Volunteer Nebraska

Jamie Bright Author

01/08/2025 Added

4 Plays

Description

Mary Ingram spoke about Volunteer Nebraska and how it can serve your community. Mary is an author, TEDx speaker and founder of Volunteer Nebraska. The organization was launched after she served as a juvenile diversion officer in Merrick County. www.volunteernebraska.org You tube channel: Born to Serve https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrRyqf__hp-7wru57__DU3w Evaluation for this webinar: https://bit.ly/4adQrX8

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[00:00:00.000]you
[00:00:02.060]Thank you.
[00:00:32.040]Thank you.
[00:01:02.020]Thank you.
[00:01:32.000]Thank you.
[00:02:01.980]Thank you.
[00:02:31.960]Thank you.
[00:03:01.940]Thank you.
[00:03:31.920]Thank you.
[00:04:01.900]Thank you.
[00:04:31.880]Good morning, everyone.
[00:04:55.480]We'll give it just a couple more minutes.
[00:04:57.780]The speaker was having trouble
[00:05:01.600]accessing the link, so
[00:05:03.120]we'll wait until she gets on.
[00:05:04.860]We'll wait until she gets on.
[00:05:05.840]We'll wait until she gets on.
[00:05:35.820]We'll wait until she gets on.
[00:06:05.800]We'll wait until she gets on.
[00:06:35.780]We'll wait until she gets on.
[00:07:05.760]We'll wait until she gets on.
[00:07:35.740]We'll wait until she gets on.
[00:07:46.840]All right.
[00:07:47.800]Thank you, everyone, for joining us.
[00:07:49.720]Mary, I am sorry for the confusion.
[00:07:52.860]I have Volunteer America in my address book, and that's what popped up, so I must have just hit enter.
[00:08:00.560]Oh, you're muted.
[00:08:05.680]You're muted.
[00:08:05.800]We're not quite that big yet, Jamie.
[00:08:08.020]Thank you for getting on and finding the link at the last minute.
[00:08:19.480]Well, I'm not familiar with the Microsoft Team Link.
[00:08:26.960]Oh, is that what showed up in the...
[00:08:31.440]No, that was in a part of today's, and I clicked on it, and I went,
[00:08:35.240]I'm not even certain what that is.
[00:08:36.900]I better not use that one.
[00:08:38.460]Sometimes our Outlook puts a Teams link in, even if it's supposed to be Zoom.
[00:08:47.600]I see it at the bottom.
[00:08:48.780]I better delete that so people don't click on that.
[00:08:53.160]Okay.
[00:08:59.720]Okay.
[00:09:00.160]It looks like people have slowed down in joining us.
[00:09:04.720]We probably have a small enough group we can do introductions.
[00:09:10.680]I will start.
[00:09:12.480]I'm Jamie Bright with Nebraska Extension.
[00:09:14.740]I'm the Rural Prosperity Nebraska Educator in the Southern Panhandle based in Kimball.
[00:09:19.740]And I will hand it over to Caitlin.
[00:09:23.420]Hi, guys.
[00:09:25.680]I'm Caitlin Rose.
[00:09:26.580]I'm the Extension Educator for Rural Prosperity Nebraska in the Northern.
[00:09:31.000]I am not going to rush.
[00:09:33.020]Hi, I'm Joni Jespersen with Mobius Communications in Hemmingford.
[00:09:44.780]And I'm happy to see everyone on, including my niece, Caitlin.
[00:09:48.960]Welcome, Caitlin.
[00:09:50.440]Awesome.
[00:09:54.240]Rural Nebraska is a small place.
[00:09:55.780]I'm Sean Kraske.
[00:09:57.920]I'm also a countywide, multi-county Extension Educator like Jamie.
[00:10:02.880]And Caitlin, I'm based out of Custer County, serving Central Nebraska.
[00:10:06.640]Thanks for being here.
[00:10:07.880]Go ahead, Paula.
[00:10:13.440]Hi, I'm Paula Abbott.
[00:10:15.700]I'm with the Sydney Campus for WNCC.
[00:10:18.400]Bobby.
[00:10:21.360]Bobby Stewart.
[00:10:23.580]I'm the Business Manager for Baird Public Schools.
[00:10:25.740]Jordan, looks like you unmuted.
[00:10:29.980]Hi, I'm Jordan Dietrich.
[00:10:32.080]I'm the Executive.
[00:10:32.860]Director of Twin Cities Development in Western Nebraska.
[00:10:35.500]Cassilyn.
[00:10:38.800]I am Cassilyn Van Kerbrook, Executive Director for Alliance Nebraska's Chamber of Commerce.
[00:10:45.000]Cheryl.
[00:10:46.860]Hi, Cheryl Burkhart-Creeswell, Extension Specialist, located out of Scotts Bluff.
