Community Engagement

Caring for Clinton Partnership

2026 Campaign

The School of Natural Resources has begun its annual effort to wrap Clinton Elementary School students in warmth through its Caring for Clinton Campaign, which runs through December 10^th at Hardin Hall, 3310 Holdrege St., Lincoln. Donations will be collected in the Hardin Hall main lobby.

Student population: 500 | Student to Teacher Ratio: 19 to 1 | Regular Education Classrooms: 24 | Resource Education Classrooms: 6 | English Language Learners Classrooms: 5

Clinton is a CEP school, a special USDA meals option for schools with a high percentage of free lunch enrollment. Breakfast and lunch is free for all Clinton students.

Clinton student's needs are primarily for fall and winter as this is the time the students are most in need.

Boys/girls coats with hoods: 7/8, 10/12, 14/16, 18/20
Boys/girls hoodies and long-sleeved t-shirts: s, m, l, xl
Girls' leggings:s-6/6x; m-7/8; L-10/12; XL-14-16; adult- s-m
Warm-up pants: s-6/6x; m-7/8; L-10/12; XL-14-16
Hats and gloves/mittens: kid size--no adult gloves, please | knitted mittens, please
No shoes unless new
No underware
No summer clothing
No adult clothing

Deadline: December 10, 2026

Monetary donations can be made by check or cash to the Nebraska Maps & More store in the Hardin Hall South Lobby. Please make checks out to ‘Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools’ with ‘Clinton Emergency Fund’ on the ledger line. Donations can also be made online at https://foundationforlps.org/give/inspiring-dreams-fund.html Type in "Clinton Emergency Fund" under the donation amount. For our records, if you donate online, we request you let Ann Powers know the amount by email: apowers4@unl.edu. Thank you!

History

Clinton Elementary School has played an important role in the education of children in Lincoln, Nebraska since the mid 1800’s. On July 29,1867 land was set aside for public schools. Clinton was one of the first schools created. The school began in a one-room building located near the Rock Island Railroad tracks and 27th Street. The first school building was constructed from 1890-91 at 29th and Clinton (only 23 years after Nebraska became a state.). The school was named in honor of DeWitt Clinton who was the governor of New York in 1825. Dewitt Clinton was considered a pioneer for democracy and is also remembered for his role in the successful construction of the Erie Canal. In 1925 the existing school building was built and opened November 18, 1926. (Source:1985 PTA)

Clinton Elementary School celebrated their 100 year birthday in 2025.

Since 2007, the School of Natural Resources has partnered with Clinton Elementary School — just up the street from Hardin Hall on Holdrege Street — for an annual winter donation drive.

The supplies we collect help provide warm coats and clothes, as well as basic toiletries, to the nearly 500 children who attend school there. Ninety-five percent of those students qualify for free- or reduced-price lunches, and a higher percentage of the families’ whose students attend there live in poverty than much of Lincoln, according to the school’s family care coordinator.

In 2018, our Coats for Clinton campaign underwent rebranding when an anonymous donor came forward who would match up to $1,000 in cash donations. That year, Caring for Clinton was born, with two campaigns set over a six-week period. The first, Cash for Clinton, brought in nearly $3,000, and it was followed by the Coats for Clinton campaign, which saw the same number of clothing donations as years prior.

The winter 2019 Caring for Clinton campaign also was expanded to include a second donation drive —this one focused on toiletries and other essentials — and timed for January and February, when available donations to the school typically decrease.