Wendy Warden

Local volunteer Wendy Warden has a lot on her plate – such as filling the plates of others.

Being the president and founder of the Avon Township Food Pantry in Round Lake, Warden has repeatedly fed more than 2,000 people within the area each month. Warden assists with the pantry’s fundraising and donations, as well as dedicating her time to food intake when necessary.

Warden moved to the Round Lake area 14 years ago and since has advocated for the community’s women and children.

As the co-chairwoman for the Lake County Underage Drinking and Drug Prevention Task Force, Warden said she develops initiatives for “keeping children with idle hands off the streets.” The task force is 12 years old and Warden has been involved for the past six months.

“We are moving awareness westward in Lake County,” Warden said. “We’ve been getting the community more involved and will hopefully educate people enough to foster changes in the courts and county health systems.”

An ovarian cancer survivor, 47-year-old Warden doesn’t have any kids of her own but rather helps the children within her community.

“Kids are really important to me,” Warden said.

Warden joined the Friends of the Round Lake Area Parks board upon first moving to the area and now is vice president.

Branching off the Round Lake Area Park District, the Friends board raises money to send children to park district summer camps and offers various scholarships, Warden said.

Friends has sent more than 500 children to area camps in the past 10 years, which Warden said, again, is a good way to keep children from having “idle hands” in the summer months.

Warden attributes her fundraising and organizational skills to the success of the food pantry, task force and Friends program. Her husband agreed.

“We need more people like Wendy in the world,” said Warden’s husband, David McArtin. “Actions speak louder than words. Wendy doesn’t just talk about change. She’s someone who’s out there doing the work.”

With a degree in social work, Warden’s other philanthropic involvements include being a board member for the Round Lake B.E.S.T. coalition – a group that networks to identify specific problem areas within the community.

Warden said the most exciting thing happening with B.E.S.T. is its Kindergarten Readiness Committee.

According to committee members, there are only 80 openings in the Round Lake area for children to attend preschool publicly.

“If you have money, you can attend a private preschool program,” Warden said. “But a lot of families don’t have the funds and we have 3,500 children who do not get to attend preschool in our community.”

Warden said the committee is moving forward quickly.

But the volunteer train doesn’t stop there.

A more global initiative Warden has taken part in is Round Lake Rising women’s advocacy program. For the past two Valentine’s days, Warden and other advocates have hosted a countywide event at the Round Lake Beach Cultural and Civic Center that includes interpretive dances and guest speakers.

Warden said this year’s Round Lake Rising event was all about building awareness and educating the community of women’s rights.

“We worked closely with state senators and discussed what we can do for women’s advocacy moving forward,” Warden said. “We’d like to keep awareness going throughout this year, rather than one-day recognition.”

The Round Lake Rising event was part of a greater international campaign called One Billion Rising For Justice, which is coordinated in the United Kingdom, Somalia, Palestine, Italy, Haiti and Germany, among many other nations. The campaign is a call to violence survivors and community members to “break the silence” of injustice.

Professionally, Warden works as a freelance photographer.

“I’ve always loved to take pictures and fell into it more when I began volunteering for various organizations,” Warden said. “I would take photos for charity and then ended up filling my book with regular clients who needed baby photos and everything else.”

Married for 14 years, Warden and McArtin relax with their pups when time allows.

“We have two big water rescue dogs,” Warden said. “I know they need me to spend time with them.”

Enjoying traveling, Warden said she and McArtin work hard for vacation time and then enjoy it.

“Traveling the world really gives you perspective,” McArtin said. “That’s why Wendy and I do it. You never know how good you have it until you see people worse off.”

Warden said her proudest achievement thus far has been the success of the food pantry – raising enough funds to feed the entire community in need during the holiday season this past year.

“It took a lot of work,” Warden said. “I had to get word in to a lot of grocery stores.”

McArtin said Warden’s fundraising approach is energizing.

“She’s articulate,” McArtin said. “She listens, she hears and she knows how to build a coalition. She genuinely cares about her community.”