$500,000 Donated to MCFF Unrestricted Endowment
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.
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.
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