Speaker: People return home 'to the fulfillment of who we are'

Garlick

People are like fish -- they are best attracted rather than being herded, a speaker told community leaders from cities and towns across Nebraska who filled the Republican River Valley Event Center Thursday night for the Nebraska Community Foundation's annual banquet.

Outgoing Chairman of the Board, Mark Graff and the McCook Community Foundation hosted the event, which celebrated the 15th anniversary of the organization.

Dr. George F. Garlick, originally from rural Curtis, said he has never forgotten his hometown and he has established a branch of one of his companies, Frontier Technologies LLC, in Curtis.

In 2008, he contributed more than $1 million to build the Curtis Memorial Community Center.

Garlick introduces himself as a farm boy from Nebraska, which he proclaims with great pride. "In Washington State, we have a great phenomenon of the return of the salmon. The fish have a strong drive to return to their homes. The same is with people -- we are drawn, not forced. We come back to the fulfillment of who we are."

Garlick credited that to his father, a janitor in the Curtis school system, who never earned more than $1 per hour.

But what he received from Curtis was pride, integrity, and a sense of community. His father's philosophy included several points: 1. Never criticize another because you've never walked in their shoes; 2. If there are hard feelings between you and another person, always apologize, even if you believe your position is correct. You can still apologize for the hard feelings; 3. Always think of others first.

The Nebraska Community Foundation serves communities, organizations and donors throughout Nebraska by providing financial management, strategic development, education, training and peer learning to more than 1,800 leaders of 199 affiliated funds statewide.

One of the main focuses of the NCF during the past years has been to help communities develop plans for encouraging young people to return to their hometowns.

Another speaker, Jeff Yost, President and CEO of Nebraska Community Foundation, told the gathering that technology is shrinking geography and expanding career options. Young people are expressing a desire to come home to raise their families, and that Internet technology is allowing that to happen at an ever-increasing pace.

The NCF is a national model for innovative work in rural development philanthropy.