A study about mice has been taking up a lot of my thoughts lately. Yes, mice. But it is the study’s

relevance to humans that is important.

Known as the Universe 25 Experiment, a series of studies in the 1960s and ‘70s was conducted

on mice to observe the effects of a utopian environment with unlimited resources but limited

space. It was repeated 25 times to the same exact results; hence the name of Universe 25.

While at first it led to a population boom, the situation eventually led to the collapse of society. It

is not exactly an uplifting study to read but it was eye-opening.

I am no scientist, staying as far away from beakers and hypothesis as possible, but my take-

away was that a perfect world with no conflicts and no differences is worse for humankind than

everyone being the same. With all their problems solved, there was no way for the mice to make

a difference in their community. With no need to change anything, the mice gave up being

engaged in their community.

They were no longer needed to make a difference for future generations, so the mice no longer

tried. They quit interacting. They quit having babies. They quit socializing.

There was a social breakdown because they just focused on themselves and eventually the

group became extinct. They no longer needed each other or served a purpose to exist - so they

didn’t.

The chances of our world or our communities ever becoming a utopia is slim to none. And while

we may wish for everything to be perfect, our species is designed to have a need for a purpose,

to be engaged, to have differences so that we can help one another.

Ask people who are doing things in their communities why they are doing the things they do.

They will say they are trying to make a better world for the next generation. They are trying to

leave a planet better for their children and grandchildren. They are trying to make their

communities even better for their friends and family - now and in the future.

Because of our need to feel useful and make a difference, it is why we do the things we do.

It is why we have service clubs like the Optimists and Rotary that host youth basketball

tournaments and prepare community dinners. We are meant to serve others.

It is why bloodmobiles are conducted throughout the year with people willingly tolerating a bit of

pain and giving up an hour of their time. We are here to help our fellow man.

It is why people volunteer in their community, when they give up their evening to pick up trash

along the highway or use their lunch hour to visit with a TeamMate. We want to a make a

difference.

If you need even more proof that people ultimately want to be helpful, look no further than the

past two weeks.

The 2025 Southwest Nebraska Big Give took place on Nov. 6, helping 45 non-profit

organizations in the area. Once again, the one-day of giving reached record levels with the most

number of donations and the most number of dollars donated. At last count, the total was

around $393,000, the most ever for the 24-hours of philanthropy.

Our community knows that we need these organizations to help others who are in need and to

help groups improving the quality of life and people showed their support with their

contributions.

At the same time, McCook churches came together for the “McCook Meal Kits.” People donated

their money to purchase the food items and they donated their time to put the shelf-stable meal

kits together for distribution this week at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds.

We never want to see anyone go hungry, so our community came together to hopefully ease the

situation. And the project will likely continue so there is still the opportunity to donate time or

money by visiting www.mccookmealkits.org.

At the end of the day, we all want to make an impact and we want to know we made a difference

in the world around us.

There are so many ways to do that. It may be volunteering for one of the groups in the Big Give

or any of the other local organizations making a difference in our community. Maybe it is sharing

your skills with the next generation. Or it is donating a few dollars that keep the lights on for a

family in need.

While we may think we want to live in utopia, we are better off living to serve one another and

working together to make our communities even better places to call home.