Naperville award to honor 'the backbone of helping kids'
If not for IdaLynn Wenhold, Naperville teens might not have their annual Skaters' Picnic.
The city might not have its youth and family volunteer fair, or its student job fair, or its murals painted by teens in the Van Buren parking deck, or more than 15 years of campaigns against drug abuse and bullying.
If not for IdaLynn Wenhold, the city's nonprofit community might not have its Collaborative Youth Team, and the city would be a different place, says Kandiss Hernandez, who named Wenhold the 2017 recipient of the Fair Lady Award from Fair Lady Productions.
"She's the backbone of helping kids," Hernandez said. "She works around the community tirelessly helping others."
Hernandez also works to help children through her Kidz Kabaret theater programs, so she said it felt fitting to recognize Wenhold's youth-focused work with the sixth annual Fair Lady Award.
"If you don't hear about kids in the news in a negative way it's because IdaLynn is doing her job," Hernandez said, "making sure they stay good."
Wenhold's job for the past 16 years has been to lead the Naperville nonprofit organization KidsMatter as its executive director. The organization works to "build resilient kids who say 'no' to destructive choices and 'yes' to endless opportunities."
Wenhold volunteered with the newly formed group for about six months before she was hired in 2001 for her dedication to the cause, her degrees in social work and counseling, and her past experience creating programs for colleges and churches.
The New Jersey native, 63, said she planned on establishing some new youth-focused programs in Naperville to help kids get involved with the community and plan for their futures. But then she wanted to move on to other work.
She moved on, instead, to building more and more links to support the positive development of Naperville-area teens.
KidsMatter has become, she says, "the resource and the connector" between the families of teens who are struggling and the help they need - be it a job, a counselor, a friend, an outlet or, simply, encouragement.
"I love to create programming that meets needs and helps promote positive qualities and opportunities in kids," Wenhold said.
"Tireless" is among the top words friends and community leaders use to describe the mother of three grown children who's married to a pastor.
Naperville police Chief Robert Marshall says she has "a servant's heart," especially for at-risk kids.
Naperville City Council member and former Fair Lady Award recipient Becky Anderson says she is energetic, altruistic and contagiously happy.
"She has such spirit and love," Anderson said. "It's the way she interacts with people that she can convince you to get involved in whatever cause she is fighting for."
Dagmar Kauffman, who works with Wenhold on the KidsMatter spinoff organization ParentsMatterToo, says she's a kind and caring person who has a sweet tooth and needs her coffee fix.
And, fun fact: Wenhold loves inventing lyrics to rap songs and encouraging others to do the same.
"She always finds a way to look for opportunities to make kids' lives better," Kauffman said. "She's really enriched the community and has given it a great asset that has really had a remarkable impact."
Hernandez said Wenhold's work keeps her behind the scenes and out of the spotlight, where she's comfortable. Receiving the Fair Lady Award, following notable Naperville women Bev Frier, Mary Ann Bobosky, Liz Spencer, Stephanie Penick and Anderson, will bring Wenhold to the stage during an annual banquet at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 8, at Center Stage Theater, 1665 Quincy Ave., Naperville.
Under Wenhold's direction, KidsMatter has helped Naperville police distribute anti-drug information, including recent materials about the dangers of heroin and opioid use.
KidsMatter has brought together 24 other organizations around the common cause of kids as part of the Collaborative Youth Team.
And the organization created ParentsMatterToo in 2013 to educate parents about the hazards of heroin and other drugs, cyberbullying, sexting, pornography, perfectionism, excessive competition, anxiety and anything else that can cause a kid to head down a destructive path.
Even within the parenting organization, kids are the focus.
"What IdaLynn does is ensure their minds are where they need to be, their health is where it needs to be," Hernandez said.
So when Wenhold steps onto the stage June 8, she says she'll picture a crowd around her.
"Receiving this award really represents all of those individuals … that have invested their time and talent in my life so that I can give my best to others," Wenhold said. "I would not be here if they had not chosen to come alongside me and collaborate and work with me."
If you go
What: Sixth annual Fair Lady Award Banquet
When: 5 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 8
Where: Center Stage Theater, 1665 Quincy Ave., Suite 131, Naperville
Cost: $50
Info: (630) 355-9212 or kidzkabaret.com