LOR Foundation

10/12/2026

I will be back in the office on Tuesday. Have a great day!

10/09/2026

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with Clear Creek Middle School students and ask them a simple question: What would you do to improve the quality of life in Buffalo? I was blown away by their creativity and care for their community.

Their ideas ranged from a bike pump track and bike lanes to more trash cans at the lake to help prevent littering, and even summer writing and art camps.

Guys, I have to say, the kids are alright! ❤️

10/05/2026

The Johnson County Family YMCA’s pool is the only indoor public pool in Johnson County, welcoming residents of every age and ability for open swim and water aerobics classes. But the pool’s chair lift was at the end of its life. With a solution in hand, YMCA staff reached out to LOR for support. LOR’s funding helped the Johnson County Family YMCA purchase and install a new pool chair lift, allowing residents with mobility challenges to enter and exit the pool safely with independence and dignity.

Huge shoutout and thank you to the LOR Foundation for helping us to purchase and install a new lift chair in our aquatic center. Aquatherapy holds so many benefits and through this grant we are able to open those benefits to all.

09/29/2026

LOR funding helped Learning Tree Christian School purchase mixing bowls and lids, a barber shop pretend-play set, sensory play sand, toy washing machine playset, solar system model, and other educational supplies. The new materials will allow teachers to build skills across math, science, reading, writing, and fine motor development, meeting the growing need for preschool programming in the Buffalo.

08/26/2026

SMALL TOWN, BIG IDEA: To address increasing food insecurity and a growing need for more protein, Cortez ranchers and volunteers came up with an innovative solution: Raise a bison herd to provide local food pantries with protein.

Thanks to Jennifer Brown at The Colorado Sun for highlighting this novel, locally led project, which LOR was happy to support.

As drought shrinks the food supply and federal budget cuts shrink benefits, the Cortez community comes up with a local solution

08/22/2026

Come down to Crazy Woman Square for Saturdays in the Square. Enjoy some great music, food, and drinks, and learn about LOR!

08/21/2026

We are excited to partner with Johnson County Public Health to bring an AED to the historic courthouse. Having AEDs in a community significantly increases survival rates for sudden cardiac arrest victims. Thank you to Kristin and her team for helping making this happen!

Every second counts during a cardiac emergency, and the old courthouse is now better prepared to protect our community.

A brand-new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) has been officially installed inside the historic courthouse. A huge thank you to the LOR Foundation for generously funding this critical equipment and investing in the health and safety of our town!

Do you have an idea of how to improve a piece of our community? Reach out to Jen at mailto:[email protected] to share your idea & make Buffalo an even better place to live!

08/04/2026

After six years, 500 community projects, and more than $3.5 million of investment, the LOR Foundation ended grantmaking in Lander, Wyoming, in June and moved on to Buffalo. We learned a lot in those six years. Some of the learning confirmed our hunches. For example, if you make funding easy to access—no formal applications, no deadlines, and quick turn-around times so folks have the money they need in a couple of weeks—regular people will make things happen for their community. Lander did; close to 300 locals stepped forward to lead projects that made Lander even better than it already was. And that’s to say nothing of the hundreds of friends, relatives, and volunteers who helped each project become a reality. Meet some of them in this short film, which celebrates the incredible work we got to do with the Lander community.

https://lorfoundation.org/stories/lander-and-lor-six-years-of-community-work/

📹 Kyle Duba

After six years, nearly 500 community projects, and roughly $3.5 million of investment, the LOR Foundation is leaving the incredible community of Lander in June 2026. We’ve learned a lot in those six years. Some of the learning confirmed our hunches. For example, if you make funding easy to access...

07/24/2026

The LOR Foundation is a proud sponsor of the Bighorn Bluegrass Camp! These students have been hard at work all week and will show off their skills at 5 p.m. in Crazy Woman Square, followed by Prairie Wildfire and Friends at 7 p.m. Come on down and enjoy some tunes!

07/23/2026

Over the last three decades, rural counties across the U.S. have lost on average 10% to 20% of 15- to 29-year-olds due to migration. Libby, Montana, struggled to retain its young people, too, but investment in a series of local career and technical education (CTE) efforts has started to turn that tide. Over the last four years, Libby residents have launched more than a dozen CTE projects with funding from LOR Foundation. Now homegrown talent is staying local and businesses are tapping into a skilled workforce. Read about what the innovative residents of Libby are doing to change the trend at https://lorfoundation.org/stories/career-pathways-create-opportunity-for-libby-youth-and-businesses/.

07/13/2026

SMALL TOWN, BIG IDEA: Wheelchair ramps are essential pieces of equipment for Weiser, Idaho, residents who use mobility devices to access their homes or other buildings. But they also cost as much as $20,000 each and are rarely covered by insurance, limiting access and freedom of movement for those with mobility challenges.

Fortunately, a Weiser nonprofit had a plan: Secure several temporary ramps and lend them out as needed. Recently, The Daily Yonder explored how Love INC of Washington County is providing this critical resource, a project the LOR Foundation was proud to support.

When Melinda Nelson moved to Weiser, Idaho, in 2019, she bought a house with her mother and sister that has three steps leading to the entrance. Nelson

07/10/2026

The LOR Foundation will be in Crazy Woman Square this Saturday as part of Saturdays in the Square, and we'd love to see you! Stop by to learn more about who we are, say hello, and share your ideas for making our community an even better place to live. See you in the square!

As we get ready for our second Saturdays in the Square concert of the season this Saturday, we want to take a moment to recognize the incredible sponsors featured in the graphic below.

