I recently attended a dinner banquet with Warren Buffet as one of the keynote speakers. In the Q & A session, someone asked him if he was optimistic about our country given all of the problems we seem to be dealing with on a daily basis.

Warren’s response is one that will stick with me for a long time. He said the luckiest person in this world is the person who was born this morning in America because we have and will always have, the greatest country on the face of this earth.  

As I leave as a member of the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s Advisory Committee after 20-plus years, I would add that maybe the luckiest person in the world is the individual born in Southwest Nebraska. That is how bullish I am on the future of our community and area.

It seems like only yesterday that Floyd Hershberger stopped in my office to ask me to be involved in forming a community foundation for McCook. Floyd had researched the benefits he was seeing from community foundations across the country and specifically nearby Phelps County. He felt a community foundation would really help Southwest Nebraska prosper.  

Of course, I said “yes" to being a part of this initial group. Who could say no to Floyd? 

Now 20 years later, it is time for new blood in the McCook Community Foundation Fund (MCFF).  

Since MCFF’s inception, the transformation of the organization has been amazing. We have seen the Fund grow from $2,000 to almost $7 million. We have seen MCFF make a positive difference in the lives of so many of our friends and neighbors here in Southwest Nebraska. We have seen our youth become engaged in our community through the formation of the Youth Change Reaction (YCR) group. 

We have experienced MCFF step to the forefront when the pandemic hit our country, working with other community groups to help support our restaurants, retail establishments, schools, medical facilities, healthcare providers and elderly care units.  

And we are now at the point where MCFF will be providing more than $150,000 a year in financial support to area charitable organizations and projects. This is truly the definition of amazing. 

As I end my 20 years on the FAC, there are a plethora of people I should thank, but since the Gazette has a limited supply of ink, let me just touch on a few. 

First, thank you to my Administrative Assistant Sherri Stang at MNB Bank. Over these last 10 years, Sherri has done the bulk of my MCFF Treasurer work which I have been given credit for. Without her diligence and the continuing support she will provide the new treasurer Andy Long, none of these positive impacts would have been or would be possible.

A very special thank you to my wife Linda who not only supports and challenges me on a daily basis in my community work, but she inspires me with her community service. I am known for having nicknames for my friends – like Hot Dog, Donut, Bear – but my nickname for my best friend is “Honey.”

Finally, thank you to the people of McCook and Southwest Nebraska. In my 20 years of service with MCFF, I can’t remember having one individual whom I have asked for support – financially or with their time and talents – who turned me down.  

We truly live in a community where we look after and care for each other. When someone is in need, we don’t care who they voted for, where they go to church or their nationality. They are our brothers and sisters in Southwest Nebraska and we are here for them.

In summary, let me offer a line from a 1970s hit “Hotel California,” which came from one of my favorite bands, the Eagles: “You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.” 

Although I am checking out of the MCFF FAC after 20 years, I will never leave because as my friend Tyler McCarty says: I frickin’ love my community.

Mark Graff isn’t stepping away from MCFF and the Nebraska Community Foundation….he’s just stepping aside for new ideas, new thoughts, new blood.