WHEREAS, the City of New Cordell takes great pride in recognizing citizens whose service strengthens the health, dignity, and well-being of our families; and WHEREAS, Maci Shoemaker serves as a Community Health Worker at Cordell Memorial Hospital, where her work is to connect local residents with the resources they need; and WHEREAS, recognizing that assistance programs such as SNAP and WIC do not pay for many everyday necessities, Maci created the Community Care Closet, which provides essentials to families in need; and WHEREAS, Maci primarily serves the families of Washita County, yet has never turned away a neighbor from another town, personally driving as far as forty minutes one way to deliver formula to a family who needed it; and WHEREAS, in addition to the Community Care Closet, Maci organizes meal trains for local families facing illness, loss, and hardship, meeting practical needs with compassion and without fanfare; and WHEREAS, Maci Shoemaker was named one of only six individuals from across the State of Oklahoma selected as finalists for the 2026 Anne Roberts People’s Choice Award for Child Advocacy, a statewide honor decided by more than seventeen thousand votes and presented by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy at its 10th Annual Heroes Ball on July 25, 2026, in Oklahoma City; and WHEREAS, on July 28, 2026, Maci Shoemaker was further recognized by News 9 as its Hometown Hero, an honor presented each month in partnership with Quail Creek Bank, and upon receiving it she expressed her hope that sharing the story of the Community Care Closet would inspire others to help those in need; and WHEREAS, the work of a rural community health worker is most often done quietly and unseen, and Maci Shoemaker has shown that one determined citizen can close the gaps that larger systems leave behind, bringing honor to herself, to Cordell Memorial Hospital, and to the entire New Cordell community; NOW, THEREFORE, I, Phil Kliewer, Mayor of the City of New Cordell, Oklahoma, do hereby proclaim: August 17, 2026 as MACI SHOEMAKER DAY in the City of New Cordell, and encourage all citizens to join in commending her compassion, her service to the children and families of Washita County, and the example she sets for us all.
Mayor Phil Kliewer and Maci Shoemaker