[00:10:53.960]Lauren.
[00:10:55.800]Good morning.
[00:10:59.940]Lauren Sheridan with the City of Neely.
[00:11:02.500]As the Economic Development Director.
[00:11:05.360]Good morning.
[00:11:06.000]Brandy.
[00:11:09.700]I'm not sure.
[00:11:10.660]I can't remember if Brandy has voice capabilities.
[00:11:14.840]We'll skip over her.
[00:11:21.160]Jodi.
[00:11:22.260]Hi, I'm Jodi Llewellyn.
[00:11:25.220]I am the Executive Director at the Scotts Bluff Gearing Chamber of Commerce.
[00:11:28.640]Marla.
[00:11:30.880]Marla Marks with Rural Development and based out of Scotts Bluff.
[00:11:37.580]Thanks, Marla.
[00:11:39.340]I know a couple people watched the USDA Movie Theater and Performing Arts webinar this morning,
[00:11:47.680]and someone told me it was helpful, so thanks, Marla.
[00:11:50.980]Yep.
[00:11:51.780]Shauna.
[00:11:53.860]Hi, I'm Shauna with Chapel Community Development and Chapel Chamber.
[00:11:59.360]Thank you.
[00:12:01.200]And Brandy Stone is with City of Sydney Economic Development.
[00:12:05.260]Did I miss anyone besides our speaker?
[00:12:08.100]All right.
[00:12:11.720]I will introduce Mary Ingram.
[00:12:13.820]She is an author, TEDx speaker, and the founder of Volunteer Nebraska.
[00:12:20.040]The organization was launched after she served as a juvenile diversion officer in Merrick County,
[00:12:27.400]and she'll tell us a little bit about the organization and how it can help your community.
[00:12:31.780]Go ahead, Mary, and if you have slides to share, you should be able to do that.
[00:12:37.000]Nope, I am going to be all talk today.
[00:12:39.840]For those people who are coming from the Scotts Bluff area, Jenny Matern, I don't know if you know her,
[00:12:46.880]but she is one of our board of directors.
[00:12:48.800]So we have tried to include as much of the state as we can.
[00:12:54.860]What we do.
[00:12:57.380]What we do, Volunteer Nebraska provides a recognition program for any community in the state of Nebraska
[00:13:03.100]to celebrate the kids, preschool to high school, who are doing community service.
[00:13:08.140]And it costs your community nothing.
[00:13:10.680]Everything is available online on our website at no cost.
[00:13:14.640]And the idea for this came about when I was a juvenile diversion officer.
[00:13:21.380]I was 20 years ago.
[00:13:26.020]So it was when diversion was first getting started.
[00:13:27.980]And my county attorney pretty much said, Mary, you can do the program however you want.
[00:13:32.520]I just want the kids to do community service.
[00:13:35.600]And I went, okay, great.
[00:13:38.300]So I started in.
[00:13:39.880]And, you know, my job was to hold kids accountable.
[00:13:43.660]But accountability is more than just being responsible for your bad choices.
[00:13:48.640]You're also responsible for your good ones.
[00:13:50.980]And so I wanted to do something almost like,
[00:13:55.680]preventative.
[00:13:56.640]You know, how do we keep kids out of trouble?
[00:13:59.460]Because when I started doing the community service with them,
[00:14:03.440]they didn't want to do it.
[00:14:05.440]They were embarrassed to be seen doing it.
[00:14:08.080]And there was one time when we were in the kind of a little central park area.
[00:14:14.100]And we were out pulling weeds and cleaning it up.
[00:14:19.120]And a gentleman was coming down the sidewalk with his little boy,
[00:14:22.560]who was about probably four or five years old.
[00:14:25.340]And the dad reached down, tugged on his little boy's arm,
[00:14:29.800]and he said, you better be good or you're going to be doing that.
[00:14:32.760]And he pointed at us.
[00:14:34.760]And I was like, huh, our kids think service is bad.
[00:14:40.080]And we're teaching our little ones that service is negative.
[00:14:44.340]We're in trouble here.
[00:14:46.040]This is not going the way that I thought it would.
[00:14:49.220]So this is when I discovered a group or an organization.
[00:14:55.100]Called the President's Volunteer Service Awards.
[00:14:57.940]And this was created back in the 1990s.
[00:15:03.180]I think under George W. Bush.
[00:15:05.420]And I thought it was an outstanding program.
[00:15:08.460]It was a, the kids would document their service hours.
[00:15:12.200]Turn in their time sheets.
[00:15:13.480]And I would get the service awards.
[00:15:16.180]So I thought, I'm going to do this with all the schools in my county.
[00:15:19.900]And I sent.
[00:15:24.860]I sent these time sheets out the end of the school year.
