Wednesday, October 7, 2015

September's Pantry Numbers Update

Client Numbers for Parkland's September 2015 Distributions:
  • Households: 193
  • Individuals: 673
  • Children: 294
Client Numbers for Evening Pantry Distribution:
  • Households: 222 
  • Individuals: 1066 
  • Children: 500  
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Volunteer Spotlight: Kristen Dean-Grossman

Kristen Dean-Grossman
Meet Kristen Dean-Grossman, this month's Spotlight Volunteer!

Not originally from the C-U, Kristen grew up in Memphis, Tennessee where she lived with her parents and two older brothers.

Poetry and literature were always two of Kristen's favorite childhood past times. Kristen remembers creating small, ribbon-tied booklets comprised of handwritten 4-line poems and illustrations. Once for a middle school Language Arts project she even compiled a larger anthology of self-written poems divided by theme! Following in the footsteps of her grandmother, who was a librarian, and her mother, who too was an avid reader, Kristen went on to receive an English degree from the University of Missouri and a Master's in Rhetoric from the University of Illinois.

It was during her time at the U of I that Kristen met her now husband, Brent. "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses," he told her, reciting a famous Dorothy Parker poem. Call it fate or love at first recital, but the pair eventually married and welcomed two daughters, Gillian and Cecily. The rest is history!

Like many long-time food pantry volunteers, Kristen can't seem to recall when she first started volunteering, but it must've been about five years ago when she and her youngest daughter Cecily set out to complete service hours together for Cecily's college applications. Kristen eventually settled into a role as Office Greeter, managing crowd control from the waiting area and identifying new and non-English-speaking clients.

One of the things that Kristen has had to adjust to over the years is learning how to deal with her own introversion. Let's face it, standing and greeting literally hundreds of new and familiar faces for the entirety of an evening distribution is no cake walk. But developing a rapport with the food pantry clients and other volunteers is what keeps Kristen coming back to the pantry each month. "It's a really important ministry," she adds. "I enjoy talking to the clients [and] it's always something interesting."

Kristen maintains that the Office Greeter position is actually "a really easy job." That it may be, but it's a job that Kristen has managed to handle with both charm and grace as she welcomes clients and volunteers with a friendly smile. And besides, there are no small jobs when it comes to serving our community and looking out for one another.

Kristen is also the president of the Wesley United Methodist Women, a group that hosts various spiritual growth programs and raises money for causes related to women, children, and youth When she's not at Wesley, Kristen enjoys dog-walking for the Champaign County Humane Society and bargain-shopping at local garage sales.

Kristen, thank you for your volunteer service!

(Also see past Volunteer Spotlight features)

Matching Campaign

As part of Hunger Action Month, we are asking pantry supporters to consider donating $31.50, the amount allotted to one person for groceries for an entire week by the SNAP program.
A generous Pantry donor will match up to $2000 raised through October 15th. Please mark your contributions as a SNAP Challenge donation. You may donate online or mail in a check.

On behalf of our neighbors in need, we thank you for your support!