NEW OMAHA NONPROFITS AIM TO ADDRESS MANIFOLD NEEDS

There’s no doubt about it: the city is home to generous people. Whether it’s a school drive or a charity, Omahans don't hesitate to open their wallets (and checkbooks) to help those in need. While there are many deserving, established nonprofits throughout the city, these six newcomers are taking on unique issues. As community members prepare their end-of-year quarterly giving, these fledgling organizations shouldn’t be overlooked—each offers unique and important avenues of impact and are well worth the consideration of the engaged citizen.

1. INSPIRE COLLABORATIVE HEALTH ASSOCIATION

12020 Shamrock Plaza, Suite 200 | 402.953.9660

ICHA is a nonprofit organization that bridges the healthcare gap by creating a community for medical providers and alternative practitioners to come together. The organization offers a conduit for the communication and cooperation of its growing network of health professionals to give the public a reliable resource to pursue their health the way they want with the support they need, while simultaneously offering better-individualized wellness recommendations. By bringing together a group of open-minded and qualified healthcare professionals, the association facilitates collaborations between health specialties to make each patient or client not only feel heard, but also start them on the path to a healthier lifestyle. —inspirehealthassociation.com

2. OMAHA FOR US

402.814.1146

This nonprofit builds intentional community and creates equitable space in service to LGBTQ+ individuals and families of eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. The organization, which has the support of Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, is working to create an LGBTQ+ community center in the metro with programming to meet their specific needs. The agency plans to offer programs and services that will include LGBTQ+ affirming clinical counseling and support groups. Mental health services, which are often challenging for many in the LGBTQ+ community to obtain, will be a main priority. —omahaforus.org

3. GOOD VIBRATIONS

402.679.3302

When Emiliano Carrera-Ybanez dreamed of joining the All-State Orchestra at Bryan High School in 2017, the then-sophomore lacked the funds to make his dream come true. Omaha Symphony violinist Judy Davis came up with the idea to help pay for private lessons and an instrument. Good Vibrations was born—the nonprofit provides new or used instruments, which are professionally repaired and restored, to students attending Title I, or low-income, schools in Omaha while also bringing them together with mentors from the Omaha Chamber Music Society. Additionally, the nonprofit provides professional development workshops for teachers and future music teachers about stringed instrument purchase and care, as well as private lessons for teachers that don’t specialize in chordophones. —omahachambermusic.org/good-vibrations

4. NEBRASKA MONARCHS

531.242.3253

The mission is simple: bring back butterflies. Nebraska Monarchs accomplishes this by helping people and communities create gardens and habitats that help native pollinators thrive. The organization has been working to restore pollinator habitat in Midwest communities since 2015 via free milkweed seed and native plant giveaways. In late 2022, Nebraska Monarchs officially became a 501(c)(3) non-profit when the board voted to refocus resources away from the free seed program in favor of the native plant giveaway, where organizations and individuals residing in Omaha and surrounding communities can receive free native plants that are locally sourced from Midwest Natives Nursery. —nemonarchs.com

5. GIVE BLUE HOPE

402.906.9077

This nonprofit’s mission is to help bridge the financial gap for the immediate families of law enforcement officers, corrections officers, or first responders who have been feloniously assaulted and killed while protecting and serving the communities they loved. Founded by Curtis DeBerg, a former police officer who provides personal security and works as a driver for Warren Buffett, Give Blue Hope helps bridge the financial gap from the time a police officer is killed in the line of duty to the benefit package of the department which helps with immediate bills such as groceries, car payments, rents, mortgages, and/ or electricity.

—givebluehope.org

6. ASTUTE COFFEE

1818 Dodge St. | 402.345.0213; 2929 California St. | 531.466.4654

Formerly The Bike Union and Coffee, Astute Coffee connects young adults to the workforce and supports their self-sufficiency through personal and professional development programming. The workforce development coffeehouse model exists solely to provide professional resources to young adults who have been impacted by the foster care system. The BUMP mountain bike program partners with Child Saving Institute's emergency shelter. Every coffee purchase from Astute strengthens an organization with the purpose to give back to the community.

—shareomaha.org/nonprofit/astute-coffee

(and Beyond) at the German American Society

maha’s German American Society (GAS) was founded in 1883, serving as a cultural hub for German Americans to explore their heritage for 140 years and counting. The club celebrates all things German—not just the Bavaria region, as is the case for many German societies in the US—and welcomes all, regardless of ancestry.

Frank Friehaut, entertainment director and former GAS president, was hooked after his first visit. A fourth-generation American with German ancestry on both sides of parents, he grew up with “a lot of German traditions. Different things like opening gifts on Christmas Eve, different meals, like the Sauerbraten my mom would make.”

