Sherry Herschend Honored by Skaggs Foundation

The Skaggs Foundation announces a Branson native has been honored with the 2021 Skaggs Legacy Award.

The story from Jason Wert of the Branson Tri-Lakes News:

Sherry Herschend was given the award during an event on Jan. 13. Herschend’s volunteer efforts and fundraising efforts were cited by the foundation in a video honoring Herschend.

Ben Morris, Cox Medical Center Branson’s Cancer Center Director, said that Herschend was a strong leader but also a different kind of leader.

“Sherry is a community leader but in a different kind of way,” Morris said in a video honoring Herschend. “She’s not front and center, you’re not going to see Sherry out shaking hands and being in the forefront of the community, you won’t see her on television, but you will find Sherry working behind the scenes.”

In the video, Skaggs Foundation President Meghan Connell reveals that Herschend is a registered nurse and has a medical background. 

“She bootstrapped herself to some amazing accomplishments,” Bob Cox, a member of the Cox Medical Center Branson Board of Directors, said in the video. “She became an integral part of developing Herschend Family Entertainment and Silver Dollar City.”

The video tells the story of how Herschend’s generosity and leadership helped cancer patients across Taney and Stone counties by raising funds for treatment equipment that had previously been available only in Springfield.

“Before we opened the cancer center in 2007, patients had to commute somewhere,” Morris said. “At that time, there was not a two-lane highway between here and Springfield.”

Morris explained that the nature of the cancer treatment made the travel very burdensome on patients and families.

“Radiation therapy is delivered by a high powered X-ray machine called a linear accelerator,” Morris said. “Those radiation treatments are every day, Monday through Friday, and it truly is just a 15-minute appointment. You can imagine the frustration of driving an hour or hour and a half, for a 15-minute appointment, then turning around and driving that same distance.”

Morris said the cost of the machine was a hindrance for many hospitals, and that for most hospitals who were able to have a linear accelerator, it was the most expensive piece of equipment in the entire building.

“Imagine the challenges for, at the time, Skaggs Community Hospital, a rural community hospital to afford a multi-million dollar piece of equipment,” Morris said.

Sherry Herschend spurred donations to the hospital to get the needed equipment with a donation of $500,000 from her charitable foundation.

“Sherry’s major donation to the cancer center was the trigger, it really was the game changer, which allowed the cancer center to purchase the new equipment to bring us to the forefront of service in the Ozarks,” Cox said.

Morris said the equipment, and providing the services in Branson, allowed the patients to get their treatment without completely disrupting all parts of their lives, which helped in healing.

Connell said the Skaggs Foundation Legacy Award is given to a “champion of our community” who “follows the mission of the Skaggs Foundation which is promoting health and wellness throughout our communities in Stone and Taney counties.”

“Within the last year, we have received a new CT scanner, and purchased a new linear accelerator,” Connell said.  “If it wasn’t for Sherry Herschend, for her vision, her giving soul, I don’t know if we would be where we are today.”

Cox said Herschend’s impact on the cancer center can’t be seen today.

“We’re going to be able to see families affected, lives saved, literally for generations going forward,” Cox said. “That’s a true legacy.”

Herschend tells Branson Tri-Lakes News she was honored by the award.

“I feel very proud to be honored by the Board of the Skaggs Foundation that is doing so much to meet the needs of our surrounding communities and turning many frowns into smiles,” she said. “Receiving the Legacy Award gives me the opportunity and platform to talk about some extraordinary people who are addressing healthcare needs, with state-of-the-art equipment, right here in Taney and Stone County.”

Herschend credited her mother with inspiring her to do good works.

“Growing up watching a mother raise four children in a log cabin with no electricity or running water, with the only food source being what she could raise, butcher, or shoot in the woods, inspired me to emulate her acts of sacrificial giving,” she said. “Hopefully I continue to inspire my family and others to do likewise. Matthew 5:15-16 admonishes us to not hide our light under a bushel but to put it on a lampstand so all may see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven.”

Herschend points to her faith in God and said she’s honored that He put her in the Ozarks where there was a great need.

“The ‘good book’ reminds us that where much is given, much more is expected,” she said. “It also says we are blessed to be a blessing. I love the admonition to bloom where you are planted. It means so much to me that I can serve and give back to the communities who through the years have helped our family and businesses prosper and grow.

“If the meaning of life is to find your gift and the purpose of life is to give it away, thank you God for placing me in the Ozark Mountains where the need is great!”

A video about the award can be viewed on the Skaggs Foundation Facebook page.