02 Apr Foundation Files: Cheryl Higgins Receives Leadership Award
The Kansas Health Foundation has a long history of supporting rural communities across the state. From helping establish community foundations to addressing food insecurity and other major health challenges, the foundation has consistently invested in programs that strengthen Kansas towns.
In 2003, that commitment intersected with local leadership when the Kansas Health Foundation recognized McPherson Chamber of Commerce Director Cheryl Lyn Higgins with its Leadership Institute award. The honor highlighted her work building stronger connections across the community and came with a $25,000 grant to invest in local causes.
Higgins chose to focus on opportunities for young people, splitting the funding among three funds held at the McPherson County Community Foundation.
The first donation was to establish the Wann, Jesse Michael Preschool Scholarship Fund. The fund was set up initially to support scholarships at a local preschool. After it’s closure the fund has continued to support the education of preschool age children, with it’s most recent support aimed at childcare initiatives.
The second donation was given to School Supply Train, an organization that supports early education students in McPherson.
The third was distributed to the AFA Scholarship, a fund that provides scholarships to graduating high school seniors that are pursuing and agricultural related degree.
*Article originally from Kansas Health Foundation Leadership Announcement (2003)*
Cheryl Higgins Receives Leadership Award
Cheryl and her grandson Jesse
Community Health Leadership Award took a different career path, from broadcaster to educator to banker to head of the McPherson Chamber of Commerce.
None are jobs she envisioned as a young girl growing up in Winfield, Kan. “I wanted to be that masked do-gooder, a cross between Zorro and the Lone Ranger,” says Higgins.
Back then, if she wanted to right a wrong she’d don her Annie Oakley cowgirl costume and jump on her fearless steed (the kitchen broom). One night, convinced that a nice old lady in the neighborhood must be poor since she didn’t have a TY, the six-year-old galloped past the house and hurled a penny-filled bag onto her porch. The woman known as Grandma Howe to all the kids in the neighborhood was soon knocking at her parents’ door saying, “I chink Cheryl Lyn may have left this.”
Higgins has given up disguises, but the wish to make a difference remains. Colleagues call her one of the most effective collaborators they know. The kind of person who can put in more than an eight-hour workday and still attend evening meetings in a positive, focused frame of mind. Ready to identify and work toward common goals that create a strong, healthy community – one that puts kids first. She presents an idea, lets all parties provide input, brings the discussion back to critical issues, and moves the agenda forward.
“People want to know the key to McPherson’s success,”-says Higgins. “Here it is: we don’t have territories. We sit at the table together. When we tackle issues, we make sure that all the stakeholders are there.”
McPherson, Which has been called one of the country’s most livable small towns, isn’t resting on its laurels. It and every other town in the county are part of a strategic planning task force, Vision 2010. Utilizing a process called Grassroots Visioning – successfully piloted in Osceola County, Fla., but new to Kansas – Higgins works with people from city and county governments, education, healthcare and private enterprise. If you’re part of the community, you’re encouraged participate. They’ve distributed questionnaires countywide. Held an all-county meeting with nationally known facilitators. Set goals and identified action teams. As they work to create the best possible environment for children, they hope to create a template that all rural Kansas counties will want to apply.
Higgins has another labor of love; raising her grandson, Jesse. Doling out hugs and Kool-Aid to him and the neighborhood kids – whom she makes a point to know by name – she finds it’s her turn to be everybody’s grandma.
“I may feel weary when I get home, but Jesse and his friends quickly recharge me,” she says. “They’re what it’s all about.”
The Kansas Health Foundation’s Community Health Leadership Award recognizes leadership in community health within the state. Now in its tenth year, it gives special attention to chose with vision and the ability to translate good ideas into effective programs. This year’s award includes a $25,000 grant that Cheryl Lyn Higgins has chosen to give to the McPherson County Community Foundation and it’s work to improve the health of children. The award is part of the Kansas Health Foundation Leadership Institute. This annual event brings together leaders from across the state to develop skills necessary to meet the challenges of the future.