[00:15:27.860]I had 120.
[00:15:29.220]Time sheets come back to me.
[00:15:32.060]Went online to fill this all out.
[00:15:34.340]And I had a bill of 700.
[00:15:37.060]I think it was $720.
[00:15:38.780]And I thought, oh my gosh, what would I have done?
[00:15:42.700]Had I had a thousand kids do this, I wouldn't have had it in my budget.
[00:15:47.940]And then the more I thought about this,
[00:15:50.220]I thought we should be able to provide some sort of a program,
[00:15:54.620]like this and not have it be, you know,
[00:15:58.700]break the banks in our communities.
[00:16:00.700]And that's when Volunteer Nebraska provided all of this.
[00:16:05.520]We came up with our board of directors and we started just putting it out.
[00:16:09.640]And I'll tell you,
[00:16:13.200]it's been a struggle because it does take some time to look at the time
[00:16:18.700]sheets, to fill out the awards. And I'm thinking,
[00:16:24.380]why can't we get this going? And my youngest daughter,
[00:16:29.280]she said, mom,
[00:16:30.820]who do you serve that no one else serves?
[00:16:33.900]Because we do have Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 4-H, you know,
[00:16:38.240]we have groups that are giving badges and awards and different things.
[00:16:41.600]Not every child has the opportunity to be in there,
[00:16:45.080]but they do have programs available. And I said, well, preschoolers,
[00:16:50.520]we don't have anything like that for preschools. She said, mom,
[00:16:54.220]focus on that. I went, okay.
[00:16:57.440]So that has been my focus for the past two years.
[00:17:01.340]And it has been amazing to watch how many preschools are doing service and
[00:17:08.280]rewarding their kids, you know,
[00:17:10.340]having some sort of a public recognition for their kids for their service that
[00:17:15.000]they've done. Now, some people will say preschool,
[00:17:19.720]what can a preschooler do?
[00:17:24.060]And my experience from this comes from my youngest daughter who today is,
[00:17:29.080]she is 37. So when she was six weeks old,
[00:17:33.460]a local nursing home had invited me to bring her in and share her with the
[00:17:39.440]residents. And at the time I went, Oh,
[00:17:42.980]this would be so much fun for them. They'll love this.
[00:17:46.800]So Emily's just home from the hospital.
[00:17:49.280]I take her in and the residents there just wanted to hold her.
[00:17:53.900]So I just passed her around and let them hold her. And they said,
[00:17:58.360]could you come in monthly? And I'm like, sure.
[00:18:02.140]I'll bring her in once a month. And you know, the,
[00:18:05.400]the conversations were like, what is she doing? What is she learning?
[00:18:08.700]You know, it was, it was fun. And they all,
[00:18:12.100]the numbers of residents grew every month that I went in because they would
[00:18:16.460]all start to come in.
[00:18:17.460]Emily got to the point where she knew when somebody was room bound
[00:18:23.740]she knew where their room was and she would go running down the hall and go
[00:18:27.600]in there, give them a high five. She just went crazy over this.
[00:18:31.000]They started having her lead their exercise class when she was two years
[00:18:36.060]old, she was playing balloon volleyball with them.
[00:18:39.360]And she did this service to that nursing home until she was five and she
[00:18:45.040]entered kindergarten. Her service of life has never stopped.
[00:18:50.000]She lives in New York city today.
[00:18:53.580]She works with young girls learning computer
[00:18:57.480]like coding. She does all of that kind of stuff,
[00:19:03.020]but she also comes back to Nebraska and she serves on the summer program that
[00:19:08.740]she was a part of. And she's on the board now,
[00:19:10.860]even though she lives in New York.
[00:19:13.300]I think if we can focus on introducing service to the younger,
[00:19:21.240]the better, it becomes a part of who,
[00:19:23.420]who they are. It, you know, it just, it just is,
[00:19:26.960]is part of their personal code of conduct.
[00:19:29.120]So what I am doing is I am trying to let as many communities as I can know
[00:19:34.620]about our program, because it may come from our,
[00:19:39.880]the way that we have a structured, if law enforcement wants to implement it,
[00:19:43.860]they can, it can go that way. If the school wants to implement it,
[00:19:48.120]they can.
[00:19:49.000]If it's just one preschool that wants to bring it into their program,
[00:19:53.260]they can. We don't have a lot of,
[00:19:55.920]it's more of a framework that you can use this framework any way you would
[00:20:01.140]like. We try not to dictate to you how we want it done,
[00:20:05.500]but the website is volunteernebraska.org.
[00:20:09.500]And we also have a YouTube channel called born to serve.
[00:20:15.500]So if your community says, Oh, this is too much work.
