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Sally Campbell (back to camera) hugs Barbara Keating while Con Keating (at right) looks on at the Lincoln Community Foundation's annual awards luncheon.
![Marc and Kathy LeBaron](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=150%2C156 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=200%2C209 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=225%2C235 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=300%2C313 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=400%2C417 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=540%2C563 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=640%2C668 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=750%2C782 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=990%2C1033 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C1080 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C1252 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C1391 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/90/7901d678-0ca7-11ef-a84f-c31364438a6a/663a8126a7082.image.jpg?resize=1409%2C1470 1476w)
Marc and Kathy LeBaron with the 2024 Lincoln Community Foundation Charity Award.
![Civic Leadership Award - Sally and Jack Campbell](https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=150%2C154 150w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=200%2C206 200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=225%2C232 225w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=300%2C309 300w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=400%2C412 400w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=540%2C556 540w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=640%2C659 640w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=750%2C772 750w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=990%2C1019 990w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=1035%2C1066 1035w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C1236 1200w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=1333%2C1372 1333w, https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/journalstar.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/2/a1/2a1c6d74-0ca8-11ef-b21f-0b06bfd5b6e0/663a83ba3e744.image.jpg?resize=1419%2C1461 1476w)
Sally and Jack Campbell with the JoAnn Martin Civic Leadership Award.
It was a warm spring day on April 30 when more than 300 Lincolnites came together at the Lincoln Community Foundation’s annual luncheon to celebrate two pillars of our community. Marc and Kathy LeBaron were recognized as recipients of the 2024 Charity Award, and Jack and Sally Campbell were honored with the JoAnn Martin Civic Leadership Award.
“The contributions of these couples have shaped our skyline and improved the quality of life in Lincoln,” said LCF President/CEO Alec Gorynski. “They truly embody what it means to give, act and lead for our community.”
Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird’s comments opened the celebration and reflected on the generous spirit of both honorees.
“I encourage all of us to look to the inspired and inspiring examples of the LeBarons and the Campbells and imagine how we can put our generosity in motion for this community we love,” she said.
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Charity Award
The Charity Award was established by the Foundation to provide the community with an opportunity to recognize individuals for their philanthropic contributions. Marc and Kathryn (Kathy) LeBaron were honored as the 2024 recipients.
Both Lincoln natives and graduates of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the LeBarons’ philanthropy has focused on making Lincoln a better place to live, work and raise a family as well as helping vulnerable children and supporting the arts.
Paige Piper, executive director of BraveBe Child Advocacy Center, shared how the LeBarons’ involvement in our community has made it a brighter, safer and more welcoming place for all.
“To know Marc and Kathy is to know passion for cause and a willingness to spring into action to help those in need,” said Piper. “Simply put, their generosity is equal parts inspiring and contagious.”
Marc is president and CEO of Lincoln Industries. He purchased the business in 1983 from his father Dale. Now 70 years after its founding, it is still a family-owned business with the LeBarons’ daughters Katie Haszard and Kassy Knudson at the company in leadership roles.
“Marc is a phenomenal business leader and innovator,” shared Tom Henning. “How do you give back to the community? Well, one major way is to run a great business and create a lot of great jobs, which Marc and Kathy have clearly done at Lincoln Industries.”
Beyond job creation, the LeBarons and Lincoln Industries support the community in a variety of ways. They provide paid time off for employees to volunteer and lend their leadership to their passion projects like Junior Achievement and Willard Community Center.
“The Willard Community Center capital campaigns that Kathy and I have been a part of made such a difference – not only for the Center but for the neighborhood,” remarked Candy Henning. “The child care, the education and the spaces that it provides for the community to come together is so important. It’s changed the neighborhood, and I know it’s changing people’s lives.”
The LeBarons are also avid collectors and supporters of the arts. They both recognize the positive impact that art has on society and work to make it accessible to their community. They provide leadership to arts organizations like Public Art Lincoln and Museum of Nebraska Art, and they create new art spaces in our community like their private gallery with Karen and Robert Duncan, The Assemblage.
“We were in Berlin, Germany on an art trip Marc and Kathy were leading when we came up with this idea for additional space for our collections,” shared Robert. “When we came home, we searched for a while and finally found a building, and it’s been a great asset for both us and the community.”
The LeBarons’ exceptional philanthropy now inspires the next generation of their family.
“Kath and I are privileged to have two wonderful daughters and sons-in-law that share our philosophy and are active in numerous organizations in our community,” said Marc. “I am intensively proud that they are, in spite of their busy lives, committed to making Lincoln a better place and carrying on the tradition.”
JoAnn Martin Civic Leadership Award
The JoAnn Martin Civic Leadership Award recognizes a strong commitment to servant leadership through volunteer service to nonprofit and civic organizations. The award was established and first presented to JoAnn Martin shortly before her passing in the fall of 2021 by a group of community leaders, including leaders from Ameritas and NRC. They also established an endowment at the Foundation to sustain JoAnn’s leadership legacy along with her family.
Jack and Sally Campbell became the third recipients of the award. Their story started nearly 80 years ago, when they were set up on a blind date in high school by a mutual friend. Jack was from Lincoln and Sally lived in Kearney. Their first date was to see Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra at the Turnpike.
“Two and a half dollars a ticket too,” Jack remembered with a laugh.
They went on to attend and graduate from UNL together. After Jack’s service in the Air Force, they returned to Lincoln to raise their family while Jack enjoyed a 40-year career with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Leslie Levy, executive director of the International Quilt Museum, spoke for many when she reflected on what makes the Campbells so special to this community.
“When you think about Jack and Sally Campbell, you think about them together as this incredible duo,” she said. “They are lively, kind and compassionate. They live every day to the fullest, and when they walk into a room, they just light it up.”
For the Campbells, living every day to the fullest has meant years of service to organizations including the Cooper Foundation, Friends of Lied, Nebraska Cultural Endowment and countless others. They both have a passion for the arts and humanities that is reflected in the opportunities they choose to be involved in.
As a founder of the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, Jack worked tirelessly to bring together the interests of private citizens and elected officials to establish the first public-private trust to fund both the arts and humanities in 1998.
Jack’s college connection to Johnny Carson – who he knew in school as John – led to a $500,000 grant from the Carson Foundation, the first major gift to the Cultural Endowment.
“Johnny Carson saw the good work being done in Nebraska and he knew people like Jack Campbell were involved,” said Chris Sommerich, executive director of Humanities Nebraska. “The Carson Foundation continues to support the Cultural Endowment all these years later.”
Sally is the former president of the Lincoln Quilters Guild and served as president for Junior League. Her love for quilting and people intersected often in her community service. Greg Jensen, former senior director of development for the University of Nebraska Foundation, reflected on how he first heard about Sally.
“Spearheaded by Sally, a group of quilters from all over the country put a quilt together and flew to Sweden to present it to the queen,” he said. “That was really a big deal. It made a lot of press for Lincoln, Nebraska, to have many of our own present this gift.”
For Jack and Sally, it is the friendships they continue to make – both in Lincoln and across the state – that inspire their service and keep them so involved.
“Jack and Sally’s presence in Lincoln was in the right place at the right time,” said Laurie Richards, interim film programmer for The Ross. “We are very fortunate, and we should feel blessed that they have been part of all this activity. We honor them today, and we thank them so much.”