When I became a member of the McCook Community Foundation Fund, an unexpected shift happened in my thinking.
Through the affiliation with the Nebraska Community Foundation, I began to see the potential of “what can be” instead of the common mindset about our lack of resources, lack of creative leadership, or just plain apathy that can become troublesome to our local community organizations.
Along with our other Fund Advisory Committee members, there have been many conversations about McCook and the surrounding communities' future growth and the ability to attract new families and businesses. These discussions tend toward a listing of improving existing programs or facilities and the resulting obligatory debate about how to fund such undertakings.
Numerous times, it comes down to a perceived lack of funding, along with other sparse resources, that can make such impactful generational change difficult to attain.
Time after time, this very type of thinking holds organizations hostage from the actualization of their goals and dreams. This scarcity mindset accepts the belief that there will never be enough, resulting in feelings of fear, stress, and uneasiness, along with a resulting fatalistic attitude.
On the other hand, an abundance mindset flows out of a more profound inner sense of personal worth and security. It is grounded in the belief that there is more than enough for everyone. Abundancy thinking leads to utilizing the resources around us to facilitate the change we are seeking.
Abundancy-thinking recently guided local leaders to significantly increase our community's availability to childcare. A group of like-minded individuals, led by Andy Long, executive director of our McCook Economic Development Corporation, decided to investigate what was possible.
In the early stages, my thinking led me to believe that we needed a childcare facility, which would require a capital campaign for adequate building funds, start-up costs, and staffing needs. As we first perceived it, this project would have been a considerable endeavor and had a high potential for failure.
Through a survey of affected community members, results demonstrated that parents preferred their local in-home childcare options instead of a single large day care facility. The local data also showed that currently, McCook did not offer an adequate number of daycare spots, and new daycare spots for infants were scarce or nonexistent. The survey results were counterintuitive to my prior thinking, but this is what the data said, loud and clear! Our resulting goal has become: Make our county the best place in Nebraska to be with young children.
Our newly formed McCook/Red Willow County Community 4 Kids committee got to work, and within two years, we have made a significant impact. We created a JumpStart program that has realized three local individuals completing a 3-credit hour course at McCook Community College. This class required creating a business plan, creating a parent handbook, and then going on to start or expand an existing childcare center. Also, each successful candidate received a $3,000 start-up grant.
There was also a financial incentive to add infant spots by offering a $250/monthly stipend to cover additional costs associated with appropriate infant care. This program realized 15 other infant spots that were otherwise difficult for parents to find for our youngest citizens.
And the final part of our plan offers two Early Childhood Full-Ride Scholarships, in partnership with McCook Community College and the McCook Community College Foundation. We currently have awarded one scholarship to a local student studying Early Childhood and planning to work in this field in our local area.
The above demonstrates abundant thinking at a local level. When we began this endeavor, we were a bit overwhelmed about how to start.
But everyone was brought to the table, including the Early Childhood network, state level partnerships, local early childhood advocates, the McCook Economic Development Corporation, and the McCook Community Foundation Fund.
Also significantly, we could tap into local resources to fund this project without asking additional taxes or community fundraising. We were able to tap into fiscal resources that we were unaware of when we began this process two years ago.
We started talking about what it would take to make the program happen—demonstrating one example of how thinking with abundance, not scarcity, can lead to unimaginable change.
Think of a time in your life when you've been told, "You can not do that; you should focus instead on a safer or more predictable path." But rather than selling ourselves short, we can utilize our untapped potential if we adopt an abundance mindset.
Cindy Huff is chairperson of the McCook Community Foundation Fund. The former superintendent has a passion for youth, families and our community. She took over to give Ronda Graff a week off to celebrate 25 years of marriage to her first husband.
Linda Graff named McCook Volunteer of the Month for December 2025
By focusing on what is important, we can make an even better impact in our communities.
After a 10-year hiatus, the McCook Holiday Home Tours return focusing on downtown upstairs apartments.