[00:20:19.660]Nobody wants to do it. You can actually,
[00:20:23.100]create have the kids create videos about their projects,
[00:20:26.400]or maybe you want to,
[00:20:27.900]we've had some kids who just did a three minute explanation of what service
[00:20:33.940]means to them. And they tell us about a service project,
[00:20:36.680]but then what we do is we will post it on that, on that YouTube channel.
[00:20:42.060]And then my job is to promote it and get it seen.
[00:20:45.180]And it's kind of amazing at how much the kids view that as recognition.
[00:20:50.720]You know, it's kind of a,
[00:20:52.940]I don't know,
[00:20:54.520]they get pretty pumped up when they can see they've got 500 views or they get
[00:20:58.400]a thousand views.
[00:20:59.340]And some of our videos have gotten over maybe three or 4,000 views.
[00:21:03.300]So, you know, that is kind of a, you know,
[00:21:07.020]it boosts their attitude about their service and what they're talking about.
[00:21:11.160]Has anyone here ever, were they aware of us?
[00:21:16.860]Were you, did you have, you, had you ever heard of Volunteer Nebraska?
[00:21:22.780]You have actually reached out to me earlier in the year,
[00:21:25.960]personally, from our local chamber, so.
[00:21:28.980]Okay.
[00:21:30.840]Well, I tell you, I've been knocking on doors.
[00:21:35.020]The first couple of years we were implemented,
[00:21:37.520]I actually traveled the state and went and saw county sheriffs.
[00:21:41.680]And I have a, Mr. Quackers is kind of our, he's a stuffed duck.
[00:21:49.040]And we use him, and his statement is, life's not always what it's quacked up to be.
[00:21:56.160]And so you can volunteer and change your community.
[00:21:59.140]And he has attended several, like, dances and things that the kids have taken him to.
[00:22:06.180]And our deputies and our sheriffs, they actually deputized him.
[00:22:10.920]I have several badges that they gave Mr. Quackers.
[00:22:15.500]So he's quite a symbol for our organization.
[00:22:20.300]But does anyone have any questions about our program or?
[00:22:25.880]Mary, which communities are you currently working in or have you so far?
[00:22:31.800]Do you have that list?
[00:22:32.700]Well, I have visited every county.
[00:22:35.660]So every county, I have informed them.
[00:22:40.700]Sometimes the county level.
[00:22:42.620]So sometimes it's the county boards that hear from me.
[00:22:45.800]It might be the Chamber of Commerce.
[00:22:48.080]I have every school district in the state of Nebraska that has gotten information.
[00:22:52.900]I am aware of several preschools, a few in Omaha, Shelton.
[00:23:01.100]COSAD really kind of grasped the idea.
[00:23:07.520]They're there, I think, looking at how they can.
[00:23:10.680]How they can implement it.
[00:23:11.420]So I had a couple of the nursing facilities wanted to recognize the kids who were volunteering there.
[00:23:21.060]And so that's, you know, like I said, the framework is there for anyone.
[00:23:25.320]And who uses it and how it's implemented is really up to the community itself.
[00:23:30.220]Thanks for sharing your wonderful story, Mary.
[00:23:37.020]Isn't there like a Nebraska volunteer?
[00:23:40.660]Service Commission as a state entity and how do you work with them?
[00:23:44.540]We are not connected to them at all.
[00:23:47.460]They actually reached out to me and they had provided,
[00:23:50.920]they had some monies provided.
[00:23:53.280]I want to say it was through AmeriCorps if we needed to pay our employees.
[00:23:57.520]And I said, no, we, I'm a hundred percent volunteer.
[00:24:01.720]And we, we don't, we don't need to be paid.
[00:24:06.240]And so we didn't use those funds.
[00:24:09.580]Um, so the question I have is, um, not to sound dumb, it's like a great idea, but is,
[00:24:18.140]is implementing the program, cause we already use, utilize a lot of volunteers at the chamber.
[00:24:22.840]So is implementing the program, just utilizing your templates.
[00:24:26.000]Is that the only difference?
[00:24:27.340]Like, um, since I already have volunteers that just come into the chamber and help out,
[00:24:31.940]do I just use the template that you provide on your website?
[00:24:35.880]And now I'm using, utilizing Volunteer Nebraska, or how do I, how do I be able to
[00:24:39.560]be more involved and share information for you?
[00:24:41.620]Like, I don't, I'm really confused on, is it just getting more volunteers in the community
[00:24:46.440]or is it actually doing something like it?
[00:24:49.340]I would say this is for preschool to high school.
[00:24:52.760]It's what our focus is.
[00:24:54.240]And if you have, let's say you have created your own certificates and you do a,
[00:25:00.420]maybe an annual celebration and you have a dinner and you recognize them, do it your way.
[00:25:06.040]That is great.
[00:25:07.040]You're, you're accomplishing the same things.
