Anne Nelson has been a dedicated community volunteer her entire life. She is always contributing in some way to the neighborhoods in which she’s lived. Whether it has been feeding the hungry and poor, working for food banks, helping with food drives or more. Anne is retired from Procter and Gamble but now serves as President of the Near Northside Emergency Material Assistance Program (NNEMAP) Food Pantry Governing Board. Anne has also served on the Development and Membership committees for the League of Women Voters of Metropolitan Columbus.
Established in 1969, NNEMAP has become one of the largest food pantries in Franklin County. It is a cooperative ministry of over 30 churches distributing food and material assistance to needy residents of the near Northside of Columbus. NNEMAP serves over 16,000 people with a 3-day supply of food twice a month and the food supply comes from private donations and the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. Anne will serve her third term as board chair this year and was very pivotal in securing a grant to purchase and relocate the pantry to their new location on E. 11th Ave. The new building is a former VFW Hall and was very non-descript and people were finding it difficult to find the building. Anne did some research and got international mural artist, Philip Martin, to design a 55-foot full-color mural on the building. Anne raised over 50% of the funds for the mural’s commission and coordinated week long shifts of over 75 volunteers to help paint the mural. Anne has also worked with fundraising for NNEMAP and for the last 6 years has sold fresh, fraser fir trees over the holidays that came from her family’s tree farm in Virginia.
With everything that Anne is involved in, making lists is what helps her find time and balance in her life. “I make lists and rank items in order of priority always allowing time to maintain a healthy body and meaningful friendships. I make the list every night and I can sleep well knowing what tomorrow brings.”
Anne’s support system is the over 150 volunteers who contribute endless hours helping to run the pantry. “They make the guests feel comfortable and make healthy decisions, keep the shelves stocked and organized, and help our guests find other services in the community.” Anne also gives a lot of credit to the board of directors who keep the pantry running with their professional expertise and hours of volunteering at the pantry and a part-time staff of two who go beyond their job description to make the pantry run smoothly.
Anne will continue to work with the newly formed NNEMAP Network which has representatives from all 34 supporting churches located throughout the metropolitan area to support the work at the food pantry.
To learn more about NNEMAP Food Pantry, please visit www.nnemappantry.org