A star on the program was worth $500 at Saturday’s 10th anniversary celebration for the Douglas County Community Foundation.

The foundation was all about giving back while celebrating its birthday, allowing 10 randomly chosen people to donate the $500 to the local nonprofit group of their choice. Three community leaders also were awarded $5,000 each for their nonprofit groups as the inaugural recipients of the Tensie Oldfather Community Service Award.

The Douglas County Community Foundation’s goal is to support local nonprofit groups and better the lives of people in Douglas County, and it has done so by awarding almost $5 million in grants to 200 organizations. Executive director Chip Blaser said that in 10 years, the group has only scratched the surface of meeting the needs of local organizations, and donating is especially important when the economy is doing poorly.

“We are fortunate because so many donors in the community have picked up some of the slack,” he said.

The three recipients of the Oldfather awards were Dianne Ensminger, president of the Ballard Center; Midge Grinstead, executive director of the Lawrence Humane Society; and Nikki King, director of Health Care Access.

None of the recipients knew they were being honored. Grinstead said she guessed the other two, but was floored when she heard her own work being described. And the money will go a long way at the humane society.

“It’s stuff I’d have to beg for,” Grinstead said.

She said half the money would go toward training workers and the other half to a county animal response team.

To learn more about the organization or donate to its cause, visit dccfoundation.org.