By Adam Stewart
From the Newsroom
Last week, I wrote about the launch of United Way of Reno County’s (UWRC) annual fundraising campaign and its ambitious goal to help working families become more economically stable.
For that story, I spoke to the directors of a couple of organizations that receive funding from UWRC: Hadley Day Care Center and Circles Reno County. I interviewed them about what they do and how their work helps people who are working but struggling to keep up—let alone get ahead—get on a steadier footing.
It’s one of my favorite things about working in local news. Yes, reporting involves covering crime, disasters, politics and other subjects that at times can be sad, frustrating or angering. But it is also essential to report about the many people and organizations working tirelessly to help people. Only covering doom-and-gloom issues isn’t merely disheartening; it also presents an incomplete and misleading picture of the community and world.
Last October, when federal food assistance programs were suspended during a government shutdown, I had the luck to be in the room as a dozen local government agencies and nonprofits convened to coordinate a local response and keep 6,000 hungry Reno County residents fed. It was a stopgap, not a permanent solution, but it made a difference.
It’s easier to avoid falling into cynicism and pessimism when you witness the hard work people put into bettering their community. It doesn’t give me any illusions that the work is easy or sure to succeed. But I see people fighting for a better community.
It isn’t just a few people, either. As I write this on Monday, I have three more stories in the works for upcoming issues of The Tribune about different nonprofits and things they are doing. Look for those over the next few weeks.
Beyond those stories, I have no worries about running out of stories to cover about the things that nonprofits and volunteers are doing in Reno County. Somebody is always trying a new idea to benefit the community.
Adam Stewart is the assistant news editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached at adam@hutchtribune.com.