By Dani Tietz
Getting involved and giving back is easier to talk about than to do.
But for Mahomet-Seymour’s Cindy Brumfield, it’s just what she does.
Brumfield has been with the Mahomet-Seymour School District for 32 years, working with K-12 students in the special education program.
“I have always had a special place in my heart for students/people with special needs,” she said.
With a degree in therapeutic recreation, Brumfield volunteered at Lincoln Trail Elementary while she raised her children. That involvement led former Principal, Lee Jessup, to ask her to join the staff.
“(Jessup) said, ‘I have an aide opening and you are here all the time, why don’t you fill it for me. I did and I am still here,’” Brumfield remembers.
Over the years, Brumfield has worked at Lincoln Trail, Middletown, High School and the Alternative Education Program.
“Working with the young adult and the alternative education programs have been my favorite positions and most rewarding,” she said.
“The first year of the Alternative Ed program, we had several students that had dropped out or were going to decide to try this new program and get their diplomas. I still keep in contact with several of those students.
“I have enjoyed taking students with special needs to ballgames. dances, drama activities, all those things other students do without their parents.”
Brumfield has seen how hard her students work toward their academic goals. She also knows how difficult it can be to be a child.
“I want all students to feel included and accepted,” she said. “Yes, I want students to get their diploma but a lot of students have so much going on outside of school, it is important that they have someone they know they can trust, be honest with no matter what, and not be judged. I hope I have been that person.”
Seeing kids in that way also helped Brumfield see that the educational need goes beyond just books and lessons.
Some Mahomet-Seymour students come to school hungry.
Over the years she kept granola bars and other snacks in her desk for students who were hungry. As that need grew throughout the school district, Brumfield suggested that the district designate space for a food pantry.
And Brumfield stepped up to run it.
Over the last four years, including the months during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brumfield has accepted donations from community members to stock Mom’s Pantry, located in what’s known as the CARE Center near the Mahomet-Seymour High School Football Field.
Brumfield spends her Sunday mornings shopping with donated money to stock the pantry with perishable items. Then, on Sunday nights, she is at Mom’s Pantry, serving community members who need a little extra help.
Mom’s Pantry serves about 20 families each week. Brumfield said that with increased costs, she’s now seeing one to two new families each week. The only requirement to receive food at Mom’s Pantry is that the family must include a Mahomet-Seymour student.
Even though Brumfield finished her last days as a teaching assistant this week, she plans to continue working with Mom’s Pantry, hopefully even having the space open one or two times during the week, either in the morning or afternoon, so that families have extra access to food.
Brumfield knows that the need is greater in the summer months.
“With summer break in just a little over a week, the need will increase even more since lots of students receive free or reduced breakfast and lunches during the school year, and those will not be available for the next couple of months,” she said.
It doesn’t appear that Brumfield plans to just sit back and relax during retirement. Alongside running Mom’s Pantry, she already has her sights set on subbing and volunteering so that she can “continue doing community service, which is what I love to do.”
Oh yeah, and she hopes to find time to sew some of the fabric she’s collected over the years, too.
