Volunteering Makes the World a Better Place

I come from a family of volunteers. My father, Leroy Leibrandt, served on the Red Willow County Fair Board for 42 years. My mother, Lois, worked the open class building at the fair, spent years as a volunteer at the McCook YMCA teaching water aerobics and volunteered many hours at the Helping Hand thrift store.

Volunteering has many benefits:

It makes you a better person

You learn to look at things from a different perspective

You get pushed out of your comfort zone

You have an opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes

You question things that you never really though about before

Benefits your mental health

Volunteers do it because they want to make a change. They want to make a difference in their community and the world. Volunteers are often the glue that holds a community together.

Simply put, the world cannot operate without volunteers. Volunteering means to help with no reward expected and to give back where you live.

Let’s take a minute to imagine a world without volunteers. I have heard from a lot of people that the flower pots in downtown McCook are beautiful. It took a group of people to get together, forming the Beautify McCook committee. This committee meets to work on ideas to make McCook a great place to enjoy.

We have great volunteers like Bruce McDowell, Gary Wiemers and Steve Linhart who water the plants on a regular basis.

How about the countless hours volunteered for the thrift stores or the McCook Pantry or making pies for the Red Willow County Fair for all to enjoy?

McCook has Heritage Days coming up in October. Yes, it is a McCook Chamber of Commerce event which is made possible by volunteers. Volunteers line up the parade route, organize the vendors in the park and plan all the events included in the annual celebration.

In a world of volunteers, your child may not be playing baseball or soccer because there would be no coaches. Residents wouldn’t get their meals delivered from the Senior Center. There would b no Christmas lights in the park, no museum visits, no Halloween parade. There would be no theatrical performances or musicals at the historic Fox Theater.

Today the biggest need for non-profit organizations are volunteers. We are fortunate to still have the Optimists, McCook Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus, Eagles, YMCA and more, but they are in regular need of volunteers.

Ultimately, it is our get-it-done attitude that moves our community forward. The strength of McCook and surrounding communities is people and our passion for what we do.

Last week, the Hitchcock County News had a story about Bev Singer of Stratton and Beth Kollmorgan of rural Stratton/Trenton, the new music teachers at Hitchcock County Schools. Both of these grandmothers are retired, but heard the school was unsuccessful in hiring a music instructor for the 2023-24 school year. With grandchildren attending the school, the students would miss the opportunity to enjoy music at school.

The music program simply ending just did not sit well and the two ladies volunteered to step up and do something about it. They worked with the school board to make it happen and are keeping the music program alive. In the end, the Hitchcock County School, the students and the community are all winners.

Another great example of volunteers stepping up to make something happen was featured in a recent Gazette story about Imperial landing the Class C State Jr. Legion Baseball Tournament. Several hundred people from out of town visited Imperial for this tournament, which happened because of countless donations of funds and more importantly, volunteer hours. It was a community effort that made this event possible. Great job Imperial, using a get-it-done attitude to work together with great volunteers.

Are you wondering how to volunteer? Start with something that interests you and reach out to those organizations.

Don’t know who those groups are? McCook Volunteers (yes, a group of volunteers dedicated to organizing volunteers) has a list on the McCook Community Foundation Fund website, mccookfoundation.org, of most of the organizations and groups who are always needing volunteers.

Please take the time to visit the website and learn how you can volunteer. We would like you to be part of making a difference in our community. We would like you to be part of making all our communities winners. We would like you to be part of making McCook and Southwest Nebraska a better place to call home.

***

Linda Taylor is the Mayor of McCook. She also volunteers for the McCook Community Foundation Fund, McCook Volunteers, Beautify McCook and countless organizations, groups and projects.

< Older Post

Newer Post >

Mail

Dec. 2025 Volunteer of the McCook Beautifying Downtown McCook

By Ronda Graff • December 17, 2025

Linda Graff named McCook Volunteer of the Month for December 2025

Seasons of Lists Includes Priority Lists

By Ronda Graff • December 15, 2025

By focusing on what is important, we can make an even better impact in our communities.

Holiday Home Tours Return

By Ronda Graff • December 11, 2025

After a 10-year hiatus, the McCook Holiday Home Tours return focusing on downtown upstairs apartments.

Nov. 2025 Volunteer Willing to Help Wherever Needed

By Ronda Graff • November 25, 2025

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.

Much to be Thankful For in McCook

By Linda Taylor • November 25, 2025

With the holiday's nearing, MCFF member and Mayor Linda Taylor reflects on the many things to be thankful in McCook.

Honoring the Strunk Legacy in McCook

By Ronda Graff • November 22, 2025

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.