This Year's Project: Building improvments
About Our Organization
In 1955, a group of local volunteers formed “4-H Building, Inc.”, a non-profit corporation established in the State of Nebraska. They had a vision, to have a place for the local youth to show case their projects during the Gage County Fair, have a place to hold club events and for the community to have a nice place to hold gatherings as well. The metal building on the southwest side of Gage County Fairgrounds was built through generous donations from the community and has continued to be open for our local groups, youth and the community as a whole since 1959 because of the hard work of the amazing volunteers who serve on its board. Each year during the fair, the building is able to continue to open its doors and offer a place to cool off, look at the youth’s exhibits and eat some great fair food. This is only possible through building fees and our gracious donors. *4-H Building Inc. is the name of this non-profit organization. Our group is not affiliated with any 4-H club or Extension Office on a Federal, State, or local level, the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, or the Gage County Agricultural Society.
Current Project: Building improvments
We are excited to continue improving the building for the community and the 4-H youth. We have been doing big things with the help of our donors and we are excited for our next projects!
After the 2024 Gage County Fair, we have shut down the use of 90% of our kitchen equipment. We have made the decision along side with local professionals in this line of work, that it is no longer safe to continue using the equipment. We strive for safety first. We are in need of replacing our stove, grill, deep fryer, large 3 door fridge, large 2 door freezer and correcting the hood exaust system to be correct and up to code with new equipment.
The money made during the Fair food stand is what helps us pay the month to month bills to keep this building open. Without this equipment we would not be able to re open the kitchen for the 2025 fair and would have a large loss of income that keeps the building going. As a board we have discussed down sizing and purchasing smaller, more household sized equipment verses commerical, which will help on the cost of the new equipment.
4-H Building Inc. is a registered emergency evacuation shelter with the American Red Cross for Gage County. At the beginning of 2024, there was a fire in a local apartment complex that displaced 18 people. At 1:00 am, I received a phone call asking for us to open the building for these people. We housed 14 people for 5 days until the Red Cross was able to find new housing placement for them. We offer these services also to local Nursing homes and schools if they are ever in need of shelter during emergencies. But to offer this, we must have safe grounds.
We are a board of 4 volunteers working hard to keep this building going for the community. We have no paid staff and are not financially supported by the Gage County Extension Office, UNL Extension or the Gage County Ag Society.
Parking Lot Safety Improvements
Project Details
We are working hard to improve our building and grounds for the community to enjoy. We are aware of many trip haxareds in our parking lot due to old asphalt breaking up and leaving large holes. Also, as the building has settled over the years, the sidewalk and parking lot are not at the right angle to allow the water to run away from the building. So the water pools up around the building which is not doing any good to the buildings foundation. This building has been a big part of this community for over 64 years and we are working hard to make sure it last for anouther 65 years! We are ran and mantained from a board of volunteers and have no paid staff.
Building Improvements
Raised $9,522.00 Towards the Goal of $8,500.00
Project Wrap Up
In August of 2023 we will begin to fix the roof and walls on the building. Your donations last year helped hit our goals to start that job! We thank all of our donors and volunteers for everything that they have done to help get us to this point. We hope that you will continue to help suport this building as there is a lot of work still to be done!
Project Details
We have been working hard to improve this building for the community. We are run 100% by volunteers, 4-H youth, and their families. Rental fees that we receive help manage the month-to-month expenses, so it takes added donations to help improve the building. We have done a lot of great stuff inside the building over the last 4 years such as painting, repairing water damaged walls, new lighting, and repairs to the floor in the main room. We are working hard to raise the funds to finish up our roof and siding of the building to help keep the rain out! With these needed repairs, we hope to see a huge decrease in our monthly utilities. Please consider donating to help us keep this great community building open and available for all to use!
New Roof
Project Details
Help us keep the rain out!
The board has been working hard with different fundraisers though out the last year to put towards our new roof. We have made some great progress but have a ways to go. We have received estimants from different roofing companies around the area and they are all coming back with about the same quote and warranty time frames. We have high hopes to replace the roof by the 2022 fair! We are hoping to raise $15,000 this year during BigGiveGage. Without your support and generous donations we would not be able to continue to offer this building to our community.
New roof
Project Details
The board has been overseeing some renovations to the building this year, and we can’t wait for you to see them the next time you visit our building! But we are also in needing of your help to keep this well-known and well-loved Gage County building open for everyone to enjoy. It has come to our attention that the roof no longer can be repaired but must be replaced. We have received quotes from local roofing companies and are excited to start this journey.