Ten years ago, my husband and I stood at a departure gate at the Denver International Airport, watching the plane pull away from the terminal. Our oldest daughter Anna was on board, headed to Germany as a Rotary foreign exchange student for the entirety of her junior year of high school. (How we got to stand at the departure gate rather than being turned away at the security check is a longer story, but let’s just say it involved a mother’s tears.)

We were going to miss her, but we knew she would be gaining experiences of a lifetime, including different lifestyles, different foods, different cultures. And we knew she would return a better person for having learned about other people, but also hoping she would have a better appreciation for her own home, town and country.

Fast forward 10 years…

Earlier this month, my husband and I, along with two fellow host parents, the Rambali's, stood at the DIA international arrival gate, waiting for our own Rotary exchange student to arrive. 

Emerging from the sliding doors, our exchange students Juls strolled out after more than 13 hours of flights from Barcelona, Spain, dragging two suitcases almost as big as her but with a smile on her face. 

Arriving with a good understanding of the English language (compared to our non-existent Spanish skills), she has transitioned into her host community wonderfully. This has been aided by community members who are welcoming her with open arms and wanting to share what they love about their community. 

If you want to grow a deeper appreciation about your community or learn more about your own community, look at it through a visitor’s eyes. This is especially true when that visitor only knows about your country from television and movies. 

And thanks to her presence, it has given us and others an opportunity to appreciate and embrace what makes our hometowns and our communities unique.


When we finally got to our house on her first night in Nebraska, it was dark, so she couldn’t comprehend the environment she was going to be calling home for the next 11 months. 

On her first full day in the US, we started the process of getting her settled into the community, including enrolling in school and preparing for the upcoming fall sports season.

For those who don’t know, Barcelona is approximately 8 million people. As a reminder, McCook has less than 8,000 residents inside the city limits. We knew there was going to be a bit of culture shock based on the population difference alone.

Instead, what seems to have caught her attention is the vastness of the space around us. As we drove down the country road toward McCook, she marveled at the openness on both sides of the vehicle. The field corn towered on both side of the roads and stretched on for miles and miles. 

Because we live it everyday, we take for granted that we can see for miles over the open fields and across the clear skies. How often do we overlook the fact that we can walk outside nearly every evening to a sky shining full of stars?

Her next comment was about the number of vehicles. Those who know my family know that we have a lot of vehicles, even by American standards. It regularly looks like we are having a party, when it just means everyone is home. With seven kids combined with living in the country, a fleet of vehicles is almost a requirement to get anywhere.

I had to explain that nearly everyone gets around our community in a vehicle because we are so spread out and because public transportation is not as abundant as her in her hometown. Although I would be remiss not to mention that we are blessed to have Amtrak stop in McCook and many of our city governments provide some transportation in the form of vans.

On her first full weekend in the U.S., we shared another tradition that many of us take for granted but could be seen as anomaly by others: camping. 

Actually when you stop to think about it, camping really is an odd concept. We drove 15 miles from a perfectly good, air-conditioned, bug-free home with privacy, running water and soft beds for all the resident.

Instead, we loaded up in the RV and headed to the nearby state recreation area, yet another blessing that many of us take for granted. The lake had only a few other boats on the water, many of them fishing. The campground was nearly full with friends in their own campers, providing plenty of options for the kids to visit, games to play and snacks to steal.

And that is just in the first two weeks.

We along with the other host parents get the joy of sharing with Juls many more experiences over the upcoming year. 

She has experienced more than her fill of Americanized-Mexican food, but we are looking forward to sharing all the different ethnic foods available because the U.S. is great about assimilating so many other cultures. She gets to experience her first school bus ride to a high school sporting event and the bonding that comes with it. And she gets to experience a high school dance and the awkwardness that comes with it. 

We don’t have to go abroad for a year to gain all these experiences. We need to simply take a few minutes, look around us to gain a greater appreciation for our communities.

