Lifetime Volunteer Leadership

(By NBC26) A Fox Valley woman with a heart of gold. In this part of our Celebrating Volunteers series with the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region, meet someone who never stops giving back. She’s making life better for anyone who crosses her path.

“I grew up in a big family,” said Jean Long Manteufel.

“She’s special, you can’t help it, she just is,” said her mother Gladie. “I have 8 wonderful children, each one’s good at what they do themselves.”

Volunteering isn’t just an activity for Jean, it’s second nature. On a huge list of giving back, a few of those include helping more than 350 Hmong refugees in the Fox cities to continuously making it easier for seniors transitioning out of their homes. She’s able to do that as the face of her parent’s company A-1 Moving and Storage, which she bought from them awhile back. Another big part of her life is the Kiwanis Club. Right now, she’s spearheading a program called Kiwanis, Cops N’ Kids. It’s to help promote literacy and trust in law enforcement.

Jean’s dedication to helping people in the Fox Valley caught the attention of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. She was then named the 2021 Walter L. Rugland Community Service award winner.

“I think everybody can look into their lives and they can see something they can do to give back to neighbors and communities, and she’s a wonderful example of that,” said Mary Beth Nienhaus, Jean’s former teacher and nominator.

Watch the video above as Jean shares her motto for why she does what she does. With the award, she received $5,000 in which she’s donating to the Kiwanis, Cops N’ Kids program to buy a lot of books for children in the Fox Valley area.