The United Voices for Children (UVC) Board of Directors is both grateful and pleased to announce receipt of a financial bequest from the Estate of Nancy Culbertson. Nancy Ruth Culbertson of Melrose Park, Illinois passed away February 18, 2016 at the age of 71. 
Friends report that Ms. Culbertson’s church was her family and she was a long-time active member of Wesley United Methodist Church in Cicero and later transferred to River Forest United Methodist Church. She worked several summers as a camp counselor at both Wesley Woods and Camp Reynoldswood, and served as registrar at the Proviso Food Pantry. She had retired from a long professional career with Sanford Ink Co.
According to her pastor at Wesley UMC Cicero, Rev. Lynn Pries, “Nancy was a faithful United Methodist Christian all her life and lived frugally and had no heirs. She wanted her inheritance to make a difference in the lives of children.”
Kim Coffing, UVC president stated, “UVC is indeed overjoyed to receive this generous gift from Nancy Culbertson’s estate. We are deeply moved by her demonstration of how someone who appeared to be unassuming assumed the best for children and teens through her legacy of a bountiful contribution to UVC.”
The bequest was made through the Northern Illinois Foundation and totaled approximately $35,000. More than half of this amount has been disbursed to support the ministries of the three child-serving agencies affiliated with UVC: ChildServ, MYSI and Rosecrance. The UVC Board is still considering how to best utilize the balance of this generous gift to appropriately serve the needs of children and youth in need.
United Voices for Children is a coalition of congregations, agencies, groups and individuals in the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church that speaks and acts on behalf of children, youth and families in need.