While many people think volunteering is for older residents, serving your community has no age restrictions. And young people can regularly be found lending a hand or offering their services in their hometown. The November 2025 McCook Volunteer of the Month recognizes one of many young people are working to make their community an even better place to call home: Grady Riemenschneider. Currently a senior at McCook High School, Grady volunteers with a wide variety of organizations and groups. As a four-year member of the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s Youth Change Reaction, Grady serves as the ambassador for the youth group’s “Cars Under Stars,” the outdoor movie theater at the Red Willow County Fairgrounds. At nearly every showing, he can be found operating the projector and setting up the parking lot, as well as passing along his knowledge to the next ambassador. In McCook’s FFA program, Grady has held officer roles the past four years and is currently the chapter vice president, organized the chapter banquet in 2025 and coached for the conduct of chapter meetings. Along with serving as the president of the Driftwood Feeders 4-H Club, he assists with setup, tear down and fundraising for the dog show and helps fellow members train their dogs. Grady steps in to help and lead at local events, including Prairie Plains CASA’s Kick in’ It Up for CASA and the Cajun Broil; the Edward Jones Alzheimer’s Walk; operating sound boards for various groups; and Feed the Farmer. And he has served as a youth leader at McCook Christian Church for elementary youth since approximately 2018 as well as stepping up to ensure the ag program ran smoothly during a teacher’s maternity leave Upon request from his mother about some of Grady’s activities, Sharleen noted that he is the “Chief Household Operations Officer: first responder for Mom’s to-do list, go-to chauffeur and caretaker for his favorite sidekick (a.k.a. his nephew), and the family’s unofficial event planner who somehow keeps everyone together without a clipboard.” The McCook Philanthropy Council recognizes a volunteer every month who is doing good work in McCook and Red Willow County. If there is a volunteer in the community who should be recognized, please contact the McCook Chamber of Commerce at 308-345-3200 or visit McCook Volunteers on the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s website, mccookfoundation.org to complete a nomination form. The only requirement is that the nominee must be a resident of McCook or Red Willow County but please have information about the nominee along with where and how they volunteer in the community. The volunteer honoree is selected monthly by the McCook Philanthropy Council.
With the holiday's nearing, MCFF member and Mayor Linda Taylor reflects on the many things to be thankful in McCook.
The names of those people who have made a generational impact on McCook and Southwest Nebraska is a long list. Many of them are working day-in, day-out right now to make their mark on the community. And then there are those people who no longer call McCook home but still make an impact long after they are gone. Allen Strunk is one of those people. Allen passed away on Nov. 1 at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada but he never lost the love of his hometown. Born and raised in McCook, Allen was a member of an already well-known family, Harry and Arlene Strunk. The Strunks started and published the McCook Daily Gazette, with the motto, “Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy in this world.” A saying that was so important that Harry had it etched at the top of his downtown newspaper office on Norris Avenue. That sense of service was passed along to Allen, who continued to serve his community as he took over leadership of the Gazette. I didn’t know Allen personally until he came back for visits years later. Even though my first job upon arriving in McCook was at the McCook Daily Gazette and Allen had turned over the publishing reins to Gene Morris many years prior, the Strunk legacy loomed large. He was instrumental in the building of the then-new YMCA, moving the facility from downtown to its current location next to the McCook High School. He was a key player in the new hospital, again moving from one location to a new expanded space. And McCook Community College benefitted his involvement in an expansion. Those projects continue to impact McCook today. And the support didn’t stop just because Allen retired from the Gazette and left McCook. There are programs the Strunks are involved in that benefit McCook and Southwest Nebraska. The Strunks continue to support Santa Claus Lane, which is overseen by the McCook Chamber of Commerce. And which after a few years of decline is seeing a resurgence of enthusiasm and nostalgia for the decorative holiday pieces lining Norris Avenue. Allen funds the annual McCook Area Outstanding Teacher award, which provides a financial prize to several teachers every year. And Allen recognized the work of the McCook Community Foundation Fund, providing a donation several years ago so that he could see its impact while he was still alive. This has led MCFF to consider how they will recognize and remember Allen for years to come. Because of his belief in service to his community, this could mean more recognition for the countless volunteers who keep our community thriving. It could be a day of community service, to see how many people can come together to make something happen. It could be a celebration for all the great things happening in our community. During Allen’s memorial service this past week in McCook, his step-daughter-in-law read the poem, “The Dash" by Linda Ellis, who published it in 1996. It reflects on the meaning of the dash between the birth and death dates on a tombstone. The dash is a reminder of everything that happens between the moment a person is born and the moment a person dies. The dash emphasizes the importance of how one lives their life during that time. The dash prompts a person to think about living, rather than worrying about dying. Ultimately, the dash is where all the good - and the bad - happens. And Allen Strunk made the most of his “dash,” both in his community and within his family. We can’t all run a newspaper. We likely aren’t going to etch our favorite saying into a building. But we all need to consider how we are paying the “rent for the space we occupy in this world.” And we can all make a difference in our hometowns, whether we currently live in them or even if we haven’t stepped foot on the main street in years.
Everyone feels a need to be needed and it is shown through the Big Give and Meal Kit Giveaways
SWNE Big Give reaches new heights thanks to enthusiasm of organizations, individuals and businesses
Food pantries are seeing an increased need, which means the community must step up with donations of food and time to help those who struggle to put food on the table.
