Local leaders making local decisions has led a former McCook resident to make a very generous financial gift to the community.

Former McCook Gazette owner and publisher Allen Strunk has donated $500,000 to the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s unrestricted endowment account.  

Now a resident of Las Vegas, Nevada, Strunk and his wife, Linda, were in McCook at the beginning of August for his great-grandson Austin Kreutzer’s high school graduation. While here, he shared his reason to make the donation to MCFF, along with a few other thoughts about the future of the community.

Strunk said he had the opportunity to make the donation to a statewide or even a national organization, of which he supports several. But in the end, he wanted the funds and the decisions to remain local and felt the MCFF unrestricted endowment was the best avenue to achieve that goal.

“McCook has great leaders right now,” Strunk said, citing specifically Mark Graff and Matt Sehnert, the former who is a founding member of the Fund while the latter is the most recent addition to the Fund’s Advisory Committee. 

“McCook lost a lot of leadership after WWII with many successful leaders moving away for a period of time,” Strunk said. “But there are leaders in place today who can keep McCook headed in the right direction.” 

As for the younger leaders coming up through the ranks, Strunk feels they can change the direction of America but that they need to make sure it is done right, which falls right in line with the motto of his father and founder of the McCook Gazette, Harry Strunk.

During his recent visit to McCook, Allen Strunk gave a history of the Gazette founded by his father in 1911 with the slogan, "Service Is The Rent We Pay For The Space We Occupy In This World.” 

Thirteen years later, under Strunk's editorship, it became a daily and changed its name to the McCook Daily Gazette. Strunk published the Gazette until his death in 1960, when he was succeeded by his son, Allen. 

Under Allen’s leadership, the newspaper made the conversion from letterpress to offset printing in its new building in 1966.

In 1986, the paper was acquired by Gozia-Driver Media, which was later re-incorporated as US Media Group. In 1997, the Gazette was sold to Rust Communications and continues its nearly 110-year history today as the McCook Gazette.

As these new funds are contributed to MCFF including the $500,000 donation from Strunk, MCFF will continue to encourage local organizations to “Dream Big,” especially when it comes to education, a passion of Strunks. 

MCFF Chairperson Cindy Huff and committee member Gavin Harsh attended the September McCook School Board meeting to recap the nearly $100,000 in grants given to the school so far this year including special COVID projects. They also stressed that MCFF and the school can be stronger by working together, especially on special programs. 

MCFF’s unrestricted endowment account is a permanent account, whose assets are invested to generate an ongoing source of income year after year. Investment earnings from the endowment are used to support community improvements and programs. 

The Fund Advisory Committee is made up of 12 local volunteer community leaders, who determine how the money generated from the endowment will be used to benefit the community now and in the future.

The income from MCFF”s unrestricted endowment now provides more than $100,000 each year, available through community grants. Just a few of the grants provided this past year include improvements at the McCook YMCA and Hillcrest Nursing Home, support of the Hormel Business Competition at McCook Community College and many local events and programs. 

Thanks to Allen Strunk’s financial gift, MCFF’s endowment - as well as the grant capacity and grants to the community - will continue to grow year after year. Strunk understood that the endowment will continue giving back to McCook and Southwest Nebraska forever with a gift which will have a broad impact across the community, making an impact for generations.

MCFF Treasurer Mark Graff said the gift from Allen Strunk reaffirms the Strunk family’s commitment to the McCook area. 

“It further solidifies the Strunk family legacy of positively touching lives of those that call McCook and all of southwest Nebraska and northwest Kansas home,” Graff said.

For more information about the McCook Community Foundation Fund or a complete list of grants given by MCFF since its inception nearly 20 years ago, please visit the MCFF website at mccookfoundation.org. 

McCook Community Foundation Fund is an affiliated fund of the Nebraska Community Foundation.