Stacy Wiedenhoeft – The Spirit Of Volunteerism Runs Deep

Helping Toys for Tots, Boy Scouts and Redding’s Enterprise High School

If “professional volunteerism” counts as a family business, Stacy Wiedenhoeft could say her family has run its business in Redding, CA for generations. Stacy inherited her volunteering spirit from her grandmother, Lenore Grant, and her parents, Gary and Frances Grant. A fulltime mom, Stacy also invests fulltime hours into volunteering for youth-focused efforts including Toys for Tots, Boy Scouts and Enterprise High School Sports Boosters – often supported by her parents and grandmother.

In 1982, Lenore started The Giving Tree to provide Christmas gifts to disadvantaged youth in the Redding area. When her father retired from the military and the family moved to Redding in 1991, Stacey was 16 and began helping her grandmother.

Toys for Tots is about the whole family

In 2000, grandmother and granddaughter passed The Giving Tree (now called The Angel Tree) to the Salvation Army to focus on Toys for Tots.
Despite its name, the Marine Corps Toys for Tots brightens Christmas morning for youths up to age 18, distributing to 4,000 families in Shasta County. “It’s really about the whole family,” Stacy says. “It’s about everyone feeling happy and no one feeling left out.” Stacy’s own family refuses to feel left out and her husband and kids pitch in as needed. Stacy and her father, Gary, handle the organization’s public relations; her mother, Frances, manages the distribution center with another family member; and 95-year-old Lenore pops in to help with paperwork.

Alongside the seasonal Marine Corps Toys for Tots work, Stacy has been a fulltime mother ever since Allison (19) and twins Breanna and William (14) were born to her and James, her high school sweetheart and husband of 28 years. As the kids have grown, Stacy has sought volunteer opportunities that benefit them and other children.

Leading the Enterprise High School Boosters

In 2018, for example, Stacy was asked to lead the Enterprise High School Sports Boosters, the organization that sells concessions at all Enterprise High School sporting events to pay for uniforms and equipment. When she took the reins, the Boosters had only $189 in the bank and more than $6,000 of debt. Over the past three years, Stacy and the board have built financial stability, ensuring all the sports teams can access the equipment they need. “Kids who are involved in extracurriculars like athletics and music tend to become better individuals and members of society. That’s where my passion lies,” Stacy says.

Leading Boy Scouts to sell popcorn and bolster confidence

Stacy also serves as the fundraiser chair for her son’s Boy Scout troop. Under Stacy’s direction, the troop sold $30,000 of popcorn during their five-week popcorn sale this past fall. Stacy recalls the boys protesting, “We’re not cute little Cub Scouts anymore; we’re not going to be able to sell popcorn.” The success of the sale, Stacy says, not only funds valuable activities and experiences for the troop, but also bolsters the boys’ confidence: “The unobtainable is suddenly obtainable.”

The entire family pitches in to volunteer for the community: Frances and Gary Grant; Breanna, Stacy and William Wiedenhoeft, Lenore Grant and Allison Wiedenhoeft.

A motivational power born in compassion

As the troop assistant scoutmaster and Stacy’s “volunteer partner in crime,” Stacy’s father, Gary, proudly marvels at his daughter’s leadership. “Every time she sets a goal, we beat it because Stacy motivates the kids and parents,” he says. Anitta Martinez, who met Stacy at a volunteering event, describes her friend’s motivational power as a unique charisma. “We call it ‘doing the Stacy.’ She could talk her way into a personal tour at the White House and have them begging her to come back!”
Frances identifies her daughter as a “go-getter,” and says this comes from Stacy’s childhood, when she learned to “go through the bush instead of around it.” Growing up, Stacy endured stares, negative stereotypes, and repeated surgeries to correct a bilateral cleft lip and palate.

Living with a disability grew Stacy’s compassion for others, making her a devoted friend. Anitta recalls Stacy and James taking her to the airport in the middle of the night for her COVID-19 nursing deployment in New York. “She’s incredibly loyal and dedicated. Even when she has to do something she’s not passionate about, she does it with a smile simply because it’s the best thing for the organization or her family.”

Knitting the community together for the next generation

As her career of volunteerism proves, Stacy deeply values knitting the community together for the benefit of the North State’s next generation. Inviting other adults to join her, Stacy plunges into every opportunity to enrich children’s lives. “If everybody does a little,” she concludes, “the kids benefit so much.”

Tis the season!

Toys for Tots can use your help! To learn more, email shastatoysfortots@yahoo.com or find Toys for Tots in Shasta County on Facebook.