Founder of New Lenox’s ShareFest is a helper connecting other helpers

NEW LENOX – Lord, make me a helper.

Gary Cheney of New Lenox said he was 7 the first time he prayed that prayer. In 2007, Cheney founded ShareFest in New Lenox, which has grown from a one-day event to a series of service projects, giveaways and resources around Will County throughout the year.

But the most concentrated efforts are held Sept. 1 through Sept. 17. Those efforts need helpers. About 500 helpers.

Right now, Cheney has a handful. But he’s certain they will come.

“Not only is the Lord behind it [ShareFest], he’s got his hand on it,” Cheney said.

What do volunteers do? They work drop-off sites for various donated goods, sort and organize the goods, and assist people with the loading and unloading.

Cheney also needs people to work a giant recycling event that accepts household hazardous waste, electronics, wood, Styrofoam, scrap metal, carpet and even paint.

Oh, and he could also use handymen for service projects.

Although Cheney is ShareFest’s visible coordinator, he insists it’s the volunteers and ShareFest’s 160 partners who make ShareFest successful.

“They are the heartbeat,” Cheney said.

ShareFest defined

The sheer volume of the projects Cheney organizes boggles the mind. In September alone, ShareFest will hold drives for books, clothes, food, pet supplies and items for the troops.

There will be a paper-shredding event, a job and resource fair, work projects, and free legal services and haircuts. And that doesn’t include the projects ShareFest did throughout the year.

From March to May, ShareFest did cleanup projects in the Fairmont neighborhood.

From March to September, it participated in work projects on various sites belonging to the Will County Forest Preserve District.

Throughout the year, ShareFest also hosted several job and resource fairs, as well as health and safety fairs, at various locations in Will County. One job fair offered “Dress for Success,” where participants could take home donated suits, dress clothes and work clothes.

“We had well over 600 attendees at that event,” Cheney said.

Through donations and a grant, Cheney said ShareFest purchased $25,000 worth of equipment for the New Lenox Township Food Pantry. One item was a large freezer so the pantry could provide better quality food for more people, Cheney said.

Recently, about 240 volunteers from the University of St. Francis, in cooperation with ShareFest, participated in a number of projects: mixing donated paint, stocking shelves at food pantries, and planting garden beds at the Spanish Community Center in Joliet.

Cheney refuses to take credit for any of it.

“I have the easiest job in the world,” Cheney said. “All I do is take people who have a passion and help them find jobs. I help them build teams of qualified people and utilize all the resources God has given me.”

Lord, make me a helper

From where did Cheney’s helping drive originate? Possibly from his parents. Cheney said they equipped him to “do the Lord’s work” while allowing him freedom to experience the rewards and consequences of his own decisions.

Maybe Cheney’s health challenges formed it. At age 8, Cheney spent Christmas Day in the hospital with a diagnosis of juvenile diabetes, which claimed Cheney’s eyesight in his 20s.

“When you lose just about everything you ever had and you’re left without about nothing, you have great opportunity to get close to the Lord,” Cheney said. “That’s what I did.”

When the sight returned in one eye, Cheney said he attended college, taught school for a few years, and then went into the insurance business as an independent broker.

But Cheney believes God himself called him to be a helper.

One day as a young man, Cheney was working on his car and listening to an evangelist on the radio. He jotted the man’s name on a card, stored it in his wallet and forgot about it. In 1999 at 2:30 in the morning and lying in bed, Cheney said God told him to surrender.

That made no sense to Cheney, who felt he’d surrendered to God years ago. Four hours later, restless and still awake, Cheney turned on the television. On the screen was the evangelist he’d enjoyed many years ago preaching on, of all things, “surrender.”

“My mind rushed back to that very moment I was on my knees asking the Lord to make me a helper. And I knew what he meant,” Cheney said.

Being a true helper, Cheney said, is surrendering one’s time, talent – and possibly treasure – to God for the benefit of a neighbor.

“That’s what ShareFest is about,” Cheney said.

KNOW MORE

For more information about ShareFest, a schedule of events and to volunteer, visit www.ShareFestNewLenox.com, email info@ShareFestNewLenox.com or call 815-717-2614