GoFundMe to support beloved chef at Downers Grove child care center

The loving presence of chef extraordinaire Gail Tauer has been missing from the First Congregational Learning Center in downtown Downers Grove since she began cancer treatments, and the community is reaching out to assist her with her medical expenses by creating a GoFundMe page.

“She is just pure joy and happiness. [It’s] hard to know she was going to have to go through this,” said Kimberly Choate, director of the center, where Tauer has served as chef for 10 years. “I’ve worked with her since I started [nine years ago]. She’s a sweetheart of a person, the kindest lady I’ve ever met.”

With about 50 children enrolled, the learning center provides full-day child care for children six weeks old through 5 years of age.

Choate said both students and staff enjoy the dishes Tauer creates.

“The kids just adore her,” Choate said. “[There are] certain foods they won’t eat at home because they’re not made the way Mrs. Gail does.

“She has a huge heart both for the center and the kids and the families,” Choate said. “She’s touched a lot of lives since she’s been here.”

Among Tauer’s signature dishes are her mac and cheese and her stromboli. And when it comes to the children and their birthdays, they all get excited at the thought of the special twist she gives the birthday muffins, Choate said.

“She’s a kind, wonderful woman,” she said. “We’re hoping to be able to help her financially.”

The GoFundMe page was created by Aubrey Southall, who writes: “On behalf of the First Congregational Learning Center parent group, please consider supporting our beloved FCLC chef, Mrs. Gail, in her battle. … Gail has been an integral part of all our families for years and fed many of our children from infancy through kindergarten. Please consider contributing to her medical bills … “

To date, about $7,200 of the $10,000 goal has been met. The GoFundMe page is at tinyurl.com/46cp8phm.

The roots of the learning center, which provides preschool and day care, date back to 1961 at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Downers Grove.