By Ronda Graff July 29, 2025
Judy McCune named July 2025 McCook volunteer of the month
By Ronda Graff July 29, 2025
Joyce Anderson named June 2025 McCook Volunteer of the Month
By Ronda Graff July 29, 2025
Sharing our resources, such as books and bikes and even benches, help our community better for everyone.
By Ronda Graff July 19, 2025
For many years, McCook did just enough to get by but now there is a flurry of activity - with much more possible - which we should be celebrating.
By Ronda Graff July 15, 2025
Family Resource Center is using a grant from MCFF to support current and new projects.
By Gavin Harsh July 9, 2025
It was fall of 2012. I was a senior in high school and preparing for the next chapter of my life, college. I was determined that I was going to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln for physical therapy. I also knew to go through undergrad and graduate school I was going to need a lot of scholarships or “student debt” would be my middle name. With that mindset, I ultimately decided not to play basketball my senior year to allocate my time to scholarship applications and a part-time job. It was a tough decision since I enjoyed playing basketball and being around my friends, but it was an investment toward my future. Flash forward to early spring, where I was absolutely blessed by being recognized as a recipient of numerous scholarships that alleviated a major financial burden! Leading up to that point, I was already active in community service projects. But upon receiving those scholarships, I was motivated to give back and say “thank you” for the investment in my education by others. I wanted to do something big, something that would impact the community. Through various conversations and research, I decided to bring back an iconic memory to many McCook natives, a drive-in movie. Through strong partnerships with many local businesses and volunteers, we held a drive-in movie not only my senior year but also my first two years of college, as I returned to help coordinate the project. During the three years of shows in McCook, we rented all the equipment from Dallas, but the dream was to build a permanent, non-profit drive-in for the community to use. However, as I progressed further in my new career of farming, my resources of time and energy were capped and the event sat idle. That is until a group of young, ambitious, and talented students picked up the lost baton. During numerous discussions, Youth Change Reaction members, otherwise known as YCR, shared that they wanted to complete a big project. Many ideas were tossed around, but when the idea of bringing back the drive-in movie came about, it stuck for two reasons: these young adults had memories of attending drive-in movies plus it would meet their goal of going BIG. In the process of picking up the lost baton, their journey into uncharted waters included raising $75,000, building partnerships with community businesses and organizations, and finding the proper equipment. It was truly humbling and at that point, because life really had come full circle. I was once a YCR member and had this dream nearly 10 years ago. But now these young adults went above and beyond in building McCook’s very own “Cars Under the Stars” non-profit outdoor drive-in theater. This project was a true philanthropic endeavor that not only will last for many years, but leaves a legacy, young or old, that we all play a vital role in our community. The power of community collaboration, teamwork, and dedication pulled off a tremendous feat and now our community has a long-standing asset to enjoy. I encourage everyone to take these philanthropic efforts exemplified by our talented youth and implement them into our communities. Embodying the mission of making our rural Nebraska community a better place to live and call home. Those efforts may not result in fulfilling the entire dream you have, but it may be planting the seed and laying the foundation for someone to pick it up. We all have our blessed talents. What are we doing to help move our community forward? What has someone done before you to help set the stage for you to improve? Is there a lost baton in your community that you can pick up and make better? *** Gavin Harsh is an original member of Youth Change Reaction, the youth organization for the McCook Community Foundation Fund, and now serves as a volunteer member on the MCFF Advisory Committee.
By Ronda Graff July 8, 2025
We are entering the holiday season. Not the typical cold, wintery time of year but the hot, sultry Fourth of July festivities. As part of this holiday, there are many upcoming celebrations to mark the United State’s birthday. Many have likely seen in the news and on social media that Kearney had to cancel its Freedom Festival, due to a lack of volunteers. This led to some confusion that McCook’s event was not happening July 3, which is understandable since they literally have the same name. But McCook’s event is taking place (may have already taken place by the time you read this) at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds. This event and others like it happen because several things need to be in place including people, businesses and organizations providing the funding needed to make it a reality. But perhaps more importantly, people, businesses and organizations step up to help by volunteering their time. If you don’t have people to plan and organize, the events can’t happen. If you don’t have friends and families willing to give of their time working, these events can’t happen. If you don’t have volunteers who see the value in spending an evening with others, these events won’t happen. And as we have seen, the reality is not that far away in Kearney. But we have proven that residents in McCook and Southwest Nebraska are willing to step up and help and make these projects happen, most recently this past weekend with the Tour de Nebraska (TDN) bike ride, the McCook Chamber’s Bash on the Bricks and Wagner’s Cruise Night. These events took dozens - if not hundreds - of volunteers giving hundreds of hours to make it happen. I was most involved with the Tour de Nebraska, the five-day bicycle ride that had more than 300 riders plus support staff in McCook for two days and nights. As the last of the bike riders headed north to the finish at Curtis on Sunday morning, what was left behind was a sense of joy by those who played a role in the event. There