$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.
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Getting Outside of National Night Out Nearly everyone can tell you their last interaction with the police or the fire department. And unfortunately because of the nature of the organizations, it is usually not at a positive moment. My last contact with the McCook Police Department was just a few weeks ago, when I was pulled over on B Street in McCook…on my scooter. I pulled into the wrong lane when making a turn, which is illegal. But in my defense, it was an act of self-defense to just get through the intersection of East B and Sixth streets alive. Since the drivers haven’t seen a stop-light since Holdrege, cars and semis regularly run the traffic light, which makes me a wee bit vulnerable as I pass through the lanes. I got off with a warning but the true punishment were the texts throughout the day from everyone who saw me with my scooter and the police officer. Since most exchanges with police and fire are not on good terms, National Night Out was created to have an evening of positive interactions, to remind the public that the police and fire departments are just normal people, doing their jobs, looking out for their friends and neighbors, trying to create a safe community for everyone. National Night Out is designed to simply join your friends and neighbors for an evening of fellowship and fun. It is an opportunity to meet local law enforcement, creating safer and more caring neighborhoods. McCook is joining thousands of other communities across the country in hosting National Night Out, which typically takes place on the first Tuesday of August every year. Planned for Tuesday, Aug. 5 from 5:30-7 p.m. in and around Norris Park in McCook, the night includes a bike parade, a walk, awards for bike decorating, desserts and more. In other words, it is simply a block party to hang out. Numerous organizations have come together to make the evening possible. CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and the McCook Rotary Club are hosting a bike parade that starts at 6 p.m. Linda Maiden with State Farm, a bicycle helmet advocate, will also be in Norris Park. The streets around Norris Park will be shut down to provide a safe area to ride, as well as more space to cruise around the block. Participants are encouraged to decorate their bike, scooter, roller skates or anything on wheels. This could mean streamers, pompom balls, markers or even the old classic - playing cards in the spokes of your wheels. Some supplies will be available at the park for use if you show up and realize you are the most underdressed person at the party. If your bike has an inch of dust on it, this is a great time to get it out, wipe it off and get it rolling. And if your bike needs minimal fixes like a flat tire or a brake adjustment, bike tools will be on hand along with myself and my hubbie, who know just enough about bike repair to be dangerous but did manage a 300-plus mile bike ride last week so we must be doing something right. But let’s say you don’t have a bike or biking isn’t your cup of tea? Then you are still encouraged to join the “Walk in the Park,” hosted by Community Hospital. Designed to encourage a healthy lifestyle, walkers will stroll around the park and the neighborhood at whatever pace you feel like with strollers and dogs on leashes welcomed. And perhaps most importantly, there will be a chance to meet members of the McCook Police and Fire Department, getting to see police cars and fire engines close-up in a non-emergency manner, always the best way to see them. And if the weather cooperates, there may be a fire hose, water and spraying involved. If you have been at the Culbertson Fourth of July parade, you know it is up to you to stay out of the line of fire if you want to remain dry. We all have excuses for why we don’t want to go out at night, especially after a long day at work. But National Night Out in McCook on Aug. 5 is a great reason to get out your bicycle and lace up your walking shoes. Hang out with your friends, get to know your neighbors and meet your first responders. That is what makes our communities just a little bit better.
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