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Jerry Mackey is the Truman Heartland Community Foundation named Mackey as the 2011 Outstanding Citizen of the Year for Independence. He lives in Lake Tapawingo and has called Eastern Jackson County home for more than 50 years.
Mackey, 78, was the owner/operator of five Hi-Boy Drive In locations in Independence, Blue Springs and Kansas City from 1960 to 2002. Though he no longer is involved in the business, Mackey still has an office at the U.S. 24 restaurant and goes to work every day.
Mackey has served as chairman of the Independence Chamber of Commerce board of directors twice – once during the 1970s and again during the 1980s. He was instrumental in turning Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival into a major regional festival and was involved with many civic projects, including the development of City Hall, the Police Building, the expansion of the YMCA and the annexation efforts that doubled the square footage of Independence. He is co-owner of the Steamboat Arabia Museum in the City Market area of Kansas City.
About three days a week, Mackey volunteers his time with IMPACT Family Resource Center of Eastern Jackson County, an assistance ministry based at First Baptist Church Blue Springs that serves low-income families and individuals in crisis throughout EJC.
| What is your personal motto on giving back to the community? |
That’s a hard question to answer. I just do whatever comes naturally, I guess. |
| Describe the work that you do three days a week with IMPACT. |
Basically, it’s gathering food stuff for the ministry. I go to Harvesters and other places and pick up the food that is donated to the ministry. The Bible tells us to live in the manner that Jesus lived, and I think he would have done that. |
| What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned throughout your professional career? |
Luck comes through hard work. I certainly have learned a multitude of things, but that’s probably as good as any. You learn from experience, more than anything. |
| Even in your retirement, why do you continue to go to work, inside an office, every day? |
To get out of my wife’s hair – I’m not sure she’d make it otherwise. When you quit growing, you start dying, and I’m not ready to start dying yet. Somebody said that once. I’m not sure who, but it was a good saying. |
| What advice would you offer to others on how they, too, can give back, even if they don’t have the extra financial resources to do so? |
Time is an extremely good resource, and everyone has the same amount of that. They can choose to use it however they see fit. Some of the greatest gifts are that of time, not necessarily financial situations, but time – a nice word or a few minutes of your time that someone else needs at that particular moment. |
