Classic Plumbing PLUMBER of the Month: Stable raises $7,800 for Salt & Light

BY DANI TIETZ
dani@mahometnews.com

Homelessness is not something that many people in Mahomet experience.

People don’t sleep on benches or beg for money in the town of almost 9,000.

How homelesssness got on 8-year-old Nathan Stabler’s heart and mind is unknown. But when his mom, Wendy, asked him what he wanted to do for his Leaders of Life community project in order to earn his black belt, he knew and was ready with the answer.

“We asked him and literally, we were driving in the car, and I said, ‘Honey, what’s heavy in your heart? What do you want to do to make a difference?’ ” Wendy said.

“And he just looked at me and said, ‘Mom, it really hurts my heart when I see homeless people.’ ”

The family continued to talk and do research on organizations that help friends without a home. Nathan thought that he might be able to host an event at his church, the Mahomet United Methodist Church, so he connected with MUMC’s Director of Inclusion Kristina Robinson.

“He’s been asking a lot of questions about (homelessness) lately. And so I know Salt & Light specifically doesn’t speak of helping the homeless, they’re much more than just that, but that’s where we directed him,” she said.

According to Wendy Stabler, Robinson also encouraged Nathan to ask the (church) family to help and come together as a community.

Nathan visited the Salt & Light facility, learning more about what it does.

Founded in 2004 as an emergency food pantry and clothing closet, Salt & Light grew to become Champaign’s largest emergency food pantry, serving over 350 households each week by 2014.

Salt & Light’s Executive Director Nathan Montgomery said the model where people just came to receive was also causing other emotional harm to those they were serving. So, the organization restructured how they helped people by empowering them to use their talents to help the organization while earning the supplies they need to live their day-to-day lives.

“Unlike most (non-profit organizations) we are pretty highly self-funded through our model,” he said. “So one of the unique things about our model is not just the developmental approach, but, it’s really a social enterprise approach. And so with that, about 80-percent, just over 80 percent of our total budget, is funded through our own retail operation: grocery, thrift, salvage, people coming in shopping from the community.”

Montgomery said the other 20-percent the organization needs is funded through private donations.

After Nathan Stabler’s visit to Salt & Light, he knew that he could help raise funds that the organization could use.

Wendy said that she was really impressed with the Salt & Light organization and that her son shared those sentiments.

“He really liked the fact that they talk about how they empower people and give people tools to move things forward,” she said.

He held weekly meetings with Robinson throughout the summer, fishing out the details of how he could host a community event at MUMC.

An avid baseball lover, Nathan’s first idea was to host a baseball game. After he realized that such an event may be limiting, he decided to organize Nathan’s ALL-STAR Sports Experience on Sept. 22.

The family-friendly after-church event provided children with 12 different sports experiences, including an opportunity to shoot basketballs, throw baseballs, run bases, toss footballs and kick soccer balls. Adults nearby kept tabs on time and distance.

Certificates were handed out at the end of the two-hour event, and everyone who played had a chance to win a raffle prize.

After all the donations were tallied by Tuesday, Nathan’s event raised $7,800, which is $2,800 over his original goal.

Robinson is asking the community to help Nathan double his original goal by texting the donation amount and the word “Nathan” to 217-600-2232 by Friday.

“If you have met Nathan, you know he doesn’t do anything 100-percent,” Robinson wrote. “He is more of a 200 percent kind of kid.”

Montgomery took notice of Nathan’s character.

“We have different third-party things going on,” he said. “We try and get out to as much as we can. When I heard about this and the kid and everything that was going on, I was like I really wanted to be able to come out and just be there and show how much we appreciate it.”

Aside from the monetary donation, Montgomery said events like this help Salt & Light educate community members about its mission.

“It also helps in bringing a lot of awareness to what we’re doing,” Montgomery said. “Because often when folks kind of do their own third-party sort of a thing, they’re connecting with people that we may not have a connection with.”

Montgomery said he can connect with Nathan, not only by name, but in his passion for sports. The event that Nathan put together is much like the one Montgomery said he would have put together as an 8-year-old boy.

A busy boy of few words, Nathan Stabler said, “sports are my life.”

Not only did the MUMC church family come out to support Nathan’s fundraiser, the Mahomet Diamond Dogs team also joined the festivities.

Nathan said, “it feels good” to see families on the field, smiling and having a good time.

Wendy said that the fundraiser really gave Nathan a sense of community.

“At first, he kind of went from just ‘I don’t really know what to do’ to understanding that speaking to people, talking to people, networking with people, is how it can all come together.”

She also said that watching the MUMC family rally behind Nathan was incredible.

“We had an overwhelming amount of people who have come and asked, ‘What can we do?’ ‘How can we help?’ ”

Allowing Nathan the space to work through his thoughts about homelessness and encouraging his vision to help is something Wendy Stabler will never forget.

“This has changed me as a mom,” she said.

“I’ve realized how our little guys have a lot on their heart. And we don’t always recognize it like we should or we try to put our values on them. And all he wants to do is have fun and help other people.

“His statement to me was, ‘Mom, we’re serving others and I’m serving me, too.’ ”