Events like this simply wouldn't be possible without the generous support of these businesses, organizations, and individuals. Many of these sponsors have been with us since the inception of this series in 2018! Their commitment to our community helps bring live music, local food and drinks, and a fun, family-friendly experience to downtown for everyone to enjoy.

When you attend Saturdays in the Square, we encourage you to support the businesses that make it all possible. Their investment in our community is what keeps events like this thriving.

Please join us in thanking these amazing sponsors for helping make Saturdays in the Square possible, we couldn't do it without them!

We'll see you this Saturday! We have an incredible lineup featuring: Winston Creek (Laramie), Jackson Holte (Pinedale), and Kaspen Haley and the Boxelder Stomp (Casper)!

07/01/2026

Love seeing Lander, Wyoming's innovative local farming community celebrated in WyoFile and the The Daily Yonder. LOR has been proud to support several of the groups and initiatives mentioned in Katie Klingsporn's insightful piece. Keep on growin', Lander!

This story is co-published with Wyofile. A meadowlark fills the air with its melody, singing above the rumble of the nearby Popo Agie River, in central

06/26/2026

The LOR Foundation is a proud sponsor of the annual Bighorn Bluegrass Camp, a music camp dedicated to teaching kids how to play bluegrass instruments. The summer event culminates in a camp concert for the public at 5 p.m. on July 24 in Crazy Woman Square, followed by an instructors’ concerts at 7.

So honored to receive a grant from the LOR Foundation for our Summer Camp! Come to our Camp Show on July 24th!

Early Registration Deadline is June 30!

06/22/2026

The LOR Foundation is excited to support a new grant opportunity with the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable for rural communities across the Mountain West.

The Mountain West Rural Outdoor Health and Recreation Grants support locally led outdoor recreation projects that improve community health, quality of life, and access to the outdoors, from building and improving trails and recreation assets to launching outdoor wellness programs and forging partnerships with local clinics, schools, parks, public health organizations, outdoor businesses, and more.

Applications are open now and close July 10, with selected communities announced in early August.

Learn more and apply on ORR's grant application page:

06/11/2026

The LOR Foundation is excited to help support Saturdays in the Square, an event that brings community members together to enjoy live music, connect with friends and neighbors, and celebrate the vibrant spirit of our community.

🌟 Sponsor Spotlight 🌟

A huge thank you to the LOR Foundation for being a Presenting Sponsor of Saturdays in the Square!

The LOR Foundation works with rural communities across the Mountain West to enhance livability and prosperity while preserving the character that makes each community unique. Their approach is simple but powerful: listen first, learn what matters most to local residents, and help turn community-driven ideas into action.

Buffalo is one of the newest communities where the LOR Foundation is building relationships and learning from local residents about their vision for the future. Through conversations, collaboration, and community engagement, they are committed to supporting projects and ideas that can make a positive impact right here in Johnson County.

We're grateful for their support of Saturdays in the Square and for their investment in bringing people together to celebrate everything that makes Buffalo such a special place to call home.

Interested in learning more about the LOR Foundation or sharing ideas for our community? Visit lorfoundation.org or connect with Buffalo Community Officer Jenn Burden.

Please join us in thanking the LOR Foundation for helping make another great season of Saturdays in the Square possible! 🎶☀️❤️

05/27/2026

The Daily Yonder 's Ilana Newman provides a fascinating look at how rye is having something of a renaissance in the San Luis Valley, thanks to its remarkable drought-tolerance, and two women behind the Rye Resurgence Project: https://dailyyonder.com/rye-resurgence-colorado/2026/05/12/

LOR is happy to support the Yonder's expanded coverage of coverage of rural communities in the Mountain West.

Rye uses less water than barley, potatoes, or alfalfa, other common crops in the San Luis Valley. A local group is helping farmers sell rye.

05/20/2026

SMALL TOWN, BIG IDEA: For years, Weiser, Idaho, locals have been clamoring for a central place to gather outside of their homes and work—a “third space.” With support from LOR, Weiser Public Library director Timbra Long has delivered that space. The library now hosts a variety of classes and workshops for the entire community—digital literacy, adult bookclub, teen takeover nights, among them—and has seen thousands more visitors each year.

“We hear a lot that libraries are just places that have books," Long said. "But they’re really community hubs."

Learn more about this unique rural Idaho project at

Over the last five years, the Weiser Public Library has added computer classes, teen nights, a book club, and other programs, bringing residents together to talk, laugh, and learn. (Photo by Sarah Miller)

05/12/2026

“As an organization dedicated to helping local people improve quality of life across all kinds of issues, LOR regularly sees the critical role local news outlets play in rural communities. Supporting them means ensuring the people who live in rural places… have access to the essential information they need and deserve.” —Gary Wilmot, LOR executive director

We appreciate Martha Ramirez's thorough reporting on the need for rural media funding in Inside Philanthropy. Thank you for including us!

Support for nonprofit local news is on the rise, but there's still vast need in underserved rural areas. Here's how several funding efforts are shaping up.

05/02/2026

How can people in rural towns overcome barriers and transform their communities? LOR spoke with Wyoming mom and volunteer Amber Peckham-Jones about how she launched several projects supporting individuals with disabilities and their families in Lander.

Amber Peckham-Jones, a Lander mom and advocate, has made it her mission to make life better for those with disabilities in Lander. With LOR's support, she has led three community projects, becoming a dedicated champion and leader. (Photo by Kristy Cardinal)