[00:25:09.540]If you say, Hey, I'd like to do certificates, but we don't want to come up with them.
[00:25:14.540]That's when you can use what we have available.
[00:25:17.040]Okay.
[00:25:17.860]And you know, if, if you do it publicly, you know, for, for us, I would say,
[00:25:24.080]does the school do an assembly sometime, you know, routinely?
[00:25:28.260]And could you, would they have you come in and hand out those certificates publicly?
[00:25:33.100]Because I think public recognition is, is good for, for them.
[00:25:37.040]Sometimes people will say, why does it need to be public?
[00:25:39.700]Why do you have to give them an award?
[00:25:41.620]You know, and yet if you look at, at our newspapers or our coverage, we do this for adults.
[00:25:47.820]And yet for some reason, some people look at this and go, we're, we're, it's like we're,
[00:25:56.440]we're training our kids that you need to be recognized.
[00:25:59.260]And going into why kids do anything, there's actually a gentleman, he was a teacher out
[00:26:07.180]in California that did a big project.
[00:26:09.500]And he did a presentation on this, the six reasons why people do anything.
[00:26:13.240]And the first one is to avoid punishment.
[00:26:15.920]And I thought, yeah, and diversion is kind of like that, because kids will do what I
[00:26:22.900]told them to do, because they didn't want to go back to court and get a harsher sentence.
[00:26:27.280]So yes, they would do it to avoid punishment.
[00:26:30.620]The second one was, what's in it for them?
[00:26:34.080]Uh, it might be they're doing community service, because
[00:26:39.480]of, uh, they want to put, they want to get a, uh, like a, a, trying to think of what
[00:26:47.000]you call it, a scholarship.
[00:26:48.260]They're, they're getting ready to start applying for colleges, and they want a scholarship,
[00:26:52.400]and they've heard that is what will get them, get them in the door.
[00:26:56.160]Um, the third reason is praise, which is the recognition that we're talking about.
[00:27:01.400]Number four is, um, uh, oh, let's see.
[00:27:09.460]It's the rule.
[00:27:10.320]So some, some of the high schools have graduation requirements and they,
[00:27:16.140]you know, it's the rule.
[00:27:17.140]They have to do it.
[00:27:18.040]And number five and six is where we want to get the kids, uh, level of, of thinking at.
[00:27:24.920]Uh, the fifth one is they want to be able to help someone.
[00:27:28.220]They see that as, as doing that.
[00:27:31.320]And number six is it becomes their personal code of conduct.
[00:27:34.460]They do it just because that's who they are.
[00:27:37.020]And so when you look at those,
[00:27:39.440]those six reasons, it's really,
[00:27:41.160]I look at community service as a beautiful way to introduce those six reasons
[00:27:47.140]why you do anything. And you,
[00:27:48.940]you strive to get to those levels five and six. And I would say,
[00:27:53.280]just remember that doesn't age has nothing to do with it.
[00:27:58.440]That I had a four-year-old in Lincoln when I first started this,
[00:28:02.620]who wanted,
[00:28:03.300]she actually went on walks with her mom and she would see all the garbage out
[00:28:08.620]on the walk.
[00:28:09.420]Trail.
[00:28:09.720]And if she was,
[00:28:11.440]it was bothering her so much that her mom said,
[00:28:13.820]just bring a garbage bag along and let's do this.
[00:28:16.660]And so she was picking up the trash and really feeling good about herself.
[00:28:21.240]And then she got mad at the adults because she would see them throwing
[00:28:24.840]trash down on her walkway.
[00:28:26.960]And she is like,
[00:28:28.560]you know,
[00:28:29.100]going crazy,
[00:28:29.920]but she was four years old and she was doing it to help her community.
[00:28:35.540]You know,
[00:28:36.500]she was feeling good about that.
[00:28:39.400]And I think she even did a gratitude card project where she made little
[00:28:44.640]thank you cards and gave them to her preschool friends to hand out to people
[00:28:49.760]around the community.
[00:28:50.680]This little girl today is about 12.
[00:28:54.300]She lives in Washington state.
[00:28:56.620]She has stayed in contact with me.
[00:28:58.440]Her and her mom have,
[00:28:59.540]and it has,
[00:29:00.760]it is who she is.
[00:29:02.100]This little girl is still active in her community.
[00:29:05.540]And to,
[00:29:07.260]to have watched that happen since she,
[00:29:09.400]was four is just amazing.
[00:29:10.840]It's been amazing.
[00:29:11.960]That's why I don't ask for any pay.
[00:29:14.320]I get all the,
[00:29:15.160]all the fun stuff that comes to me and I hear stories.
[00:29:18.420]And so that's enough for me.
[00:29:19.960]Any other questions?
