Omaha, NE, Chapter Earns 2026 Chapter of the Year Award

A year of community outreach success earned Chapter 16 in Omaha, NE, WoodmenLife’s prestigious Chapter of the Year Award.

The Chapter of the Year Award celebrates those who go above and beyond to create meaningful change, build strong community relationships, and support WoodmenLife’s mission in action.

Throughout 2025, Chapter 16 showed exceptional dedication by hosting a wide range of meetings, events, and service projects. With large-scale community outreach efforts, patriotic initiatives, and charitable investments, the chapter’s work touched countless lives while showcasing the power of active, engaged membership.

Beyond naming a Chapter of the Year — which earned Chapter 16 a $10,000 prize — the award process showed WoodmenLife’s commitment to outstanding service, engagement, and community impact.

Community Outreach Success

Chapter 16 President Sylvia Newsome was ecstatic to learn of her chapter’s award.

“I’m not sure if that’s even the right word, because every time I talk about it, there’s another level of thankfulness,” she said.

One thing she is sure of is that the award is a calling for the chapter to do even more going forward.

“This catapults us to another level of serving,” Newsome said. “It allows us to help more organizations and help build more partnerships. The monetary award allows us to do more and reach more.”

She sees “more” taking form in increased chapter collaboration, service, community involvement, and member appreciation.

“It’s just calling us to do more, whatever that looks like,” Newsome said.

Setting the Standard

WoodmenLife’s chapters are spread across the country, and they work to make a difference in their communities. That work takes many hands and reaches thousands of people, which led WoodmenLife to begin honoring the Chapter of the Year in 2023.

Chapter 16 is more than deserving of this year’s recognition, said Deidre Snow, Community Outreach Advisor for WoodmenLife’s Pacific/Midwest Region.

“Our Omaha chapter does so much more than what’s expected, whether it’s a direct donation or volunteering their time,” Snow said. “Members also focus a lot of energy on fighting hunger, which is one of WoodmenLife’s top initiatives.”

Snow highlighted Chapter 16’s work with:

• Saving Grace, a local nonprofit that rescues fresh food and delivers the food to more than 40 pantries and nonprofits in the Omaha area
• The Omaha VA Medical Center, to which the chapter made a monetary donation and held volunteer dates serving popcorn to Veterans
• The Millard South High School Food Pantry, which received a monetary donation from the chapter for fresh food

Robby Molony, Vice President, Fraternal at WoodmenLife, agreed.

“The passion and consistency shown by Chapter 16 truly set it apart,” he said. “The members’ ability to bring people together, invest in their community, and live out our mission at every level is exactly what this award is meant to recognize.”

Molony cited how the chapter has led large-scale community service initiatives. One example: its Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, with approximately 70 volunteers, packing 600 hygiene kits and 600 meals for local nonprofit partners.

He also noted the $67,000 given by the chapter for outreach, including support for foster families, education programs, and poverty initiatives.

Looking Ahead

Newsome looks forward to more community outreach success because of how committed Chapter 16’s members are to serving others. She’s eager to build more partnerships in the community and coordinate with other WoodmenLife chapters in the Omaha area to make the largest impact possible.

Said Snow, “We’re so fortunate that the members and Sales Force are so engaged with their chapter and support one another’s endeavors to help their community.”

She praised Chapter 16 members for bringing outreach ideas like:

• Supporting a school that needed a cafeteria table
• Helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Midlands acquire school supplies and volunteers for its Back-to-School bash
• Donating American Flags to a local Veterans memorial for Memorial Day

Member creativity, dedication, and involvement will keep Chapter 16 engaged and active, but Newsome said their members won’t rest on their laurels and forget why they do what they do.

“We don’t do things for recognition,” she said. “We do what we’re supposed to do when and how we’re supposed to do it.”

Written by: Gary Peterson, Senior Copywriter

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