Cindy Leveron continues helping people in need after retirement

Cindy Leveron poses in the gymnasium at First Christian Church, where she volunteers in the food pantry program.
Cindy Leveron poses in the gymnasium at First Christian Church, where she volunteers in the food pantry program.

Cindy Leveron spent her career helping people, and she wasn't about to stop just because she retired.

Leveron retired from her nursing career in 2013, the majority of which she spent working in behavioral health at St. Mary's Hospital in Jefferson City.

These days, she's busy running First Christian Church's food pantry.

While the skills required for the two roles aren't necessarily related, Leveron believes her work as a nurse prepared her to continue helping people in need.

"I saw a lot of people there who were unfortunate and underserved and had very rough lives, and, along with my early church upbringing, all of those things just always made me want to be involved in giving back and doing something community-wise," she said.

Retirement offered a natural transition to do that - no longer working night shift as a nurse, her schedule finally allowed her to volunteer at her church's food pantry. She became the pantry's director three years ago.

"It's been a really great experience," she said. "We try very hard to do ours a little differently in that we typically have a shopping model in that we have shelves set up, and they go around and the number they can take is listed: if they want it, they can take it, and if they don't, they don't. We find that makes it a lot less wasteful."

The approach reflects Leveron's high standards for the food pantry, which she has worked to develop in the volunteer role she spends 20-30 hours a week pouring her heart into.

"If you're going to do anything, it's worth doing well. So that's what I try to provide, is a good experience for everybody that comes in," she said. "My theory is that people who come at 3:55 should get the same treatment as those who show up at noon. With the exception of produce that's gone, I can't remember a week when we've run out of food. We make sure that we have it out and that it looks desirable."

First Christian Church's food pantry is open noon-4 p.m. Tuesdays. Patrons can choose one Tuesday each month to pick up food, but the pantry also accounts for emergencies as they arise.

The church at 327 E. Capitol Ave. has offered food to those in need for 45 years, Leveron said.

"It started out small many, many years ago, and they called it a food closet because they actually kept the food in a closet," she said.

Now serving 450-500 families a month on average, the pantry takes up the church's life center once a week.

The pantry's volunteers - about 20 who work regularly - start rolling out shelves of the day's offerings around 10 a.m. and continue restocking items, registering patrons and cleaning up until a little after 4 p.m.

However, Leveron works to ensure the food pantry runs smoothly throughout the week, handling tasks like ordering from suppliers and buying from local grocers if needed.

"If you're going to have a pantry, you've got to have certain things," she explained. "You've got to have a certain amount of protein, you've got to have a selection of vegetables, you've got to have as complete a picture as you can make."

So when donations and supplies from partners like Feeding America don't fully complete that picture, Leveron is often the one loading and unloading cases of canned goods from a grocery store into her car, then into the church's life center.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, filling in the gaps has been especially difficult as many grocers limit the number of certain items that can be purchased at one time. At one point in recent months, Leveron purchased several cases of green beans and corn four cans at a time in separate transactions.

It's not the only oddity the food pantry has navigated during the ongoing pandemic.

Leveron coordinated the pantry's conversion to a drive-up model from the end of March through May, handing out items already bagged to better maintain social distance and prevent potential spread of the coronavirus. The change in workflow came as the pantry's volunteer force was cut in half, with many regulars unable to serve because they fall in high-risk categories for contracting COVID-19.

The pantry has actually served fewer patrons during the pandemic.

"I'd say right now our numbers are down about 25 percent - but the ones who come in need it more than ever," Leveron said.

She feels strongly about the food pantry's relationship with the church, but she's steadfast in her belief that it's there to serve everyone, regardless of religious background.

"We're leading by example, so to speak. We are offering love and respect because we are Christians, and we offer to them no questions asked," she said. "Certainly, if somebody asks about the church, we'd be happy to tell them about the church; but we don't routinely distribute information - but we have certainly gained some church members through the food pantry."

At age 72, Leveron plans to continue as the food pantry's director at least for two more years.

"It's a way to serve God and your community, and I've just always grown up with the idea that that's what we should do," she said.

Leveron, who grew up in southwestern Indiana, has lived in Jefferson City since moving here with her late husband in the early 1990s. She has a daughter, Kelly, and a son, John, who passed away in 2011; and her "pride and joy" is her granddaughter, Autumn, who graduated from Jefferson City High School this year.

Kelly and Autumn also spend plenty of time volunteering at the food pantry.

When she's not working, Leveron enjoys flowers, movies, cooking, spending time with family and is a big Kansas City Chiefs fan.