Campaign Spotlight:
Anne E. Daigle and Richard A. Heyman Family Foundation

• September 18, 2024
• Community Supporters

We are very grateful to Anne E. Daigle and Richard A. Heyman and their family for their commitment to Community Resource Center through both volunteerism and their Visionary Level contributions toward our Capital Campaign. CRC’s new campus will be named in honor of the Anne E. Daigle and Richard A. Heyman Family Foundation, whose generosity will help transform lives for years to come.

Anne and Richard’s involvement in CRC’s One Community • One Heart Capital Campaign is inspired by Anne’s personal experience volunteering at our Food and Nutrition Center, where she has served for over a decade.

Today, Anne also plays an active role as the Secretary of CRC’s Board of Directors and serves on both the Programs and Capital Campaign committees.

We are incredibly thankful for the dedication of Anne Daigle, Richard Heyman and their family! Please read on for a Q&A with Anne to learn more about her journey with CRC and why she’s passionate about giving back.

“A caring and inviting environment speaks a thousand words to a client – it is the bridge to a new beginning.

The new space will be inviting. We will have a dedicated children’s area, seating for seniors, accessible bathrooms and facilities designed for universal accessibility. The counseling intake will be located nearby, allowing us to work closely together. In my view, these changes will boost efficiency by 100% or more, enabling us to serve faster, more effectively, and support even more people as the community’s needs grow.”

anne daigle

Q&A with Anne Daigle

CRC: Can you please tell us about your involvement with Community Resource Center (CRC)?

Anne: I started volunteering at CRC in 2006 through the National Charity League (NCL) with my daughter, Julia, who was 12. I had looked for a volunteer opportunity that provided direct interactions with our community. CRC was the choice!

We primarily helped by cooking part of a meal at CRC’s shelter weekly and volunteering at the “bread room” (now the First Light program). We volunteered together for six years. In 2013, after Julia left for college, I shifted my focus on volunteering to the Food and Nutrition Center and have been there since. You can see me stocking shelves, organizing, and working with our neighbors in the pantry on Fridays.

I have been a CRC board member for five years, serving on the Programs and Capital Campaign committees, and now as the Secretary of the Board.

CRC: Can you share more about your volunteer role and what it means to you?

Volunteering at the Food and Nutrition Center allows me to work directly with our neighbors, establish caring relationships with them, and directly see the impact. I see this impact every day that I volunteer. Volunteers may be the only ones to offer our clients a smile that week, along with encouragement and advocacy to support them on their journey, while showing that we care. We provide non-judgmental care, hope, empathy and more.

I enjoy and look forward to working with our neighbors at the Food and Nutrition Center. We all strive to create meaningful interactions so that our neighbors feel welcomed, cared for and hopeful for the future. We meet our neighbors where they are in their journey of life and provide a path just for them. Volunteers are advocates on their path of life by listening and encouraging.

I have been a board member for five years, serving on the Programs and Capital Campaign committees, and now as the Secretary of the Board. In the Programs committee, we spend time evaluating our current programs, reviewing new programs, identifying potential gaps in our programs based on community needs, and looking for ways to communicate our programs with our board of directors and community.

CRC: What motivates you to support Community Resource Center and our mission?

Anne: We support CRC and its mission because I see and feel the impact. There are about 100+ volunteers supporting the Food and Nutrition Center each week and we make it happen along with CRC staff. Most of our volunteers have been there for years and we consider this our “job.” CRC creates a volunteer experience that is empowering, heart-moving, and meaningful. Dollars are well spent to serve as many neighbors as possible.

CRC: What inspired you to support CRC’s capital campaign?

Anne: So, so many reasons! Our current location does not provide for a dignified and respectful experience for our neighbors. Simple things like having a client bathroom, a waiting area for children, sitting area for seniors, confidential social counseling intake areas for people in trauma, and others. But mostly I know we could serve our neighbors faster, better and with dignity. A caring and inviting environment speaks a thousand words to a client – it is the bridge to a new beginning. 

Many of our clients are working, are seniors, have children, have medical issues, and/or are suffering from trauma. With our current campus, we don’t have sufficient space to serve many clients at the same time. 

The new space will be inviting. We will have a dedicated children’s area, seating for seniors, accessible bathrooms and facilities designed for universal accessibility. The counseling intake will be located nearby, allowing us to work closely together. In my view, these changes will boost efficiency by 100% or more, enabling us to serve faster, more effectively, and support even more people as the community’s needs grow.  Moreover, the entire campus will be in one location to provide comprehensive services.

CRC’s unique strength lies in opening its doors to individuals experiencing trauma who might not otherwise seek help, assisting them in identifying their needs, providing immediate relief services like food, and developing personalized programs to support them. All of this requires comprehensive services, which will be easier for our clients to access efficiently in one location.

CRC: Can you share more about your family’s philanthropy and volunteerism?

Anne: Our family focuses on community needs and scientific research. We are involved primarily with CRC, Salk Institute, Curebound, Life Science Cares, and Moores Cancer Center.  We are a founding family of Curebound and Life Science Cares.  We are involved in both direct volunteering as well as on boards and providing strategic direction to philanthropies.

CRC: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Anne: We invite you to share our experience and see our current space. We offer tours! Come see us in action serving our neighbors.

If you’d like to learn more about CRC’s capital campaign, how you can support our shared vision for a new campus, and what naming opportunities are available, please visit the campaign website or send a message to OneHeart@crcncc.org.