KEARNEY — John Anderson believes that to be a good volunteer, a person must ultimately be selfless.

Anderson, son of Scott and Michael Anderson of Kearney, is a senior at Kearney High School. He tries to be as involved at school as possible, so he participates in basketball, football and track and also plays baseball in the summer. He’s an officer in K-Club, Key Club and National Honor Society.

When he’s not busy with school, he enjoys volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and coaching Kearney Basketball Club children.

“I like to give my time, and I’m not expecting anything back. That’s what voluntarism is all about. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and happiness as well as the people I’m helping. It gives them whatever they need — help, money, time — whatever it is,” Anderson said.

In January, Anderson heard about Lizzie Stratton, an eighth-grader at Sunrise Middle School who has been battling cancer for four years. Anderson’s imagination began to run, and he met over lunch with other high school students to talk about raising money to help the Stratton family with medical expenses.

Anderson went to local businesses and a fund was set up at Platte Valley State Bank to accept donations. At a home basketball game, the students had a silent auction. The students raised more than $6,500 for Lizzie and her family.

“Her entire family is the most deserving family you’ll ever meet, even while they’re going through these struggles. She’s a pretty amazing girl. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her without a smile upon her face,” Anderson said.

Anderson was surprised when he learned he would be receiving the Freedom Award.

“It’s a great sense of accomplishment for an entire community, not one person at all. I see it more as an award for anyone who helped out in the community to make it a success than an award for me,” Anderson said.

Anderson’s two brothers and sister nominated him for the award. Leigh Anderson, a junior nursing and pre-med major at Creighton, said she believes her brother deserves to be recognized for all that he’s done.

“He does a lot of things for other people, and he’s really humble about it. He seldom lets other people know about what he does, and we thought that someone should,” Leigh said.

After graduation, Anderson will attend the U.S. Air Force Academy. He reports for basic training June 29 in Colorado Springs, Colo. Eventually, he would like to be a fighter pilot.

“I know we don’t tell him enough that he’s appreciated, but he certainly will be missed a lot,” Leigh said.

The next event on Anderson’s list is to try to put together a competition between classes at the high school to raise money for Relay for Life.

“A good volunteer is ultimately selfless. You have to want to give of yourself and help other people who are in need,” Anderson said.

e-mail to:
katherine.thomas@kearneyhub.com