MCFF's History of Donors
Donors are the heart of the McCook Community Foundation Fund (MCFF), playing a vital role in building a stronger, more vibrant McCook.
Through their generous contributions over the past two decades, MCFF is able to provide grants, scholarships, and support for local projects that enrich the quality of life in the community. Donors help MCFF support everything from youth development and education to arts, healthcare, and economic opportunity. Every gift, whether large or small, creates positive change in McCook and Southwest Nebraska.
Contributions have grown the unrestricted endowment, allowing the fund to respond to evolving community needs with flexibility and vision. Because of donor generosity, MCFF has supported transformational projects like the Southwest Nebraska Big Give, the YMCA capital campaign and Bison Days.
As the community and the Fund Advisory Committee evolves and continues to change, MCFF has gathered the stories directly from just a few of the donors or from those who remember them fondly. Hopefully this will help all of us remember where we came from as move forward to make McCook an even better place to call home.
Sehnert Challenge
In 2018, Susan Sehnert Stuart challenged the McCook Community to raise $200,000 with a $100,00 matching grant in honor of her parents, Walt and Jean Sehnert, and the arts and culture in her hometown. The support came so fast, that she provided another $100,000 match. Ultimately, $600,000 was raised for the Sehnert Challenge to support and fund the arts in McCook and Southwest Nebraska.
Myers Challenge
As the Sherwood Challenge came to an end in 2015, former MCFF FAC member Cheri Beckenhauer spoke with her dad, Arvene Myers, about another campaign for MCFF's unrestricted endowment. He was impressed with the investment returns and MCFF’s community vision and offered $90,000 if $180,000 was raised.
"My dad was a big proponent of endowments,” Cheri said. “He was always impressed with the fact that the money continues to grow while giving back, using the interest earned." That investment will benefit McCook for generations to come.
