Honoring Sydney:
Looking Back on the Sydney Loofe Memorial Scholarship
Sometimes, the people who come into our lives leave a lasting impact in ways we never could have imagined. That is certainly true of the Loofe family and our journey with the Sydney Loofe Memorial Scholarship.
Our relationship with the Loofe family began because of a student in the Neligh school district. She was working on an FCCLA project and invited The Set Me Free Project to speak to students and the community about human trafficking prevention. Of course, we said yes.
What we couldn't have known was that shortly before we were scheduled to speak in Neligh, Sydney Loofe would be found.
Sydney had been murdered after meeting someone for a date through a social media app. Her death was not connected to human trafficking, but her story was heartbreaking, and it shook the entire community.
Sydney's dad, George, was the principal of the school, and her mom, Susie, also worked there. We reached out to George, not knowing what to say, but wanting the family to know we were there for them in whatever way they needed.
I will never forget that conversation. George told us that we could tell her story to help others. He shared that human trafficking was something he had never really thought much about before, but now he couldn't stop thinking about it.
What began as a school presentation became a relationship with a family we came to care about deeply.
A Scholarship Born Out of Love
In 2019, our curriculum specialist, Danielle Howell, came to us with an idea. What if we created a scholarship in Sydney's name?
We loved the idea. We wanted to do something that would keep Sydney's memory alive while helping another young person pursue their dreams. We reached out to George and Susie to ask for their blessing, and they graciously said yes.
There was just one little problem. We didn't actually have the money! We figured we could come up with $500 for that first scholarship. It wasn't much, but it was something we could do to honor Sydney. And then something wonderful happened. People heard about the scholarship and started giving. Friends, community members, and people touched by Sydney's story wanted to be part of it.
That first year, instead of $500, we were able to award Abigail Osterhaus, our very first Sydney Loofe Memorial Scholarship recipient, $3,000! I still remember how incredible that felt. What started as a small idea had become something so much bigger because people cared.
A Family's Love Continues to Give
For the first two years, The Set Me Free Project funded the scholarship. After that, the Loofe family stepped in and offered to host a golf tournament to help fund it. And they did just that! Because of their generosity, hard work, and the many people who supported their efforts, we were able to award a $4,000 scholarship every year.
Then, in 2025 and again in 2026, something special happened. We had two applicants each year who truly stood out. Choosing just one was difficult, so we approached the Loofe family about awarding two scholarships. They said yes. Each of those years, one student received $4,000 and another received $1,500.
I wish everyone could have seen some of the applications we received over the years. These were young people with dreams, goals, compassion, and a desire to make a difference. Reading their stories reminded us why we started the scholarship in the first place.
We wanted something good to come from something so heartbreaking. And for seven years, it did.
Remembering Sydney, George, and Seven Years of Giving
After seven meaningful years, we are saddened to share that The Set Me Free Project will no longer be offering the Sydney Loofe Memorial Scholarship. This marks the end of an era for us, one filled with special relationships, wonderful young people, and memories we will always treasure.
This scholarship has meant so much to us over the past seven years. We created it because we wanted to honor Sydney, support young people, and do something meaningful for a family and community that had experienced an unimaginable loss. Along the way, we gained so much more than we expected.
We developed a special relationship with George and Susie. We walked alongside the family through some incredibly difficult times, and they became people we cared about personally, not just through our work. When George passed away, it was another heartbreaking loss. We had the privilege of honoring him at one of our fundraisers, and I am so grateful we had that opportunity. George was a big part of why this scholarship meant so much to us, and I will always remember those early conversations with him.
After seven years, it is difficult to say goodbye to something we created and poured so much of our hearts into. But I also know that the good that came from those years cannot be taken away.
We founded the Sydney Loofe Memorial Scholarship in 2019 with the blessing of George and Susie, and for seven years, The Set Me Free Project had the honor of helping young people pursue their dreams in Sydney's memory.
That is something we will always be proud of.
To everyone who donated, volunteered, supported the golf tournaments, helped review applications, or encouraged a student to apply, thank you. You helped make this scholarship possible, and we are grateful for every single one of you.
Most of all, I want to remember why we started.
We wanted Sydney's name to be associated with something hopeful. We wanted young people to have opportunities. And we wanted George and Susie to know that their daughter mattered, that her life mattered, and that she would not be forgotten. I hope we accomplished that.
Sydney, we never had the opportunity to know you, but you became part of our story. And for seven years, we had the privilege of making you part of someone else's future. We will always be grateful for that.
The scholarship recipients over the years
2026
Devin Bossard & Camry Kittelson
2025
Ashley Caballero-Lazaro & Liam Tvrdy
2024
Sydney Olsen
2023
Skyler Meis
2022
Mallory Zorn
2021
Sierra Bryant
2020
Campbell Mandery
2019
Abigail Osterhaus
SYDNEY WITH A "Y"
(This was a story written to share her story to scholarship applicants)
Special thank you to her parents: George and Susie Loofe for sharing her story, and to family friend, Tammy Schindler, for helping to make this story come to life.
Sydney with a 'Y.' Spelling her name that way isn't all that made her unique. Caribbean blue eyes that glistened, white-blond hair, and a sweet smile that turned up a little in one corner (accented by a dimple)—those traits, from the time she was a toddler until she was 24 years old—always lit up a room.
From early on, she could have been dubbed Sydney with a "Why," as she was an incredibly inquisitive child. For instance, one winter when she was three, she wondered whether her tongue would stick to the frost-covered pump in the backyard. It did. At age four, she asked what would happen if she called 9-1-1. Thankfully, her mom intercepted the return call before any emergency personnel was sent out.
She wasn't too ornery of a child, just a curious one, often exploring and playing outdoors for hours (most often with her siblings, Levi and MacKenzie). On one occasion, she saved her sister, choking on an Atomic Fireball, by performing the Heimlich maneuver. She loved her siblings deeply, so coming to their rescue was a natural response. It was part of her nature. Even in her adult life, rescuing others seemed to be a recurrent theme, as she opened her home to several acquaintances who were homeless, down on their luck, or just needed a helping hand. She hated to see people suffer.
Sydney, with a "y," never stopped to ask "why" when it came to helping others. Although she often struggled physically, financially, and emotionally, she opened her home and heart to others. And those who knew Sydney knew of her love of family, her affinity for animals and pets (especially cats), her interest in fishing as a pastime, her fascination with beautiful crystals, and her soft heart.
After high school, Sydney was a little unsure of the direction she wanted to pursue for her future, but she had dreams. Once, that included becoming a marine biologist. But college proved to be a somewhat difficult path for her right out of high school, so she settled for trips to the zoo to satisfy her love of exotic animals. In the meantime, she found a career, and a circle of friends, at Menard's in Lincoln.
When she didn't show up to work one day, her co-workers became worried and reported her absence. Her family feared the worst but clung to hope that no one would harm their beautiful, trusting, kind daughter. Tragically, that wasn't true. Sadly, Sydney, the crystal-blue-eyed girl with a soft heart, who was just 24 years old, was taken from this earth on November 16, 2017.
In her short time here, she touched lives in Arcadia (where Sydney and her family lived until she was seven; in Neligh, where she graduated from high school in 2011; and in Lincoln, where she worked; as well as numerous acquaintances she made along the way.
Sydney Loofe was a unique child of God, one who proudly had this tattooed on her arm, "Everything will be wonderful someday." Her family holds tight to the faith that indeed in heaven, that is true.