Meet Wyoming Jefferson Award Finalist Glee Nett

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) – The Jefferson Awards honor those making a difference in communities across the state, and Glee Nett is one of those people.

Based in Cheyenne, Glee is the founder of the Children’s Western Wish Foundation. The Children’s Western Wish Foundation focuses on supporting youth battling childhood illnesses or who live with special needs, but there are no restrictions to who they serve. Glee and her team work to provide everyone with an unforgettable experience at the rodeo.

Reporter Grace Swanke had the opportunity to sit down with Glee to learn more about the work she does and the impact she has made in the lives of others in her community.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT:

Grace Swanke: Start by telling us a little bit about the children’s Western Wish Foundation.

Glee Nett: The children’s Western wish came about so that I could continue to be with my rodeo family after I retired, and I did so so that we could give back to the community where our rodeos are held, and give back to one of their own community members and their immediate family. I named it children’s Western wish, because in the book of Psalms, there is a verse that says, ‘We’re all children of God’. Therefore in our 21 years of granting wishes, we have granted from a three year old to 101 year old.

GS: What inspired you to kind of start it was just the desire to still stay within the rodeo world, correct?

GN: Yes, and show the rest of the world that those who attend our Western heritage events, what we do to live the cowboy way, and to be good to one another. It’s a simple act of kindness. We do to live the cowboy way, and to be good to one another. It’s a simple act of kindness. I could not do this by myself. It takes our whole rodeo family, our rodeo committees, and the community themselves to give back and make the wish successful, and they all are.

GS: This is a big undertaking. This is a lot of work. What brings you joy, and what kind of motivates you to keep going?

GN: The next wish. It motivates me because I see the rewards. Whether it’s a personal reward, or it’s a community reward. It’s the benefit that I have in doing what I am blessed to do is that I get to work with the man above and give from my heart. That’s my incentive to just keep going. I think it’s important that each one of us remember that we are given the opportunity so many times throughout every day, to give an act of kindness even if it’s just to share your smile. The difference you can make in someone’s life because you don’t know the battle the other person may be going through and that act of kindness and I’ve seen it too often has proven to be a lifelong memory and experience. So I would just ask everybody to extend that act of kindness to one another. It’s really easy to give.

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