[00:29:24.580]I just wanted to say,
[00:29:27.220]Mary,
[00:29:27.500]I still have my volunteer reading ribbon from second grade.
[00:29:32.100]And I don't know.
[00:29:34.180]There's just something about it when you're little,
[00:29:36.080]that makes you feel happy and good.
[00:29:38.020]Not only do you have to,
[00:29:39.360]but then having a little recognition and then congratulations on Ted talk.
[00:29:44.460]And I was curious what you,
[00:29:46.060]what the name of your Ted talk was.
[00:29:47.740]I.
[00:29:49.720]It's really crazy.
[00:29:52.060]You're asking me the title of it.
[00:29:53.580]I can't tell you.
[00:29:54.300]It's three questions,
[00:29:55.780]three simple questions to empower kids.
[00:29:58.380]And I use these three questions when I was the diversion officer.
[00:30:03.300]When I would assign service,
[00:30:08.480]or I would tell them,
[00:30:09.340]what to do,
[00:30:10.080]it was,
[00:30:11.380]it was something they had to do.
[00:30:13.780]You know,
[00:30:14.460]it wasn't,
[00:30:15.000]it wasn't personal to them.
[00:30:16.700]So to make it more personal,
[00:30:19.000]I asked them to look around the community and what do they see that needs to be fixed,
[00:30:24.000]changed or improved.
[00:30:25.120]And then I would ask them these three questions.
[00:30:27.680]Do you play a role?
[00:30:30.020]Can it be changed?
[00:30:32.080]And can you change it?
[00:30:33.940]If you say yes to those three questions,
[00:30:36.960]you had an obligation to do something about it.
[00:30:39.320]You might not be able to fix the problem,
[00:30:41.560]but at least you could move it forward.
[00:30:43.440]And a lot of the kids in my program were there because of alcohol use.
[00:30:49.500]They were partying on the weekends.
[00:30:51.300]And when I asked that question, do we have a problem in our community?
[00:30:57.520]They said, yes, there's nothing fun for kids to do.
[00:31:02.840]And I found that very interesting because when I looked at our problem,
[00:31:09.300]I saw alcohol as the problem.
[00:31:10.780]The kids told me there's nothing fun for them to do.
[00:31:15.540]And it was like a wow moment for me.
[00:31:18.260]But they said yes to those three questions.
[00:31:21.540]They had a role.
[00:31:22.400]It could be changed.
[00:31:23.660]Then they could change it.
[00:31:24.720]They organized a youth council that began organizing dances and concerts.
[00:31:30.420]And we saw a huge decrease in juvenile arrest because the kids weren't getting
[00:31:37.200]in trouble anymore.
[00:31:39.280]And after three years, we had so few of kids being arrested that they were
[00:31:45.320]contemplating doing away with my job.
[00:31:47.560]And that's why I actually took a different job somewhere.
[00:31:51.260]I left that position.
[00:31:52.620]But the board eventually came back and said, you know, what we're going to do
[00:31:58.540]is we're going to add more counties to our program.
[00:32:01.900]And I wish they would have told me that before I left.
[00:32:04.920]But my county attorney said, Mary, we think we're going to lose you because
[00:32:08.640]they're not going.
[00:32:09.260]They're not going to continue your job.
[00:32:10.440]So I ended up taking a different position somewhere.
[00:32:13.140]But arrests went back up
[00:32:17.120]because the program was very different after I left.
[00:32:22.040]But I really, when I first started this,
[00:32:27.620]I started visiting all of the county sheriffs
[00:32:29.980]because I saw this as a solution for juvenile arrests.
[00:32:35.540]That's the way that I saw it.
[00:32:37.060]And yet it can be, it can be,
[00:32:39.240]and it can be so much more.
[00:32:41.060]In our leadership development programming,
[00:32:46.560]we've been discussing the importance
[00:32:48.320]of youth adult partnerships.
[00:32:50.040]And I just think that adults maybe behave better
[00:32:55.940]when they are thinking about being a role model to children.
[00:32:58.940]So this is a good way to get adults volunteering as well.
[00:33:03.660]And just thinking about the example
[00:33:06.800]they're providing to their kids.
[00:33:09.220]And you can even look at that a little broader
[00:33:12.460]and say that a five-year-old or a 10-year-old
[00:33:15.480]can actually introduce it to our preschool.
[00:33:17.620]You know, the little bit older kids
[00:33:21.300]can actually play that role of leadership.
[00:33:23.740]We painted some fun crosswalks in Kimball
[00:33:30.180]two summers ago.
[00:33:33.100]And one is, or I guess two of them
[00:33:35.880]are right in front of the elementary school
[00:33:37.580]and the school.
[00:33:39.200]Summer school kids helped me paint
[00:33:41.320]and they really had fun.
[00:33:42.500]They were mostly probably first and second grade age.
