Raising money for cancer research is the number one goal of the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha. Every year, the non-profit organization puts on the Cattlemen’s Ball of Nebraska in different parts of the state. This year, the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services (NDCS) Work Ethic Camp (WEC) participated in setting up the massive event in rural Wauneta, Nebraska.

Three WEC staff and 10 people living at WEC traveled to the town of nearly 600 residents to help set up the fundraising event. The WEC participants volunteered all three days to help set up tables and chairs, spread wood chips, unload trucks and help set up the stage for lights and sound. The WEC crew also built a helicopter landing!

After the first day of hard work, WEC teammates received compliments from the Cattlemen’s Ball Volunteer Coordinator Lesley Nordhausen. She said to "please pass along our most sincere thank you to the Warden, yourself, your staff and those workers who showed up today. Many compliments were passed on to me by committee members and other workers for their hard work, interactions and the overall benefit they provided today. We are very thankful for your help. Please pass our thank you on to those workers who attended also."

Ninety percent of the money raised at the event goes to the Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center in Omaha. Ten percent of the money raised goes back to local communities’ health and wellness programs. According to the McCook Gazette, an estimated one million dollars was raised at this year’s event. The next Cattlemen’s Ball of Nebraska will be held in Columbus, Nebraska in June of 2020.