Resident's volunteer work gives community a boost

"Volunteers do not necessarily have the time. They just have the heart."

That quote hangs in the mudroom of the Anderson family's Hinsdale home. The words resonate keenly with mom Kim Anderson.

"I don't sleep enough, and I'm super overcommitted," she said. "But it's kind of what drives me, and it makes me happy to be able to balance things between my family and my work life and volunteering."

Anderson has been committed to the Hinsdale Central Boosters board for eight years, serving the last two as president.

"I love the school. I feel like Hinsdale Central has been a phenomenal place for our children," she said. "For me, it was a good opportunity to get involved at the school and work with the administration."

The group works to raise and distribute funds to support student activities. That support has totaled more than half a million dollars during Anderson's board tenure.

"We take over where the school budget leaves off," she said, acknowledging the common misconception that Boosters is focused solely on sports programs. "It's super important for us to balance the money that's raised across activities (like clubs) and athletics."

Anderson is humbled by the depth of dedication of her board colleagues.

"There are people on the Boosters board who haven't had children at Central for 10 years and still support, come and volunteer," she said.

A native of Green Bay, Wis., Anderson worked in the finance industry before taking a hiatus to raise her three children. She channeled her leadership gifts into community service.

"I was on every committee possible at Monroe Elementary," she related. "I was PTO president at (Clarendon Hills Middle School). I ran the American Girls fashion show for Robert Crown Center for Health Education (now Candor)."

That's a partial list. When her oldest reached high school, Anderson reentered the workforce in the education realm, which had been her collegiate field of study.

Her personal experience shepherding her first child through the university application gauntlet led her to co-found a college counseling business two years ago.

She said volunteering has shown her how local residents can "pull together around a cause."

But as a Green Bay Packer fan, she admits togetherness can be elusive in her household during football season.

"Our kids are kind of split between the two teams," she said .

She is proud of the live video streaming of sporting events the Boosters made possible this past year and the group's sponsorship of a student contest to design a COVID-related sweatshirt.

"It helped everyone realize, 'OK this is a moment in history and we as a school are going to get past this,' " she said.

Anderson doesn't expect to get past volunteering.

"I'll always be involved in something."

- story by Ken Knutson,

photo by Jim Slonoff