Recent CCS grad interning with community foundation

    Hannah Meeske, a 2020 Chase County Schools graduate, is getting a good look this summer on how community foundations work.
    She’s one of 13 summer interns statewide through the Nebraska Community Foundation’s Hometown Internship Program.
    Meeske is working with the Imperial Community Foundation Fund (ICFF). She started her internship May 18 and will work through mid-August, putting in about 25 hours a week.
    Affiliated funds of Nebraska Community Foundation, such as ICFF, were offered challenge grants in partnership with NCF’s board of directors to ensure students would be compensated for their work.
    As part of the program, interns are asked to discover and document the assets and abundance of their homeplace.         They will also help facilitate conversations with community members regarding these assets and opportunities.
    Meeske, so far, has been involved in a variety of tasks, she said.
    “I’ve been doing some housekeeping” of ICFF records, she said, including updating its data base system.
    She’ll be working with Imperial Community Development Director Tyler Pribbeno for social media ideas for the ICFF website and Facebook page.
    Periodically, she is part of Zoom meetings with her fellow summer interns across the state.
    “I’ve learned about some projects through that, too,” she said.
    ICFF board member Brenda Ledall said Meeske’s been  ahead of the curve on how foundations work since she has been a student ICFF board member the past two years.
    “Connecting young people to opportunities in their hometowns is critical to Nebraska’s people attraction efforts,” said Jeff Yost, president and CEO of the Nebraska Community Foundation.
    “I am certain they will gain invaluable learning experiences. We also have much to learn from these students about what they are looking for in the places they ultimately decide to call home,” he said.
    Meeske will start classes Aug. 17 at Central Community College in Hastings, with plans to pursue a business technology degree.