Supporting Families Beyond the Classroom
As a college student who also works as an accounting assistant, Kalia Thao realized how much she missed working with children. She had previously worked with second graders at New Millennium Academy and was eager to find a new opportunity to make a difference in kids’ lives. She found it at the Wilder Child Development Center—Wilder’s preschool and childcare center that provides high-quality learning and care for children ages 16 months to 5 years.
“I like to socialize with kids whenever there’s a chance,” she says. She waves and smiles at the children she sees, and they wave back. Still, she admits she’s most comfortable behind the scenes.
At the Wilder Child Development Center, the family pantry offers a perfect fit. Kalia volunteers there every other week in a recurring role that allows her to support families in a meaningful way—without being in the classroom.
Kati Halliday, former Family Services Coordinator at Wilder, says running the pantry takes strong organizational and monitoring skills—skills Kalia brings to the role. And because Kalia wanted to contribute in a child development setting without being directly involved with the kids, the pantry became an ideal opportunity to support both staff and families.
“It’s easy to find people who want to be with kids,” Kati says. “But it’s harder to find those who want to support the center in other ways. We’re lucky to have her.”
“One skill I'm confident in is organizing, and I also love packing things to give to families. That’s one of my deepest desires—to serve my local community. Whatever I pack for them, it’s for their nourishment and their family.”
The family pantry is designed to provide families with access to in-demand items. “We want to make it easy for families to meet their needs in one place,” Kati explains. “It’s already hard enough to ask for help—then to take your kids to a food shelf and wait in line makes it even harder.” Families enrolled at the Child Development Center can request items they need, whether food, clothing, personal care products, or cleaning supplies. All goods are donated, and there’s an ongoing need for more support to meet demand.
Staff and volunteers like Kalia do what they can. If a specific food item isn’t available, they include other staples to create a meal or two. “The biggest challenge is when we’re running low and I still have to pack meals,” Kalia says. “I make sure to include carbs, proteins, and other needed nutrients. It can be tough to find the right mix so everyone can enjoy it.”
The pantry—and Kalia’s dedication—supports a central goal of the Wilder Child Development Center: to care for the whole family in one place.
“We want parents to know that we’re not just caring for their kids,” Kati says. “We want their whole families to be healthy, fed, and taken care of. We could be the best child care on the planet and do everything perfectly during the day, but if families are struggling, kids will still struggle. If we want children to thrive, we have to support everyone, not just our students.”
Together, staff, volunteers, and families work to make that vision a reality.