Nana’s Cart
JoAnne’s Helping Hands Scholarship and Nana’s Grab and Go Cart are the legacy of JoAnne Wrobel ’02 whose care and compassion ensured that countless students received nourishment and support. Read more about her below.
A Silent Hero
by Chris Yurko
Excerpted from The Connection magazine, Spring 2025
It started with candy. JoAnne Wrobel ’02, an HCC clerk, would keep sweet treats in a bowl on her desk in the main lobby of the Kittredge Center. She quickly noticed how many students were dipping in and realized it wasn’t an afternoon sugar rush they were after. These students arrived on campus hungry, and they left hungry. Wrobel was happy to supply them with snacks but wanted to offer something more nutritious. After a series of conversations with her supervisor, Arvard Lingham, now HCC executive director of community education and corporate training, the two started operating a “grab and go” food cart of ready-to-eat items, such as cereal bars and instant oatmeal, among other things.
Eventually, the cart evolved into a full-fledged food pantry with shelves of canned goods and other non-perishables that Wrobel maintained in a corner carved out of the HCC Career Closet close to her desk on the second floor of Kittredge.
She did that until 2019, when, in dire need of more space, the food pantry was moved to the second floor of the Frost Building inside the Thrive Student Resource Center, which had itself evolved from an initial focus on financial matters to concentrate more on students’ basic needs, such as housing and food insecurity.
For years, Wrobel remained a beloved figure at HCC, continuing to support students however she could. When she passed away in 2022 at 68, the campus community mourned the loss of an alum and staff member who had touched countless lives through her compassion. And yet, the fall 2024 semester proved that her legacy remains very much alive at HCC.
First, HCC Registrar Allison Wrobel ’00, JoAnne’s daughter, pledged to raise $15,000 toward a new scholarship through the HCC Foundation in memory of her mother. Once endowed, JoAnne’s Helping Hands Scholarship will be awarded annually to an HCC student involved in community service or whose career or life plans include serving their community—values that her mother lived every day … [Read the complete Connection article here.]
Today, donations to JoAnne’s Helping Hands Scholarship continue the support that she began, and her Grab and Go Cart lives on in the brand new, stainless steel cart that bears her name. Known as “Nana” to all, JoAnne’s acts of kindness were legendary, leading the Class of 2025 to purchase Nana’s Grab and Go Cart as their senior class gift so that students would continue to receive the nourishment and support that JoAnne had provided. Nana’s kindness, compassion, and generous spirit live on in JoAnne’s Helping Hands Scholarship and the work of Thrive Center. Nana’s Grab and Go Cart, which will be used at the Thrive Center and campus events, helps extend the reach across campus.
JoAnne’s Helping Hands Scholarship is aimed at students with demonstrated financial need who are currently involved in community service work or who can show how their career goals represent supporting and servicing their community, and how it is impactful, personally or professionally.
To be eligible for any HCC Scholarship, a student must be a current HCC student carrying a minimum of six (6) credits and be in good academic standing. The scholarship is automatically renewable annually, provided the recipient continues to meet all eligibility requirements.
