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Family Resource Center dedicates 'Big Give' proceeds to late volunteer
McCOOK, Neb. — The staff of the Family Resource Center in McCook wants to dedicate its “Big Give McCook” 2018 campaign to the memory of Raleigh Haas, their most dedicated supporter and volunteer.
“Raleigh was with us from the beginning. He was always willing to do whatever needed to be done,” FRC coordinator Kathy Haas said of her husband, who died very unexpectedly of a heart attack on Aug. 28. He was 62 years old.
“Raleigh was happy to help,” Kathy says. Whether it was washing dishes or moving furniture, Raleigh could be found hard at it, doing what needed to be done.
And doing it with a great attitude, a mile-wide smile and never a complaint about his aching knees and ankles. “His cheerfulness … his respect for people …” Kathy said … they permeated all that Raleigh Haas did.
Kathy asks those giving to Big Give, particularly this year, to honor Raleigh’s legacy of service and volunteerism by earmarking their donations to the Family Resource Center. She said, “Raleigh always believed it was a privilege to be able to help people.”
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“Big Give McCook” will be Thursday, Nov. 15, from 12:01 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. The fundraiser spotlights 23 groups and organizations, and donors can choose how much money they would like to donate and to which organization(s) they would like the money to go. A donor may also donate a lump sum to the Community Chest, which will then disperse the money to the organizations which are part of the Community Chest.
Community Chest is a sub-account of the McCook Community Foundation Fund, which also provides financial support for Big Give McCook.
For more information about Big Give McCook, call Community Chest coordinators Lisa Felker or Melissa Stritt at (308) 345-4240. Information about Big Give McCook, along with descriptions of each non-profit and the projects they plan, is available at biggivemccook.org.
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The Family Resource Center is one of the 23 organizations supported this year by Big Give McCook. The FRC serves approximately 400 families a year through projects such as a children’s clothing exchange, the Christmas Tree of Love and a school supply give-away.
The FRC is an independent entity, having no “parent” organization that provides an organizational and/or financial umbrella.
Kathy says, “Our annual budget is $39,000. We’re funded by the grace of God, and with donations and fund-raisers.”
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The roots of what would become the Family Resource Center started with efforts called “Good Beginnings” and “Partners in Parenting” in the mid- to late-1990s. “My history with the Family Resource Center started in 1996,” Kathy recalls. Raleigh just always pitched in when someone was needed. “Raleigh washed dishes at a Partners in Parenting pancake supper fund-raiser one evening,” Kathy said, with a grin.
As the FRC moved several times, “Raleigh was always involved, packing … moving … unpacking,” Kathy said, remembering that he once joked, “Oh, moving sounds fun … “
“Wherever we were located, he was our handyman because we were an agency on a tiny budget,” she said. Raleigh was the plumber who fixed the toilet, the carpenter who built the clothes racks, the guy who changed the lightbulbs. Raleigh worked easily with other FRC volunteers and board members to take care of what needed to be done, Kathy said.
At yearly and then twice-yearly garage sale fund-raisers, “I could count on Raleigh” to be the muscle, the sorter, the set-up person … the bouncer if necessary. “Then he’d help clean up and put things away,” Kathy said.
In preparation for the center’s annual Christmas gift basket fund-raiser, Raleigh and Kathy kept each other company on road trips to purchase hundreds of baskets at thrift shops. “Raleigh was my thrift shop road trip companion,” Kathy said, and brightened with a question, “Did you know that North Platte has six thrift stores?”
Kathy filled and decorated the baskets, and she and Raleigh loaded and hauled them to area holiday craft sales — even if it meant that they went to early Mass on a Sunday morning and set up afterward so that Kathy didn’t have to ask someone else to help on a Sunday.
One craft show is a particular favorite for Kathy. “Each year, after we set up the baskets at the Cambridge craft show, we’d walk downtown for a prime rib dinner at Town Talk, to celebrate the anniversary of our first date,” Kathy said quietly, wiping tears.
Raleigh was Kathy’s proofreader and editor, for letters, press releases and grant applications. “He was very good at that. I relied on him for that,” she said.
Kathy said that, as a volunteer, Raleigh never “burned out.” Nor did he ever complain of ankle and knee pain that would have discouraged most people. “His pain level, despite surgery and medication, was very often at a ‘10’ … and often beyond belief,” she said.
Manning a long-distance ambulance, Kathy said, “Raleigh understood that a patient would rather be anywhere else.” As a probation officer for 20 years and as director of the Work Ethic Camp in McCook for eight years, Kathy said, “Raleigh believed that people are good. And if they have the chance, they’ll do good.”
Underlying all these activities were Raleigh’s innate cheerfulness, the courtesy he displayed to everyone … his patience … his respect for people.
Because of Raleigh’s legacy of helping people, Kathy asks that Big Give donors, particularly this year, support the Family Resource Center in his memory.
“Raleigh believed it’s a privilege to be able to help people,” Kathy said. “The Big Give is really important to the Family Resource Center,” she said. “And Raleigh was important to the Family Resource Center.”