[00:33:46.420]I think art is a beautiful subject matter to bring in
[00:33:54.020]because I think that art is usually fun for anyone.
[00:34:00.100]Actually, my book, both of my books
[00:34:03.660]were illustrated by gentlemen who were incarcerated
[00:34:06.500]and it allowed them to do
[00:34:09.180]a service project while they were living behind bars.
[00:34:13.080]What other questions people have for Mary?
[00:34:23.040]Or ways that you are seeing volunteering
[00:34:33.400]work well in your community?
[00:34:39.160]I would encourage anyone
[00:34:42.760]if you have a project that was done
[00:34:45.700]and it was
[00:34:47.900]we would love to know about it.
[00:34:51.680]If you'd like to take a few pictures
[00:34:53.860]and share those with me, I can create a video for the channel.
[00:34:57.240]Or if you'd like to have complete control over that
[00:35:00.760]and you want to make your own video and just submit it to me
[00:35:03.400]we can certainly post it.
[00:35:05.380]Because I think by sharing ideas of what projects
[00:35:08.800]have been
[00:35:09.140]done
[00:35:09.560]it gives other communities the ideas.
[00:35:13.760]It might not be the exact same one
[00:35:17.020]but it might spark something
[00:35:18.840]in them.
[00:35:20.540]Hello. Thank you
[00:35:26.560]for sharing your
[00:35:28.080]experience.
[00:35:29.480]At the Neely Chamber
[00:35:33.180]we added our
[00:35:35.540]FBLA
[00:35:37.160]board
[00:35:39.120]to the chamber board.
[00:35:40.920]Two of the members attend every meeting
[00:35:43.500]and have been a great
[00:35:45.940]asset to the board
[00:35:47.420]bringing about younger opinions.
[00:35:49.480]We're also working on
[00:35:51.600]a community event with our
[00:35:53.520]local community foundation
[00:35:55.600]to host
[00:35:57.360]a volunteer
[00:35:59.240]event to bring in
[00:36:01.620]people that are new to the area
[00:36:03.660]within the last five years
[00:36:05.600]and
[00:36:06.540]have different tables
[00:36:09.100]set up of all the volunteer
[00:36:10.800]opportunities in the community.
[00:36:13.220]Still working out the details and the
[00:36:15.340]date on that, but we hope to do it
[00:36:17.280]in the next 60
[00:36:19.240]days.
[00:36:19.660]It's tough to find people
[00:36:23.400]with time to volunteer,
[00:36:24.580]but they don't know about the
[00:36:26.900]opportunities if we don't share them.
[00:36:29.000]Absolutely.
[00:36:31.280]If your group would like
[00:36:33.200]to do a video and talk about
[00:36:35.160]it, you know how
[00:36:36.200]the kids from the FBLA were the
[00:36:39.080]ones that came on board.
[00:36:40.400]You planted a seed that another
[00:36:43.100]community could maybe utilize.
[00:36:44.760]Perfect. Happy to share.
[00:36:47.120]Rip off and duplicate.
[00:36:48.180]Thank you.
[00:36:51.160]Lauren, did you apply for
[00:36:53.100]that Department of Economic Development
[00:36:54.880]grant for your welcoming
[00:36:57.020]event?
[00:36:57.500]I did not.
[00:36:59.900]I think it's
[00:37:03.140]too late.
[00:37:03.720]Our community foundation
[00:37:06.940]can cover it, but
[00:37:09.060]adult
[00:37:10.920]beverages cannot be included
[00:37:12.740]and sometimes that
[00:37:14.820]brings some young people around.
[00:37:17.140]Well, it brings some older people too,
[00:37:18.880]but that's the one
[00:37:21.180]thing that we're kind of working on now.
[00:37:23.100]Thanks for the idea
[00:37:25.120]though.
[00:37:39.040]Okay, if that's
[00:37:49.500]all of our volunteer discussion
[00:37:51.400]for now, does anyone have
[00:37:53.080]announcements from their organization?
[00:37:55.240]This is Marla with Rural Development
[00:38:06.860]and I just want to remind
[00:38:09.020]people that the
[00:38:11.080]deadline for our Rural Business
[00:38:13.060]Development Grant is
[00:38:15.260]February 28th
[00:38:17.460]and that is
[00:38:19.260]for not-for-profit
[00:38:20.920]entities that are working
[00:38:22.780]with small and
[00:38:25.100]emerging businesses
[00:38:26.380]anywhere in the state of
[00:38:29.140]Nebraska with population of
[00:38:31.160]less than 50,000.
