Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg, First National Bank of Omaha, and the Nebraska Library Commission presented 15 children with $529 NEST College Savings scholarships today for the annual Read to Win $529 Drawing.
The scholarships were presented at the Nebraska State Capitol Rotunda in Lincoln.
Children between the ages of 3 and 18 who registered for Summer Reading Programs at their local libraries and who completed local requirements for the programs were automatically entered in the drawing. Five winners were chosen in the random drawing from each of Nebraska’s three U.S. Congressional Districts. Each winner was awarded $529 in a NEST 529 College Savings Plan account, and the child’s respective library branch received $250 from First National Bank of Omaha, program manager for NEST.
This summer’s Read to Win Drawing received almost 11,000 entries.
In addition to the 15 Nebraska children who were awarded NEST scholarships, nine local library branches received $250 each.
“I am pleased to be a part of the NEST Read to Win event and to lend my support to young readers and their community libraries. Community libraries play an important role in nurturing children’s love of reading and providing children with books to spark their imaginations,” said State Treasurer Stenberg, who is Trustee of the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust, known as NEST.
“At NEST, we also hope to spark children’s imaginations and encourage them to dream big for their futures. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for parents and grandparents to save for those big dreams through our state-sponsored college savings program,” Stenberg said.
“Since 2014, First National Bank of Omaha has awarded more than $32,000 to summer readers through our Read to Win Scholarship Drawing,” said Deborah Goodkin, Managing Director, Savings Plans, First National Bank of Omaha. “This is our third year partnering with the Nebraska Library Commission, and the shared mission of encouraging children to read and teaching them about financial literacy through saving for college has been truly rewarding.”
The 2016 winners and the libraries where they participated in summer reading are the following:
Libraries receiving donations in the Read to Win event are as follows:
To find out more about NEST College Savings Plans, visit www.NEST529.com or treasurer.nebraska.gov.
About NEST
NEST is a tax-advantaged 529 college savings plan and provides four plans to help make saving for college simple and affordable: NEST Direct College Savings Plan, the NEST Advisor College Savings Plan, the Bloomwell 529 Education Savings Plan, and the State Farm 529 Savings Plan. The Nebraska State Treasurer serves as Program Trustee. Union Bank & Trust Company serves as Program Manager, and all investments are approved by the Nebraska Investment Council. Families nationwide are saving for college using Nebraska’s 529 College Savings Plans, which have more than 285,000 accounts, including over 94,000 in Nebraska. Visit NEST529.com and treasurer.nebraska.gov for more information.
About First National Bank of Omaha
First National Bank of Omaha is a subsidiary of First National of Nebraska. First National of Nebraska and its affiliates have more than $23 billion in assets and 5,000 employee associates. Primary banking offices are located in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Texas.
