Charity Award
This award was established by Lincoln Community Foundation as a gift to the community. The Charity Award will provide an opportunity to recognize individuals for their leadership and philanthropy to our great city.
Charity Award Honorees Include:
Ed and Mary Copple (2012)
Jim and H.K. Stuart (2013)
Jim and Rhonda Seacrest (2014)
Alice Dittman (2015)
Jim and Mary Abel (2016)
Donna Woods (2017)
Karen and Robert Duncan (2018)
Tom and Nancy Osborne (2019)
Duane* and Phyllis Acklie (2020)
The Community of Lincoln (2021)
Tom and Lisa Smith (2022)
Bill* and Marilyn Cintani (2023)
2024 Charity Award Honorees
Marc and Kathy LeBaron
The Charity Award was established by the Foundation to provide the community with an opportunity to recognize individuals for their philanthropic contributions. Marc and Kathryn (Kathy) LeBaron were honored as the 2024 recipients on April 30, 2024.
Both Lincoln natives and graduates of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the LeBarons’ philanthropy has been focused on making Lincoln a better place to live, work and raise a family as well as helping vulnerable children and supporting the arts.
Paige Piper, executive director of BraveBe Child Advocacy Center, shared how Kathy and Marc’s involvement in our community has made it a brighter, safer, and more welcoming place for all.
“To know Marc and Kathy is to know passion for cause and a willingness to spring into action to help those in need,” said Paige. “Simply put, their generosity is equal parts inspiring and contagious.”
Marc is the president and CEO of Lincoln Industries. He purchased the business in 1983 from his father Dale. Now 70 years later, it is still a family-owned business with the LeBarons’ daughters Katie Haszard and Kassy Knudson at the company in leadership roles.
“Marc is a phenomenal business leader and innovator,” shared Tom Henning. “How do you give back to the community? Well one major way is to run a great business and create a lot of great jobs, which Marc and Kathy have clearly done at Lincoln Industries.”
Beyond job creation, the LeBarons and Lincoln Industries support the community in a variety of ways. They provide paid time off for employees to volunteer and lend their leadership to their passion projects like Junior Achievement and Willard Community Center.
“The Willard Community Center capital campaigns that Kathy and I have been a part of made such a difference – not only for the Center but for the neighborhood,” remarked Candy Henning. “The childcare, the education, and the spaces that it provides for the community to come together is so important. It’s changed the neighborhood and I know it’s changing people’s lives.”
The LeBarons are also avid collectors and supporters of the arts. They both recognize the positive impact that art has on society and work to make it accessible to their community. They provide leadership to arts organizations like Public Art Lincoln and Museum of Nebraska Art and create new art spaces in our community like their private gallery with Karen & Robert Duncan, The Assemblage.
“We were in Berlin, Germany on an art trip Marc and Kathy were leading when we came up with this idea for additional space for our collections,” shared Robert. “When we came home, we searched for awhile and finally found a building and it’s been a great asset for both us and the community.”
Marc and Kathy’s exceptional philanthropy now inspires the next generation of their family.
“Kath and I are privileged to have two wonderful daughters and sons-in-law that share our philosophy and are active in numerous organizations in our community,” said Marc. “I am intensively proud that they are, in spite of their busy lives, committed to making Lincoln a better place and carrying on the tradition.”
2024 Charity Award from Lincoln Community Foundation on Vimeo.