After a decade of service as the executive director of Valley Churches United, Lynn Robinson has announced that she will be retiring from that position this fall.
During her tenure at the nonprofit year-round food pantry, Robinson valued the very important work of providing support to underserved community members throughout San Lorenzo Valley, Scotts Valley and Bonny Doon.
Following the vision of Valley Churches United’s founder, Annette Marcum, Robinson focused on keeping Valley Churches United prosperous year after year. Thus, enabling the organization to be able to meet the needs of local residents.
Robinson prioritized the financial strength of Valley Churches United to ensure that the organization had the ability to respond to community needs, which have been very challenging this past decade. Without any direct government support, she guided the strong financial position that Valley Churches has maintained through engaging donors throughout the year.
Under Robinson’s leadership, there was never a closure of services during the Covid pandemic or the devastating CZU fires, which directly impacted hundreds of clients immensely. Even during the evacuation weeks of the fire, Valley Churches United relocated in order to keep providing the desperately needed support for clients.
Several severe storms occurred in 2023 and 2024, and Valley Churches remained open and responded to many local residents needing disaster assistance. Since March 2020, Robinson has overseen more than $1 million in CZU fire and storm disaster aid support for clients.
In keeping with Valley Churches United’s goal of bridging the gap in times of crisis by providing assistance to local residents, thus promoting stability, self-sufficiency and hope, Robinson has helped provide $420,000 in emergency housing assistance throughout her decade of reviewing client assistance cases.
“I often mention that I have this wonderful job of gratitude because I get to experience the full circle of gratitude each and every day at work,” she said. “From our financial donors that are grateful for the many ways we help our clients, to our incredible volunteers that show their gratitude by all the service they give, and then the gratitude we experience directly from our clients when they need a ‘hand up’ during a challenging time, Valley Churches has an amazing legacy thanks to all the incredible support of the community, and I have been so fortunate this past decade to be a part of this full circle of gratitude.”
