'The face of St. Martin de Porres Center,' Patricia Benanti, is SJ-R First Citizen

Patricia Benanti of Springfield has volunteered at St. Martin de Porres Center for nearly 25 years.

A great part of her motivation to help people in need with donations of food, clothing, and other household items came, she said, from the example set by her parents, Ella and C.J. Brahler.

Benanti said her mother and father regularly fed homeless men who trudged down the alleys with pushcarts near their north end home.

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"One Thanksgiving, one of my sisters turned away one of these guys because we were busy, and Mother was very unhappy because they knew about our home," Benanti recalled. "We would cook for them and feed them.

"I thought it was wonderful (my parents) did that. They were very kind. I'm hoping that I'm carrying this on."

For her work at the center, Benanti, 92, is the 2023 State Journal-Register First Citizen Award winner.

This is the 60th year the award has been given out in recognition of Springfield-area residents who give selflessly of their time and resources in service to others.

Last year's recipient was Evelyn Brandt Thomas, who was cited for a range of philanthropic work over decades and her championing of education, particularly women in the field of agriculture. Brandt Thomas turned 100 over the summer.

The 2002 First Citizen, Gene Humphreville, managed St. Martin de Porres Center.

A committee considered nearly 20 nominations for the award.

In his nomination, Robert Mosely wrote Benanti epitomized "a life of service to others" and because of her longevity at the center "she has become the face of the organization."

Benanti's example of volunteerism, Mosely added, "flies under the radar for most of the citizens of Springfield, mostly because when a person is so good at doing something, their execution appears effortless. Such is the case with Mrs. Benanti who continues to fiercely attack the struggles of so many disadvantaged individuals in our community, with the effortless ease of a seasoned professional."

A native of Springfield who attended St. Joseph Grade School and Ursuline Academy, Benanti said she was coaxed into volunteering at the center by her brother, Jim Brahler, a longtime Springfield businessman. Another brother, John, managed it, while her sister, Mary Jo, also volunteered there.

St. Martin de Porres was started by the late Sister Mary Dominic Joerger, a Springfield Dominican nun. The second-grade teacher at St. Patrick Grade School noticed that students needed clothing and three other parishes − Christ the King in Springfield, St. Jude in Rochester and St. Peter in Petersburg − pitched in for a clothing drive.

The center, named for a 16th-century Dominican who was in charge of giving money to the poor, moved into its current location, a former Hardee's restaurant, in 1990. Two years later, a Franciscan nun, the late Sister Helen Frances Winkler, started a food pantry.

St. Martin de Porres, said Springfield Diocese spokesman Andrew Hansen, is "a separate Catholic non-profit organization," though the diocese supports its work.

All items are free of charge and the center is open to the public for shopping from 9 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Benanti described her first day of volunteering at the center as "overwhelming."

"It was overwhelming because it was an experience I had only heard about," she recalled. "You never know there are this many people who need help. The numbers over the years have increased.

"I'm seeing a second generation of people, so this is the only thing they knew. They were taught to come here to shop."

While her brother and sister stayed on the food side of the operation, Benanti moved over to the clothing side because a couple of longtime volunteers were ready to give it up.

Three days a week − it was four days a week until recently − for about two-and-a-half hours, Benanti sorts clothes. Donations have increased since volunteers returned after the COVID pandemic, she said. Tables are stacked with all sorts of clothing in varying sizes while sacks of clothes line the walls.

"This is moderate," Benanti said of the volume.

These days, Benanti uses a chair most of the time because of an arthritic back. Otherwise, she is on the go, still driving, and wouldn't think of missing a day at the center.

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"What keeps me motivated is that I feel I can be of use and rather than sit at home in a chair, I would much rather be here doing something for somebody, giving back," she insisted.

Another thing that keeps Benanti coming back? Her co-workers.

"I've met some of the kindest and nicest people in my lifetime here as volunteers," she said. "These were businesspeople and a lot of them were Jim's friends. We were a large family (of 10 children), so a lot of people knew us."

The sentiment is mutual, said Jerry Hollis, a former banker who also was recruited to volunteer by Jim Brahler.

"She's an honest person," Hollis said. "Her heart's in the right place. And she's organized. I can't say enough good things about her.

"COVID kind of depleted the volunteer group, but they decided to come back. She called me. She said if we come back, will you come back? You can't say 'no.'"

Benanti met her husband, Sam, when both worked at SS Kresge's in downtown Springfield. She worked at the candy counter and Sam worked in the stockroom. At that time, she also volunteered as a "pink coat" doing all sorts of duties at St. John's Hospital.

The couple was married 64 years before Sam, later a partner with R.D. Lawrence Construction Co., died in 2015.

Patricia Benanti worked as a telephone operator for Illinois Bell before raising five children − Gregory, Richard, John, Mary Pat (McDaniels) and Nancy (Cawley) − some of whom also volunteered at the center.

Just being nominated as First Citizen was "humbling," Benanti said.

"There are so many people out there who do really good things, and I just have been doing what I love," she said. "Anything you love, it's not work."

Contact Steven Spearie at 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; or X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Longtime St. Martin de Porres Center volunteer is SJ-R First Citizen