Working for the Future by Improving the Now

Lori Wolf is the business manager at the Conservation Foundation headquarters in Naperville. She is also on a mission to make the world a better place.

I talked to Wolf in honor of Earth Day last Friday. It was lucky for me that Wolf happened to be the one to answer the phone when I called the Conservation Foundation looking for someone who was passionate about Mother Earth and lives in Montgomery.

Wolf fit the bill. Not only does she live in Montgomery, but she is a descendant of Jacob Keck, who, with his wife Nancy, was one of the early settlers to Montgomery. 

Working at the Conservation Foundation is more than just a job for Wolf.

The mission of the foundation (protecting land and watershed) goes with her beliefs in the importance of protecting the Earth. 

Through her work at the foundation, Wolf (along with others) aims to protect the Earth at all levels. The foundation works with developers, homeowners and individuals to educate and assist in that mission, she says. 

From offering rain barrels to educating residents not to pour used motor oil down the drain or in the ground, it's all in a day's work. As an accountant, Wolf sticks mostly to the books, but she doesn't mind getting dirty.

Cleaning up at Dickson-Murst Farm in Montgomery was on her agenda of Earth Day weekend activities. 

She and her cohorts are busily preparing for Spring Day at the Dickson-Murst Farm, 2550 Dickson Rd., on May 1. Wolf is on the farm's partnership board and helps out as needed during the handful of events they hold at the farm each year. 

Also in May, Wolf lends a hand pulling out garbage and other debris from the DuPage River during the DuPage River Sweep, which is in it's 2oth year. 

"There is now significantly less garbage [in the river] than 20 years ago," she said. "We're trying to make it better."

Wolf is used to helping make things better. During the '90s, she spent more than a year living on a ranch in Arkansas as part of her volunteer work with Heifer International.

She helped with animals and did her share of fund raising and marketing in order to help with their mission to end hunger and poverty. After leaving Heifer Learning Center at Heifer Ranch, she managed a goat dairy in Massachusetts for the organization.

Raising goats wasn't too much of a stretch for the accountant, since Wolf also took a year of agriculture courses in college. She said it's always been important to her to work toward the elimination of world hunger. 

Wolf continues her work with Heifer today. She meets with other volunteers in the area and helps to organize a quilt auction to raise money for the charity. 

As for living in Montgomery, Wolf says it is a tie to her ancestry. "My family is here," she said. 

For more information on the Conservation Foundation and Dickson-Murst Farm, visit www.theconservationfoundation.org. This year the Conservation Foundation has paired with the village of Montgomery to sell rain barrels for $70. More information is available on the village website.