“After I moved to Omaha, my wife and I drove past the club a couple times and said ‘Boy, we both have German ancestry.’ Then a friend invited us out and it’s just been a blast ever since,” Friehaut recalled. “We started doing the German folk dancing, wearing the Lederhosen, and having a great time. It’s a great club to meet other families, other couples, and different aspects of the suborganizations of the club.”

He’s been with the Society for more than 20 years.

And while the GAS does indeed host an annual German Day Oktoberfest celebration (the largest in the state), it’s far from the only opportunity to participate in Germanic culture. With a wide variety of annual celebrations and sub-organizations, the German American Society provides Omaha residents the chance to experience authentic German cuisine and culture year-round.

When asked what aspects of the club feel the most authentically German to him, Friehaut responded, “Everything from the German food, of course, the beer. There’s a shooting club, the air rifles, the German dance, the singing clubs. Both the formal chorus and the men’s chorus. There’s the Turners, which is the gymnastics—we still have the kids doing that. There’s a men’s club that was birthed out of that. So there’s a lot of different aspects to the German culture that just makes it a lot of fun.”

“Most of those clubs stem from clubs that are out of Germany. In Germany, there are huge shooting clubs that have shooting fests like in Hanover and other cities, so these clubs come from over there,” added GAS chairperson Michael Olk. “The traditions of singing and dancing all come from Germany, so they were continued here. All those aspects are a part of how we celebrate the greatness of the German culture.”

Olk further explained, “It’s an apolitical club, non-political—it’s all just the fun features of the German culture. You don’t have to be German to belong. As a matter of fact, we have a lot of members who aren’t."

Freihaut added, “Obviously, Germany itself has had a very checkered and horrible history that we never want repeated, but that doesn’t mean there’s not some great aspects of our culture that we want people to enjoy. That’s where our ancestors came from and that’s what we try to get out there that there are neat aspects of the German people who came and settled in Nebraska.”

President David Hollran clarified that the Society hosts 11 sub-organizations and 10 activity groups. Whether members want to learn how to make authentic German sausage, how to shoot an air rifle, speak German, or sing four-part harmonies to German songs—or even brew German beer—there’s no shortage of cultural activities.

Olk, who is also the Society’s cultural director, said, “If you come and you see all the sub-organizations, you’re going to be able to immerse yourself in every aspect of German culture—the dancing, the singing, the sausage-making, the wine-making, and the beer-making.”

As for those curious to sample German cuisine and drinks, Friehaut bills the German Day Oktoberfest festivities the best bet for variety.

”Bratwurst is a favorite for me, but they also make a wonderful rotisserie chicken and on Saturdays we roast a pig,” he explained. “People always think of the brats, and they’re always there and always fantastic, but I love the chicken and the pork dinners. These are suckling pigs, so they’re 55-60 pounds and we get them from a special place in Iowa and they go on a spit. We even put a special oil on the skin so it’s crispy brown, and it just turns round and round…”

Served with the chicken or pork is German potato salad, Sauerkraut, and a hard roll.

“Then if you get a nice cold Stein of beer with that and, like a friend of mine used to say, ‘It’ll make a puppy pull a freight train’ it’s so good!” Friehaut exclaimed.

Hollran also suggests that people attend the annual Christmas in Germany celebration to try the Glühwein, which is a hot, mulled wine.

For every annual celebration, most of the food is prepared by Society volunteers or kitchen staff. During German Day Oktoberfest, the Society recruits between 140 and 160 volunteers a day. The need for volunteers is the reason the Society combined German Day and Oktoberfest into a single celebration.

“It’s a little different than any other Oktoberfest around town because we’re the German Club and we try to put the culture stuff out there,” Friehaut noted. “It’s celebrating our German culture; showing Omaha and Nebraska our culture. We try to make that a full-family event and we’ve tied that into Oktoberfest that worldwide, everybody knows.”

This year’s German Day Oktoberfest celebration will be the 139th one the Society has celebrated and is widely regarded as among the more authentic in the country.

The same goes for the many other ‘fests’ hosted by the GAS, whether it’s Bockfest (which celebrates the making of Bock Bier), Maifest (celebrating the arrival of Spring), or Fasching (a carnival celebration akin to Mardi Gras).

“When you go to one of the restaurant or microbrew Oktoberfest, they’re essentially just beer or food,” Freihaut explained. “When you come the German American Society, we put that cultural aspect to the forefront so you actually see the folk dancing, the German singing, and the food we try to make authentically.

“In fact, the sausage club makes the bratwurst!”

For more information, visit germanamericansociety.org