[00:38:32.480]And that can
[00:38:35.200]either be revolving loan funds,
[00:38:37.020]it can be technical assistance
[00:38:39.000]if you're
[00:38:40.880]wanting to do some type of
[00:38:43.320]I had one community that
[00:38:45.060]wanted to do a hotel
[00:38:47.220]feasibility study to see
[00:38:51.120]if they could afford to
[00:38:52.660]have a hotel in their
[00:38:55.060]community. It's those things that can
[00:38:57.160]make something change
[00:38:59.180]or help those small businesses
[00:39:01.100]or add businesses in your
[00:39:02.980]small community. It can't be passed
[00:39:04.980]through to a business,
[00:39:06.740]but it can be there to help those small
[00:39:08.980]businesses. Also,
[00:39:10.740]incubator buildings.
[00:39:11.780]Speaking of incubator buildings,
[00:39:18.720]I don't know if everyone has seen
[00:39:21.140]the Cabela's
[00:39:23.060]office buildings in Sydney are
[00:39:24.920]up for auction next month.
[00:39:27.200]That's one possibility
[00:39:29.460]that's been discussed.
[00:39:30.460]Is it going to
[00:39:38.960]be a live
[00:39:40.960]auction?
[00:39:41.380]It's an online auction.
[00:39:44.580]Online auction.
[00:39:46.080]Really?
[00:39:47.460]Interesting.
[00:39:50.480]Starting bid is
[00:39:52.460]$750,000, which is pretty
[00:39:54.940]low for the size of those buildings.
[00:39:57.020]Is it
[00:40:00.480]one or
[00:40:02.480]would they be in separate units?
[00:40:04.660]I believe it's one.
[00:40:06.800]I don't know if Brandy can type.
[00:40:08.940]And verify that for me.
[00:40:11.140]Both buildings.
[00:40:14.000]Okay, thank you.
[00:40:15.880]And
[00:40:22.680]parking lots as well.
[00:40:24.040]There's the listing.
[00:40:26.300]Any other announcements?
[00:40:38.920]Jordan, did you have an update
[00:40:43.520]on
[00:40:44.160]your rebranding or is that something
[00:40:47.120]you're still working on?
[00:40:48.220]You might have stepped away.
[00:40:56.540]Okay.
[00:41:06.060]Hi, Jamie.
[00:41:08.900]I want to just ask the newbie,
[00:41:10.820]Caitlin, how's the job going, Caitlin?
[00:41:14.040]Good, honestly.
[00:41:16.840]It's been good to just get back
[00:41:19.120]from winter break and start getting
[00:41:21.620]back to meeting and learning about
[00:41:23.800]what's going on.
[00:41:24.420]Excellent.
[00:41:27.060]Excited to have the youth love it.
[00:41:30.600]Excited to have that position
[00:41:33.320]filled in Sheridan County.
[00:41:34.700]My old stomping grounds, by the way, Caitlin.
[00:41:38.880]Really? Well, good.
[00:41:39.580]Yes, you'll have to come visit me sometime.
[00:41:41.040]And also Jamie's old stomping grounds.
[00:41:46.020]Marla and I went to a meeting
[00:41:50.420]in Rushville last fall
[00:41:51.820]and it was fun to see
[00:41:54.900]all of the old familiar faces.
[00:41:56.720]Well, those of us in Extension
[00:42:04.760]are finishing up our annual reports.
[00:42:07.760]They are due the 15th
[00:42:08.860]and we all usually wait
[00:42:10.540]until the last minute.
[00:42:11.560]We've been reflecting
[00:42:15.220]on the past year
[00:42:16.380]and our work.
[00:42:18.180]One other final announcement.
[00:42:24.220]I think I announced this last time,
[00:42:25.780]but the save the date
[00:42:28.960]for the Connecting Entrepreneurial
[00:42:30.780]Communities conference is out.
[00:42:32.620]That's April 23rd and 24th
[00:42:34.700]in North Platte.
[00:42:35.920]I realize that's the same
[00:42:38.840]time as the Meet the Buyers event
[00:42:40.940]in Scots Bluff, so that could be a
[00:42:42.780]conflict for some of you
[00:42:44.240]in the panhandle. Probably
[00:42:46.620]mostly Scots Bluff, Sydney, and Kimball
[00:42:48.760]folks, but
[00:42:49.660]hopefully
[00:42:52.860]won't pull too many people away.
[00:42:54.440]Okay.
[00:43:00.000]If nothing else, we'll just thank
[00:43:02.820]Mary for her time, and
[00:43:04.820]I will send out the recording
[00:43:06.700]as well as her contact
[00:43:08.820]information. I'll make sure to get
[00:43:10.820]the right email address in there this time,
[00:43:12.760]Mary, and any of you
[00:43:14.800]can reach out to her if you have further questions.
[00:43:16.920]Thank you
[00:43:18.860]all. Have a good day.
[00:43:20.380]Thank you.
[00:43:20.440]© transcript Emily Beynon

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