The Richard P. Kimmel & Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation

The Richard P. Kimmel & Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation

The Richard P. Kimmel and Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation was incorporated in 1988. Its spirit, however, can be traced back to the Kimmels’ farm and orchard near Nebraska City, to their lifelong commitment to agricultural education and research, and to their many years of civic charity and leadership.

About the Foundation

Kimmel Orchard

Founded by Richard Kimmel in 1925, this 90-acre working orchard is a popular destination for Nebraska City area visitors. Its café, gift shop and seasonal produce market feature a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and other food items. The orchard is an important education and research facility for sustainable agriculture and alternative crops, and features a vineyard and other demonstration plots linked by an interpretive trail.

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Kimmel Fellows

This annual fellowship is for graduate students in the Department of Art & Art History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The fellowships assist the university’s College of Fine and Performing Arts in recruiting and retaining outstanding graduate art students.

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KHN Center for the Arts

Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts: This residency program in Nebraska City is designed to encourage and support established and emerging writers and visual and performing artists by providing working and living environments that inspire creative growth and development. The program is also dedicated to expanding the arts throughout Nebraska, providing on-site and outreach performances, presentations, classes, and exhibitions.

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KERC

The Kimmel Education and Research Center (KERC) at Kimmel Orchard helps agricultural producers and their communities find new and sustainable uses for the land through the development of value-added products and new markets. A collaboration of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) Cooperative Extension Service, the Kimmel Charitable Foundation, and the National Arbor Day Foundation, a new KERC research and educational facility is under development at Kimmel Orchard.

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Facilities Support

Grants from the Kimmel Foundation have led to the construction of a number of facilities including the Kimmel Theatre at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont, the Kimmel Theatre at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, the Laurine Kimmel Lodge at Camp Catron near Nebraska City, the Kimmel Ag Expo Center in Syracuse, and the Morton-James Library expansion in Nebraska City.

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Recent Kimmel Foundation News

We invite you to read the Kimmel Foundation news articles below. Please check back often as new articles are being added regularly from the Kimmel Foundation and our affiliated organizations.
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Kimmel Kids Club - Winter Edition

Kimmel Orchard | December 17, 2024

Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard is dedicated to a mission of education and historic preservation. The Kimmel Kids Club offers quarterly learning booklets...

2024 Peach Season

Kimmel Orchard | July 22, 2024

Due to adverse cold conditions earlier this year, Kimmel Orchard and Vineyard will not have a 2024 crop of peaches. A January cold snap that dipped...

Catherine Jagoe Publishes New Book of Poetry

KHN Center for the Arts | May 31, 2024

We are excited to share that recent KHN writing alum, Catherine Jagoe, has a new book of poems that came out this spring. Praying to the God of Small...

The Kimmel Foundation supports innovative ideas that promise substantial improvements in the quality of community and rural life in Nebraska and Iowa.

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