A lifetime of volunteering inspires group to donate $5,000 in her honor

The Women of Wilmington, a small dedicated group who give to community causes, are so inspired by the volunteerism of Sheryl Puracchio that they’ve donated $5,000 for the purchase of playground equipment for the inclusive playground project in her honor.

Women of Wilmington chose to honor Puracchio because of her lifetime of service and volunteerism. Her passion is evident

“I was raised with the belief that if you can improve your world, then you should,” Puracchio said. “I tend to jump in with both feet and volunteering keeps me purpose-driven. Community service makes me excited about life, all its possibilities and my experiences have evolved over many years. I have discovered talents I never knew I had and developed skills that have served me well in my personal as well as professional life.”

Puracchio’s latest leap into volunteerism is the Build Up Wilmington which started with a group of friends seeking improvements to benefit the community.

“We saw the plans for the inclusive park and decided that would be a great starting point. We felt that Wilmington needed an outdoor family park experience where everyone has a space to play, no matter their abilities, and the entire family could participate. We love the idea of a storybook walk, inclusive playground equipment, pickleball courts, sand volleyball, all with a beautiful pavilion and a handicapped accessible bathroom. So, we began fund raising and promoting it,” explained Puracchio.

Kirsten VanDuyne, executive director of Wilmington Park District, is coordinating the park construction and at present is waiting on asphalt quotes for the storybook walk. The special flooring for the inclusive play equipment has now been quoted for $30,000, and the group anticipates other rising costs as they proceed.

Other Wilmington plans are underway. “Our next project is the Mill Race Pollinator Garden. The city donated the space, and the garden will serve as a community classroom,” Puracchio said.

“We plan on teaching community members and school children about how to make your own pollinator garden through partnerships with Midewin, Will County Master Gardeners/Master Naturalists,” added Puracchio.

“We have also submitted a grant to bring indoor-outdoor classroom experiences to Wilmington residents. This would include an astronomy club, in partnership with the Kankakee Stargazers Club, the pollinator garden site, cooking classes offered by a Joliet Junior College culinary chef, an Imagination Station: With a die cut machine, sublimation machine, and a laser cutting machine where residents can learn to create your own cards, T-shirts, signs and other goods. With more funding, we plan to offer many more educational opportunities. We even have our sights on a bird observation deck in Wilmington!”

Puracchio learned how to write grants, successfully obtaining anywhere from $5,000 to $1 million.

“I gave a presentation at the United Nations Women and the Environment Conference, along with women from all over the world, on how they were improving their community through conservation. It was a once-in-a- lifetime experience,” Puracchio said.

“I think volunteering is the answer to all the world’s problems. Volunteering connects you to other people you wouldn’t normally socialize with and end up bonding over a shared project.

Being a community volunteer can start as small as driving the Kuzma Care van for deliveries, which Puracchio enjoys regularly. When a person’s perspective changes, based on her own actions, it is empowering and can be life-changing.

She encourages everyone to get involved, “I like the fact that I can look at something I would like to see happen and ask myself, how can I achieve this, and start building from there. It all started when I began volunteering with Wilmington Junior Women’s Club (disbanded years ago).”

The Women of Wilmington evolved from the original Wilmington Junior Women’s Club. The Jr. Women, with Puracchio as its president, started a conservation program in 1990 that led to Wilmington being one of the first communities in Will County to offer curbside recycling.

“Because of our dedication we received a grant to build a recycled plastic playground in the St. Rose community in 1993. This experience also led me to two service-oriented job opportunities: writing the Trash Flash weekly article for the Free Press and as the recycling educator for Waste Management in four counties.”

Because of Puracchio’s perseverance and grant writing, Wilmington benefited in even more ways like bringing a state-sponsored program, Project Success, to Wilmington and Will County.

“This led to my employment as a coordinator for the program. This collaboration of local, county and state agencies brought services to children and families, which led to getting our first school police liaison and the 21st Century Grant Program for before-after school programming,” she explained.

The mural on Water Street and Rt. 53 was another one of those projects.

“Personally, I learned how to lobby state and federal legislators and we overturned Governor Ryan’s decision to eliminate Project Success.”

Sometimes experiences in our personal lives influence the missions and opportunities we choose, as they did with Puracchio,

“After the death of my best friend, LuAnn Mahalik, I threw myself into volunteer work for the American Red Cross. I became the volunteer team lead for community mobilization in the northern Illinois area, and I also served on the fire teams, helping people who had experienced home fires, and feeding emergency workers when there was a major event.”

Puracchio attended simulations in the emergency management operations center for mass casualty events, including ones at O’Hare and in the case of a nuclear event. With two nuclear power plants nearby, she’s hopes she’ll never have to put that knowledge to work.

“I worked the multiple agency resource center - MARC, for the North Aurora mass shooting and the southern Illinois flooding events. During COVID I coordinated, along with the Kankakee Public Health Department and the Kankakee Emergency Management team, with the distribution of PPO to all the senior citizens in Kankakee.”

The Wilmington resident encourages others to volunteer.

“Instead of complaining about something, or thinking you have no purpose, or feeling like you can’t do something because of your age or capabilities, just get out there and volunteer. Your life will never be the same, and both you and the world will be much better for it!”

Puracchio believes Wilmington offers unlimited opportunities for involvement and she shines the light on those helpful entities that surround us.

“I can’t speak about all the wonderful things that have happened in my life through volunteering without recognizing all the amazing people that I’ve met and worked alongside. You quickly learn that you need to build relationships to get anything done. Wilmington has the most amazing local business community. They are constantly being asked for donations and yet they always reply with how can we help?”

She said The Kuzma Care Cottage volunteers are jaw-droppingly awesome, resulting in one of the best food pantries in Illinois.

“There are a lot of incredible organizations here in our town and if you don’t see an opportunity that is right for you then start one up: Post something in the Free Press and/or the Wilmington Community Facebook site, looking for people interested in building a bird observation deck, then all the fun begins. Truly, anything is possible.”

It’s Puracchio’s can-do attitude that inspired the Women of Wilmington to present a $5,000 check during a recent Wilmington Rotary meeting. The money was raised through the flea market and craft shows offered during the Catfish Days and Red Carpet annual events.

WOW also supports Kuzma Care Cottage, several Wilmington High School summer leadership camp scholarships and programming, and activities to benefit local senior citizens.
Sheryl Puracchio (spuracchio@gmail.com) and WOW President, Brenda Craig-Cherveny (brenniej@aol.com) welcome people to contact them about how to get involved in the Wilmington community.