Community Spotlight
Love Big Like Nate is a name that says it all.
The charity — with its mission of kindness and compassion — was formed by a local family who suffered the unexpected loss of their son, Nathan “Big Nate” Cunningham, who was a student-athlete at Chanute High School.
“On January 8, 2022, we woke up to every parent’s worst nightmare,” said his mom, Sarah Cunningham. “Nate had passed away in his sleep from a misdiagnosed heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. He was a senior so we were planning for graduation and college, not for a funeral.”
Sarah, a Chanute native, and Steve Cunningham, an Air Force veteran who grew up in Neodesha, met and married in 2002.
They have two sons, Noah and Nate. “Anything I’ve done in my life is minuscule compared to being a devoted husband and father, being a Christian family man,” Steve said.
For Sarah, it’s much the same. “My family is what I’m most proud of,” she said. “I’m blessed to be Steve’s wife and that God allowed me to be a mom to my boys, even if I didn’t get as long as I wanted with Nate. There is no way to overcome the loss, only learning to continue living, sometimes just one breath at a time. But we owe it to Nate to live a good life, just like we wanted for him, and to honor him by giving back to our community in his name.”
“Big Nate,” a people person who charmed anyone who met him, wanted to be a physical education teacher and a wrestling and football coach.
“He wanted nothing more than to make a difference in the lives of others,” Sarah said.
Nate was a notable varsity athlete as an honorable mention all-state offensive lineman. In wrestling, he ranked No. 1 for Kansas’s 4A schools in his weight class and was ranked fifth statewide when he passed away.
ON A MISSION
Love Big Like Nate Inc.’s mission statement is “to honor Nate’s legacy through providing scholarships, supporting high school activity fundraisers, and assisting with Christmas meals for families in the Chanute community.”
Sarah and Steve have forged ahead toward that goal. “We’re excited that we’ll be able to provide 10 families with a meal this Christmas,” Sarah said. “We also were able to help 25 children spend the day at the Wehlage Family Farm’s Pumpkin Patch, where Nate worked for several years and had such a love for it.”
Another of the Cunningham’s goals is to have a memorial at Chanute High School for students who died.
“We would like to see the district policy changed where there could be some sort of a memorial that includes all students lost while attending Chanute schools,” Steve said. “No child should be forgotten and we think that we need to way to remember these lives lost, for the sake of parents and classmates.”
Still, no one will forget “Big Nate.” “We hope that people remember Nate, the young man who he was, his heart, his sense of humor and his dreams of giving back to this community,” Sarah said. “Chanute is an amazing community and we’re so grateful to be a part of it. Through Nate, we have so many friends who have turned into family. We thoroughly enjoy being able to support this community through Love Big Like Nate and we appreciate all of the support that we receive in return.”
The nonprofit will be holding its second annual fundraiser in April 2025.
“Last year was our first benefit auction and cornhole tournament and it was a success beyond our wildest dreams,” Sarah said. “We’d like for Love Big Like Nate to grow to the point where we can provide scholarships and meals to families throughout southeast Kansas and beyond. We’re simply trying to do what we feel led by God to do and we know that he has a plan. We just need to follow along!”
To learn more about Love Big Like Nate, including how to donate to the Cunningham’s mission of kindness, visit www. lovebiglikenate.com.
