Buffalo County Community Partners, Courtesy
KEARNEY — Farm Credit Services of America employees are Giving an Hour to become Wellness Ambassadors in a pilot with Buffalo County Community Partners.
Give an Hour’s Wellness Ambassadors are the heart of every community, local leaders who build their individual toolboxes to help others. This pilot will bring our ag communities around evidence-based knowledge on how to help their neighbors, watch for warning signs and save lives.
“Building community well-being is our work, to partner across the state with Farm Credit Services is a gift that will save lives,” shares Buffalo County Community Partners CEO, Denise Zwiener. “We ask people to put on your oxygen mask before helping others, dig in and learn more together is our motto. Give an Hour has the tool to help us put on our oxygen mask. Farm Credit has the hands and hearts to share this important work.”
Farm Credit Services employees from offices in McCook, Broken Bow, and Kearney will be gathering in Kearney this week to assemble Neighbor to Neighbor packets and distribute to local ag producers and ag businesses. The packet contains information on how rural Nebraskans can Give an Hour as well as other resources to help a neighbor who may be struggling.
“Helping our neighbors is the strength of Nebraska farmers and ranchers. Learning more about mental health can save lives in our ag communities. This partnership with Community Partners helps us learn together and save lives together. I’m so proud of our teammates who are stepping into this space to learn more to help neighbors help neighbors,” stated Ryan Kirchhoff, Regional Vice President at Farm Credit Services of America.
Giveanhour.org is creating resilient individuals and communities by improving mental health and emotional wellbeing, one hour at a time. This program is designed for individuals passionate about promoting mental health and well-being within their communities and offering flexible online access for convenient engagement. It takes one hour, on-line. Buffalo County Community Partners has an agreement with Give an Hour to measure our success over time. “We will be able to count the number of Wellness Ambassadors trained in Nebraska, when people give energy to this movement it is important that we ensure we are achieving the desired outcomes which is saving lives and helping others,” commented Zwiener.
At this time 33 Nebraskans are Wellness Ambassadors, Buffalo County Community Partners’ goal is to engage 500 people per year to be trained. If your business is interested in piloting Give an Hour, contact Tana Miller at tmiller@bcchp.org or 308-865-2284.
Buffalo County Community Partners is a non-profit organization that identifies issues in the community, collects and evaluates data, and invests the time to understand the issues.
Partners facilitates community conversations to find innovative solutions and connects people to essential resources. Find more at www.bcchp.org or contact us at (308)865-2284 or info@bcchp.org.
