There was another record-setting donation total for the Emporia Community Foundation as part of its 11th annual Match Day check presentation ceremony Tuesday.
Community Foundation CEO Linda Kehres-Schmidt says area residents stepped up again this year.
This year’s top three beneficiaries were Team Schnak, with a participant record of over $107,000; Pioneer Bluffs, with over $76,000; and Project Playscape with almost $45,000. Team Schnak founder Kent Schnakenberg:
Pioneer Bluffs Director Sammy Jo Happy looked several times at the check in disbelief.
Project Playscape organizer Brittany Hinrichs called her total “tremendous.”
*Click here for KVOE’s YouTube channel, including several videos from the check presentation.
Noon Tuesday:
The Emporia Community Foundation’s 11th annual Match Day was its biggest yet. And it wasn’t close.
Last year’s prior record of almost $670,000 was shattered as area residents generated almost $770,000 this year. The official total: $769,253.21.
Besides being 15 percent higher than the prior record, the 2024 total also represents an increase in dollars raised per capita from last year. This year’s average donation per capita is over $9.97, up over 20 cents from last year, and represents a population base of over 77,000 people combined across Lyon and surrounding counties.
Since Match Day began, the fundraising total is over $3.8 million for participating groups.
This year’s top three beneficiaries were Team Schnak, with a participant record of over $107,000; Pioneer Bluffs, with over $76,000; and Project Playscape, with almost $45,000.
Participating groups and fundraising amounts
*Arvonia Historic Preservation Society – $27,409.50
*Camp Alexander – $21,224.76
*C4 Food Pantry (Chase County Care & Compassion, Inc.) – $38,482.77
*Chase County Historical Society and Museum – $28,290.19
*Chase County Old School Development District – $16,008.14
*Choose How You Respond Fund in Memory of Dr. Bryan Douglas – $25,734.83
*Emporia Area Habitat for Humanity – $32,660.62
*Emporia Eastside Community Group – $6,701.53
*Emporia First Friday Art Walk – $9,415.92
*Emporia Municipal Band – $10,063.46
*Emporia Spanish Speakers – $5,730.67
*Energize Lebo – $ 18,953.06
*FEAS dba Flint Hills Animal Advocates – $17,559.86
*Food for Students – $23,769.95
*Friends of the Emporia Public Library – $10,369.35
*Friends of the Lyon County History Center – $21,219.18
*FUMC School Supply Project – $ 20,239.46
*Good Way Gardens – $3,296.38
*House of Morrow – $3,173.24
*Lyon County Crime Stoppers – $8,235.46
*Main Street Mommas – $20,690.52
*Matfield Green Works – $9,334.78
*Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards, Inc. – $15,241.95
*Newman Regional Health Volunteers – $13,348.74
*NLC Youth Association – $31,762.92
*Pink Gravel – $7,034.88
*Pioneer Bluffs – $76,609.34
*Project Playscape – $44,666.66
*Red Rocks – William Allen White Community Partnership – $9,287.44
*Southwick House – $6,155.25
*Strong City Preservation Alliance – $37,270.13
*Team Schnak Strong – $107,317.70
*The Baby Closet of Emporia, Kansas – $19,619.48
*Vernon H. Buck VFW Post 7957 – $13,114.69
*Wade Barrett Memorial Fund – $9,260.40
Matching pool donors
*Clint Bowyer 79 Fund
*ECF Fund for the Future
*Emporia Masonic Lodge No. 12, A.F.A.M.
*Gilpin Family Fund
*WS & EC Jones Testamentary Trust, Bank of America, N.A. Trustee;
*Laurent Charitable Family Fund
*Curtis McCreary Legacy Fund
*Patterson Family Foundation
*Preston Family Trust
*Merry and Charles Rayl
*Jane and Bernard Reeble Endowed Fund
*Trusler Foundation
Money raised per county
*Lyon County – $473,927.97
*Chase County – $205,995.36
*Osage County – $27,409.50
*Greenwood County – $20,690.52
*Coffey County – $18,953.06
*Wabaunsee County – $15,241.95
*Morris County – $7,034.88
Population size per county
*Lyon County – 32,172
*Osage County – 15,824
*Coffey County – 8,251
*Wabaunsee County – 7,057
*Greenwood County – 5,870
*Morris County – 5,334
*Chase County – 2,579
Statistics provided by Emporia Community Foundation
