Walk Against Hunger

Do not forget to register or donate to this year's CROP WALK. Exercise and fight hunger! What a fantastic way to spend a Sunday!

https://www.crophungerwalk.org/champaignil/wesleyui

Volunteer Spotlight: Nan Gaylen

Nan Gaylen

In 2001 Nan Gaylen moved from the small, remote town of Gunnison, Colorado to Champaign-Urbana with her husband and three daughters. But if you ask her she'll tell you that it wasn't until very recently that she actually started
living here.

Originally from Michigan, Nan pursued rigorous studies at Principia College, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Miami before eventually earning her PhD in Educational Administration from Northwestern University. Nan found herself back in the Midwest after being offered a full-time position as a professor at Milliken University in Decatur.

Urbana also proved to be an amazing place to raise her three daughters, whose thirst for Dance, Foreign Languages, and the Arts meshed well with the school district's curriculum and the C-U community. Nan lived in Decatur part-time, travelling back to Urbana every weekend to see her family. And though it was tough, she admits that none of it would've been possible without the support of her husband Matthew, who was able to keep an eye on the girls while working from home as a software technician.

With Milliken Nan believed to have found a rewarding place to grow within her chosen field. She would later accept a position as the Director and Chair of the School of Education-a role she would occupy for ten years. Last spring, however, frustrated with the back and forth commutes and ready for a new professional challenge, Nan decided to resign from her position.

"Once the girls were all gone it was starting to get depressing [and] after ten years it's time to let somebody else do it," she explains. Though Nan initially had plans to find a new job in a new city, what happened next surprised her.

 "Last July I thought, 'let's just find a job somewhere I can move. Just pack it up and I'll find something.' By December, after spending a semester here I thought 'this is such a great community...I don't want to leave!' "

That's when Nan started really exploring all that the C-U has to offer. Close friends recommended she volunteer with the Wesley Food Pantry at Parkland, knowing that the daytime hours would work well with her new schedule. She finds that it's a great way to stay engaged and to give back to the community while meeting new people and having fun. Nan also began attending food distributions at the Evening Pantry during the volunteer panic of Winter Break season.

Nan is brimming with enthusiasm at the prospect of beginning something new. She hopes to soon be able to find exciting and meaningful work related to youth and community development. "I'm gonna find something here. I know there's something here for me," she says.

Though currently unemployed, Nan's thirst for knowledge has never faltered. She is conducting her own personal research on how African-American women succeed in their education and how to increase their success in the STEM and Medical Health fields. Nan hopes that her research--which includes a thorough literature review as well as an understanding of the existing community partnerships and potential funding sources--might be useful in her future career endeavors. "This is something I'm excited about and it's starting to formulate into this project."

When she's not at the pantry or buried in a book, Nan enjoys taking high-energy group fitness courses at the YMCA and preparing vegetarian vegetable tarts for her and her husband.

Nan, thank you for your volunteer service!

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  

Sign up here to volunteer with us next week!

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!