. “This financial gift to the Laurel Community Center project will benefit our community for years to come.”
Knudsen said Ruth Scott has been quoted as saying, “A pile of money is a lot like a pile of manure. It does no good until you spread it around.”
It’s safe to say that the community will be forever grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Scott for spreading a little of their good fortune in Laurel’s direction.
