Making a difference in one’s community – one’s world – can take on many forms. And the results of those good deeds touch many in the here-and-now, while forming a lasting legacy that touches future generations.

That is why The Mexico Ledger honors Hidden Heroes.

When it comes to finding volunteers for any project, Linda Ahmann always comes through.

“She’s just a matchmaker of volunteerism,” said Lois Brace, executive director of Presser Arts Center.

Brace nominated Ahmann as a Hidden Hero based on her unique ability to connect people within her community.

“She is always finding people wherever she goes that can benefit from someone else she's met along the way, ” Brace said.

Ahmann served as the director of volunteers at Presser Arts Center for 15 years. She also spends her time volunteering with GFWC Mexico Women's Club, League of Women Voters, the Audrain County Shelter Resource Coalition, The Help Center Inc., Red Cross and so much more.

“The thing I like to do is always make use of whatever there is and never let it be thrown away or discarded because I like to recycle,” Ahmann said. “I like to help people and it all goes hand in hand.”

Ahmann grew up in Villa Ridge, Missouri, where her father owned Farmer's Wayside Market. She started college at Washington University but transferred to the University of Missouri after she married her husband Thomas.

“I wanted to be a teacher since I was about a sophomore in college and I specialized in several different kinds of special education,” Ahmann said.

She ended up teaching in Mexico for half a year in 1963 and returned for good in 1977 when her husband, a board certified urologist, came to set up his practice.

“I taught in a smattering of places in a smattering of different kinds of teaching until I was about 20 years into it,” Ahmann said.

By then, her house was paid off and her children had finished college, so her husband encouraged her to retire, but Ahmann likes to stay busy.

Ahmann has four children and after they were grown, she fostered around 38 children.

“I love being behind the scenes and I don't really need to pull it all together – I just like to do things that were left undone or there was an opening where I could insert something or make the base stronger,” Ahmann said.

At least once a day, Ahmann makes it a point to give someone a compliment and she lends an ear to anyone who would like to talk.

“I always stop and listen when someone wants to talk and I don't rush away,” Ahmann said. “Stopping and listening, you find out someone has an interest in something or needs something. I usually take their name and phone number and say ‘I’ll look for it and let you know when I found it,’”

Ahmann said that as long as she can get out the door, she will continue on her journey building and strengthening connections in her community – even if she has to beg her husband to drive her.

“I think about that all the time – that I am never done,” Ahmann said. “There are always things in my head that I want to do.”

To learn more about Linda Ahmann’s life, see the exclusive Hidden Hero interview on The Mexico Ledger’s Youtube channel.