The Kimmel Foundation sponsors programs and initiatives that represent discovery and innovation in education and research, the arts and humanities, and community service.
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.
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.
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.
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.
