LOR Foundation

10/13/2026

10/07/2026

A few more smiles from last week’s Taos Champions Reception! 📸🎞

10/06/2026

Our Taos Champions Event has quickly become one of my favorite nights of the year. 💛🎉 Celebrating the incredible people who have led LOR-supported projects or partnered with us in other ways to make a positive difference in Taos always leaves me feeling inspired and grateful. There’s something so hopeful about seeing a room full of people who care deeply about our community and generously share their time, talents, and energy to make life better for their neighbors.

A huge thank you to D.C Barrone Photography for documenting the evening so beautifully, Laine’s Taco Truck (of KOKO) for the wonderful food, and the Taos International School Mariachis for bringing so much joy and spirit to the night. And, of course, thank you to everyone who joined us and gave us so much to celebrate. 🙏

09/22/2026

It’s clear we have so many wonderful people who care deeply about our community. Many of those who participated have volunteered with a local group, served on a nonprofit board, or attended a community meeting within the last six months.

It’s also clear that time is the biggest challenge. Work, family, and everyday responsibilities can make it difficult to stay involved. Others simply aren’t sure where to begin.

The good news is that community involvement doesn’t always require a huge commitment. Send an email. Make a phone call. Speak up about an issue that matters to you. Attend one important meeting for an hour. Volunteer at one event when you can.

Every small action matters and together, those actions can make a big difference in Taos.

Thank you to everyone who participated! There’s more to come, so stay tuned! 🙌 💛

09/17/2026

Looking for something to do this weekend! Taos Historic Museums has you covered! Join the fun!

09/17/2026

Gracias a todos!!❤️🫶

THANK YOU to everyone who joined yesterday’s Tap into Taos meet and greet! It was an informal opportunity to connect, see who’s interested, and gather a little feedback. We’d love to take it a step further with more opportunities to get involved and have a voice in Taos’s future. Whether you’re new here or your roots go back generations, your voice matters. 🫶

Next time, I’d love to see so many familiar faces that I lose count! But I know work, family and life make it hard to attend every event and I want to find ways to include those who couldn’t make it.

Interested in learning more? Email me at [email protected] with the subject “I want more information: Tap into Taos.” Let’s stay connected!

Mi comunidad, mi corazon.❤️

09/15/2026

Hey Taos! A new opportunity has emerged and LOR is excited to support this project.

If you were someone you know could benefit from goat grazing, reach out to Taos Land Trust for more information! ☀️

Thanks to LOR Foundation, our Livestock Lending program has officially launched!

Oliver and Sweetie are hard at work regenerating land in Taos and eating lots of noxious weeds along the way. If you have between ¼ acre - 2 acres and are willing to do daily goat chores and provide hay, you may be a good candidate for our grazing program. The only cost to you is the hay you provide the goats!

We are also looking for candidates for bale grazing this winter and can help connect you with funding support for bale grazing costs.

Apply at https://forms.gle/ZCYq6sTeG93p7en76 or email [email protected].

09/15/2026

Wednesday plans???

Join us for our “Tap Into Taos”
Pop Up Happy Hour
5 to 7 p.m. at DALEEE (KTAOS Solar Center.)

Come enjoy some fun in the sun, meet new people, catch up with familiar faces, and learn more about ways to get involved and make your voice heard in Taos.

Your first drink and snacks are on LOR while supplies last. Bring a friend. See ya on Wednesday!🫶

09/09/2026

Join us this Saturday, the 29th, to learn about regenerative grazing businesses and programs here in Taos County. 10 - 11am at Rio Fernando Park.

~ and .goatworks will share information about their grazing businesses
~ We will roll out our new Livestock Loan Program at Taos Land Trust (ideal for small acreage properties)
~ will speak about their bale grazing program

Huge thanks to LOR Foundation for helping us get our regenerative grazing program off the ground! We are deeply grateful for the support.

(We have opportunities for PAID WORK supporting our Livestock Rental Program. Email [email protected] if you are interested).

08/31/2026

How do we move from caring about our community to getting involved in shaping it? ❤️

That’s part of what inspired Tap Into Taos.

LOR invites you to join us for a casual happy hour focused on connection, community, and getting involved. Come meet other Taoseños, make new connections, share what matters to you, and explore ways we can have a stronger voice in the future of our community.

This isn’t a formal meeting or presentation. It’s simply a chance to get together, exchange ideas, learn from one another, and see where the conversation takes us.

Bring a friend, meet someone new, and come Tap Into Taos with us. ☀️

Details below….

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

08/04/2026

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...

07/23/2026

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

07/01/2026

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

06/22/2026

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:

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)