Keep Madison Warm

At Dairyland Dani is known for her lively presence and excellent service to our customers through her role as a Customer Account Coordinator. Last month she championed an initiative to serve people experiencing homelessness in Madison, WI. Read about it – and her quest to be a good neighbor – here.

Tell us a little something about yourself:

I am just your average 30-something-year-old mom, farm wife, Christian, and lover of the outdoors.  I enjoy the simple, small things that life has to offer.

How do you Live Engaged?

I live engaged by searching for opportunities to make my friends and neighbors better. Whether that be a smile as I walk past, offering to help with a chore, or inviting a friend to the table to catch up.  Sometimes the simple things make a big impact.

This has been such a difficult season; what have you learned about showing up and living engaged in the midst of it?

There’s a big need right now to show up for others.  Many of our friends are suffering from depression due to isolation.  Our neighbors are struggling to pay their bills and put food on their tables. Frontline workers are scared and exhausted.  I have learned that kindness is free and if you are fortunate enough to have extra to offer your neighbor, it can mean that they get to eat another meal or stay in their home for another month.  One day, we may need a favor from a friend and I believe that generosity will come back to us.

You recently championed the “Keep Madison Warm” project – could you tell us more about that? What spurred the idea and what was the response?

Keep Madison Warm was a drive to collect items for the homeless population in Madison, Wisconsin.  A social-media friend has done this for a couple years in Nashville after her daughter wanted to help a homeless man she saw sitting at an intersection.  After feeling the weight of the current divide, I wanted a way to get people together to help others in need.  Her idea inspired me to start something similar in our community.  We ended up having a truck load of donations to provide to those struggling most in our community.

What would you say to someone struggling to know how to engage or feeling afraid to launch an idea like this?

You will lose nothing even if it fails completely, but even if you are only able to help one person, it could change the world for that individual.  Be brave in your pursuit to extend a helping hand.

What gives you hope?

Above all, my faith in God. But for here on earth, our humanity has a funny way of showing up when people need it most.  It does not ask what political party you align with, what football team you root for on Sundays, or if you have a college education.  People help people who need it, and I think that act of unconditional love for your neighbor is a beautiful thing and gives me hope that unity is achievable.

How do you Live Engaged? Share with us at LiveEngaged@dairyland.com.