ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Not wanting to see diversion funds collected by the Meade County Sheriff’s Department sent to the state level, in 2019, a group of community members in that county formed a community foundation.
Cheyenne Federau, executive director of what is now the Meade County Community Foundation, said those funds were sent to the state because there was not a county organization where they could be sent.
“It had to be a county foundation for it to go to, so they founded the Meade County Community Foundation in 2019,” she said.
Through its first four years, Federau said MCCF did grant cycles and survived on those, but the foundation has grown significantly in the last two years.
“We’ve started doing some donation drives,” she said. “I was hired as executive director in May, and we hired a CFO in June. That’s through a grant through the Patterson Family Foundation, and we’ve been able to do a lot more now that we have two staff members dedicated to it. We gave out this last year $27,000 in grants to non-profits in Meade County. We’re pretty proud and excited about that.”
Federau said foundation leaders hope to keep MCCF growing.
“Dollars wise, we’ve given out just more than $40,000 since we started, and $27,000 of that was just this year,” she said. “We’ve grown a lot just this last year.”
In 2024, the foundation helped 18 non-profits, and since its inception, more than 40 such agencies have been helped. Federau said part of what MCCF has helped with is lab equipment in schools and a new yearbook camera for one high school.
“We did Christmas bags for the Meade Food Bank. Families got a turkey, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes,” she said. “They got paper towels, napkins, pumpkin, green beans, everything for a Christmas dinner. That one was really neat.”
Other projects include paying for the deductible for the roof of the senior center in Meade and turf for batting fields in Plains.,
“Those were projects that were definitely needed in the community, but there was no one to get them that money,” Federau said. “Non-profits have a hard time finding money anyway, and in a small community when you get hit up for everything, it’s even more difficult. It’s been really helpful to groups like them.”
Federau said the money MCCF gives out is extremely helpful to those who receive it.
“The hospital, they do several outreach events each year, and we have funded those since our inception,” she said. “They do a back to school bash. They fill backpacks for kids with school supplies and other things they need for going back to school. They do a trunk or treat every year, and they just did Cookies with Santa. I got to go to that one with my daughters, and that was pretty neat. They had a little craft and a nice community thing to do.”
As with small communities throughout Southwest Kansas, including Liberal and Dodge City, some in Meade County say there is little to do, and Federau said the foundation sponsored six different community events in Meade alone in 2024.
“We actually put on a pickleball tournament at a non-profit fair,” she said. “That was a great day. We had 300 to 500 people there. We had people from Oklahoma, people from California in our pickleball tournament. We even had people from outside the community there too.”
MCCF has two grant cycles each year, and these are open to any non-profit in Meade County.
“The applications are available now for our January grant cycle,” Federau said. “It’s one page front and back they fill out and send in to us. Last year, we were fortunate enough funds that we didn’t have to turn anybody down. We were able to grant at least partially. We didn’t fully fund all the projects, but we were able to at least partially fund all the projects.”
Federau said the highest grant awarded last year was for $3,500 to Meade Recreation for renovation of a baseball field, including the scoreboard and fencing, and the smallest was for $100.
Federau said foundations such as MCCF find the biggest need in the community, and this is the primary difference between a foundation and a non-profit.
“For instance, the library might need something this year,” she said. “They might need a new computer, a new desk, but they might not need that every year. If you give your money to the same place every year, they might not need it, and then they just spend it on things they don’t need to. We find the needs. We are also able to invest some of our money to make us more sustainable and make sure your dollars have an impact for a longer time.”
Federau said foundations improve life in the communities they serve primarily by giving people things to do, and MCCF does this for communities outside of Meade County as well.
“I’ve lived here my whole life, and that’s always the thing I hear,” she said. “One example that’s extending outside of Meade County was were able to fund an app through the Fowler library. There have been people from Clark County, Ford County and Gray County who have signed up through the Fowler library to get a library card so they can use that app. As long as you go to the Fowler library and get a library card, you can use it from anywhere. That’s one way we are impacting all of Southwest Kansas rather than just Meade County. With the baseball renovation, there are towns from all over that play there. That’s going to be a great place for kids to play.”
Along with the continued growth, Federau said she hopes people will see the need the foundation is filling and continue to help with that mission.
“I used to teach,” she said. “I loved it. I loved working with kids. I loved working with the community, but we farm, and we had a daughter. I was never home. I did FFA. I was gone all the time.”
Federau said the foundation has allowed her to see how it can help the community and be a part of the change it is creating.
“I think it’s really great to set an impact for my children,” she said. “I want to make this a place where they want to live and they want to raise their kids. The legacy we’re leaving is making it better for the generations to come.”
Donations to MCCF can be sent through the mail at P.O. Box 1302, Meade, KS 67864 and online.
“There’s a link on our Web site. Our Web site is meadecountycommunityfoundation.org,” Federau said.
For more information, visit the Meade County Community Foundation Facebook page, or e-mail Federau at
First I must say that I signed up for the Dolly Pardon Imagination Library program through my daycare of Amanda’s daycare. My adopted five year old gets a book each month and we add it to the collection of books we read routinely! So grateful for this opportunity!
I would like to add to this project with a coalition I have locally that is Meade County Safe Kids. This is a worldwide organization and was founded locally 14 years ago. I am the local coordinator and I put together projects like buckle up, car seat check ups, spot the tot, look before you lick campaign, fire detectors and carbon monoxide detectors give aways, walk this way for pedestrian safety and bike to school days for bicycle safety just to mention a few. I would love to be involved in the local chapter!!!