K NOW Y OUR N EIGHBOR Keffer happy to call Warsaw his adopted hometown

Ben Keffer moved to Warsaw a decade ago after being invited by friends to join the then-fledgling company, MudLOVE. The Ohio native admitted he hadn’t even heard of Warsaw.

“It was kind of a crazy lifechange shift,” he recalled. “I took that job and was making $50 less than my bills were. I wondered, ‘Was this the right move?’ I kept telling myself this was going to work out.”

He spent three years with MudLOVE, during which time he met his future bride, Nicole Moore.

“We wanted to start a family,” he said. “Working for a small start-up lost some appeal when I started wanting things like health insurance. It was time to start looking for something with more benefits.”

Keffer took a job in Plymouth with Kessler Crane, which makes filmmaking equipment for major movie studios. He was there for three years, working on product marketing.

“When I came on with MudLOVE I was doing graphic design,” he recalled. “It was a small company with a small number of people, so we were all doing lots of stuff. The job with Kessler really pushed me to grow professionally.”

A friend told him the YMCA in Warsaw was hiring. Keffer was eventually hired and has served as its director of marketing and fund development director for four years.

“We joke that we have programs for people from birth to death,” he said. “No matter your age, we have something for you. We market to everyone in Warsaw. It could be anything from cancer support programs to youth sports leagues. I’m responsible for the organization of information and making sure it’s all available on our website and in the catalog.

“The other side is fund development. Last year we gave out around $180,000 in financial assistance. We have a lot of local companies that are supportive of nonprofits. We also are finding ways for individuals to support the Y and understand its importance. Last year we raised $150,000, which was a record. Our board has set aggressive goals and we want to close the gap between those numbers.”

Keffer and his wife have two children. Nicole’s brothers are Scott and Matt, head basketball coaches at Grace College and Warsaw High School, respectively.

“I’m a rabid football fan,” Keffer said. “Then I moved to Indiana where everyone loves basketball. We joke that I married into this wealth of Indiana basketball. I can go to all these games and get into all these gyms, and I’m like, ‘Eh, I don’t really care, let’s go to a football game.’ It’s kind of wasted on me, unfortunately, but it’s been fun to learn more about basketball.”

Keffer spent his first year of college in the art program at the University of Cincinnati. He soon discovered it wasn’t the right fit for him, which led to his transfer to Indiana Wesleyan, where he majored in painting and art education.

Now he considers Warsaw home. He said his time at MudLOVE was the perfect introduction to how wonderful this community can be.

“I kind of fell in love with it,” he said. “Like any hometown, there are things you like, things you don’t like. But I’ve always felt very welcomed.“

Keffer also has a small printmaking business, Wandering Press.

“I do fine art posters and prints,” he said. “I do 10-12 shows a year. The Fort Wayne Museum of Art and a couple of other places carry my work. It’s really nice to step out on my own time and do whatever I want.

“We love to travel and have adventures. My wife is a stayat-home mom now, but used to do product and business development around the world. She’s lived in 40-plus countries. She’s an artist as well and used to have a shop in the Village. She’s definitely the cooler one of us!”