were numerous roles for the volunteers involved in TDN, from visiting businesses to let them know about the increased foot traffic to unloading luggage for the riders. There were the Community Hospital employees who staffed the welcome tent as the riders rolled into town. While the hill up to the staging area by McCook Community College event center is not normally that daunting, it proves to be a challenge after riding 60 miles from Cambridge in 90-degree weather. Nearly everyone pulled up the tent, exasperated over the hill, but was then overjoyed as a hospital employee draped an ice-soaked towel around their neck. There were literally sighs of relief and cries of joy due to this small gesture. Perhaps the biggest undertaking was the van shuttle system to get riders around the community. While the cyclists could have walked or ridden their bikes, it is hard to balance a load of laundry on your handlebars or to get across town from the movie theater late at night. Instead, for two days, nearly two dozen volunteer shuttle drivers drove a route around McCook, picking up and dropping off riders at local businesses. When it was all said and done, the shuttle drivers commented on how quickly their time went and how much fun they had. Some asked to take additional shifts, while others brought along a family member to be part of the joy of meeting others and to share the pride they have in their community. The drivers did receive a t-shirt for their time, but if you ask them, I’m betting that they will say they received more than they gave. Person after person who volunteered had stories from the two-day event, such as how friendly everyone was, how they enjoyed meeting people from across the U.S. and from other countries, and how they loved sharing what they love about their community. By volunteering, they came into contact with people they might not normally meet. There was a group from Denver who took the train from McCook after celebrating a bachelor party on the bike ride. There was the weatherman from Des Moines, who may have offered up his autograph. And there were the former McCook-residents who did the ride because it was in their hometown. This sense of joy and pride is not unique to this event. In fact, it is usually true of almost everyone who steps up to volunteer. Ultimately, you may give of your time and your talent and your treasure but usually you receive much more back in return. And if we all take that to heart and give back to our community by volunteering, we will all end up with so much more in return because it is better to give than to receive.
By Matt Sehnert June 26, 2025
It isn’t easy to talk about money but with the transfer of wealth that will happen between the generations over the next few decades, it is something that needs to be a topic of conversation. As part of that discussion, pause for a moment and try to guess how much money will transfer to the next generation between 2020 and 2030, just in Red Willow County. And to make it a little easier, let’s make it multiple choice: $50 million $200 million $608 million I’ll give you the correct answer in just a moment, but for now consider how we know this information. The Nebraska Community Foundation has studied this Transfer of Wealth in every county across the state for decades. This research has inspired the “Five to Thrive” campaign, which encourages us all to consider how just 5% of our wealth could help our communities thrive for generations to come. As Baby Boomers pass on their legacy, the question isn’t if their wealth will transfer — but where. The default answer is typically “to our kids” or “to my family.” And that’s understandable. But here’s a deeper question: Should all of it go to our kids and to our family? Is this even a good idea? Are they prepared for the changes that could happen with the inheritance? Has a conversation been had about what the parents would like to see happen? Would it be wise — or meaningful — to consider leaving just a portion for the greater good? While you may think “I have to leave it all to my family,” there are options. The McCook Community Foundation Fund is here to help you explore what planned giving might look like for you, for your kids and your family. And while MCFF may be part of the conversation, it is not about leaving a gift to the foundation but rather to any cause that reflects your values. Whether you’re passionate about education, youth, the arts, rural vitality, or helping those in need, MCFF can help you connect your resources to your passions. We also offer tools to help you maximize tax savings and structure your giving in ways that are smart and personal. Whether you’re wealthy or working hard to get by, 5% is 5% and it all makes an impact. Which brings us to the answer about the transfer of wealth in Red Willow County over this decade. It will be more than $608 million that will transfer from one generation to the next. And if that next generation doesn’t live in Red Willow County or Southwest Nebraska, then those dollars leave the community, possibly forever. If just 5% of that $608 million were left for local causes, Red Willow County would have $30 million to strengthen our future — keeping rural Nebraska a place where our kids and grandkids can thrive. As Kathy Calvin said, “Giving is not just about making a donation. It is about making a difference.” There are so many possibilities to explore, so many ways to make a difference today and so many ways to leave your legacy. There’s no pressure. Just a conversation. When you're ready, reach out to me directly, to the McCook Community Foundation Fund, or — if you'd prefer more privacy — to the Nebraska Community Foundation. We are blessed in our community and we are in this together to make McCook and southwest Nebraska an even better place to call home. *** As the chairman of the McCook Community Foundation Fund, Matt Sehnert is passionate about making his hometown better for his family, friends and neighbors. Contact him at mwsehnert@gmail.com. Or reach out to MCFF at mcffund@gmail.com or Todd Mekelburg with the Nebraska Community Foundation at tmekelburg@nebcommfound.org.
By Ronda Graff June 20, 2025
McCook's next major mural is in the planning stages and people are encouraged to get involved.
By Ronda Graff June 16, 2025
Studies show that camping helps fill the need for friendship and socialization, something that should be duplicated in our communities.