By Marisa Dawson, Photos courtesy of Bennington Jaycees

The Bennington Jaycees, a longtime staple in the community known for hosting family-friendly events and supporting local organizations, are facing an uncertain future due to a shortage of members willing to step into leadership roles.

Spencer Werth, president of the Bennington Jaycees, said the group’s challenge isn’t unique to Bennington but reflects a statewide issue affecting Jaycees chapters across Nebraska.

“The biggest challenges, and this is actually a statewide challenge, it’s not unique to Bennington, but it’s membership,” Werth said. “We’ve had a lot of new members join recently, which we’re incredibly grateful for, but we’re seeing that right now a lot of the people that have been officers are aging out and people are not able to step in or no one’s been able to volunteer to step in to take those officer positions.”

Currently, Werth is serving as the chapter’s only designated officer. “So right now I’m the only designated officer, which is problematic,” he said. “Number one for me because I’m doing the job of five people… Number two, that’s not good corporate governance.”

Without additional officers, the chapter risks shutting down, a loss Werth says would leave a noticeable gap in the community. “There’d be a huge fundraising gap in the community,” he said. “I think a lot of people would be looking for those events, not realizing that the entity that was hosting them is no longer operating.”

The Bennington Jaycees are a nonprofit, philanthropic organization focused on serving the community, governed by young professionals under the age of 40. Their mission centers on reinvesting funds raised through events and donations back into the community.

“We try to keep all of our funding, all of our donations, going to community events,” Werth said. “Our end goal is to reinvest all that money back into the community.”

Over the years, the Jaycees have supported a wide range of local causes, including scholarships, school foundation events, and organizations that lack access to traditional funding. Their largest fundraiser of the year is the fireworks stand, among others, which provides funding for these causes.

“One of the big ones that we’ve been working with has been the Bennington dance team,” Werth said. “Since they’re not sponsored by the High School Activities association, they have to get outside funding.”

The Jaycees are also well-known for hosting popular community events such as the Easter egg hunt, Trunk or Treat, and running the beer stand at Bennington Days. Several of these events are offered at no cost to families.

“We’re not making any money off of that,” Werth said. “This is what we’re doing because we want to invest back in the community.”

One of the most common misconceptions about joining the Jaycees, Werth said, is the belief that the time commitment is overwhelming. “That’s the biggest misconception- the time commitment,” he said. “If you want to join, you’re not going to be asked to work dozens of hours a week or anything like that.”

The group meets once a month for about an hour to an hour and a half, with no mandatory attendance requirements for general members.

“If that’s just working at one event a year, that’s completely fine,” Werth said. “There’s no obligation to be at the meetings, to show up every month.”

Officer roles require additional administrative work, but Werth emphasized the workload is still manageable. “It’s closer to one to two hours a week, if that,” he said.

Werth personally joined the Jaycees after moving to Bennington in 2019 and said the organization helped him build both professional and personal connections. “I did not know anyone in the Bennington community when I moved in,” he said. “Being a part of the Jaycees allows you to have that connection to the community that you otherwise might not get.”

He said the experience has been rewarding beyond networking. “You meet a lot of great people doing it,” Werth said. “It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun work.”

Werth encourages anyone who is even slightly interested to attend a meeting and learn more. “If you’re just looking for, ‘hey, I want to get out of the house once a month and go hang out with some adults and have a drink at the monthly meeting,’ that’s completely fine,” he said. “We’re open to whatever people want to do.”

The Bennington Jaycees’ next meeting will be held Saturday, February 1 at 7 p.m. at Nate’s Stumble Inn. The meeting is open to anyone interested in learning more, with no prior sign-up required. “Anyone is welcome,” Werth said. “It’s a very informal process in joining.” Annual dues are $15, and attendees are welcome to enjoy a beverage provided by the Jaycees.

Werth hopes increased awareness will encourage new faces to step forward and help ensure the organization, and its events, continue for years to come.

“We want to keep those opportunities going,” he said.