Purdue Extension’s Jeff Walker receives 2024 Community Spirit Award

The saying “Find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life” may as well have been spoken with Jeff Walker in mind.

During working hours, he serves Bartholomew, Jennings and Ripley counties as a Purdue Extension community wellness coordinator, collaborating with local partners on projects related to nutrition, food security and physical activity and representing Purdue within organizations like the Jennings County Food Security Coalition, Jennings County Active Transportation Committee and Southeastern Indiana Regional Planning Commission.

And in his free time, he takes off those hats and replaces them with a slew of others — town council member, nonprofit board member, church committee chair and more — seamlessly blending his passion for community development into his day-to-day life.

Walker attributes that passion to growing up in his Kentucky hometown, where he was taught from a young age to appreciate the importance of community engagement, even if it doesn’t come with a reward or a paycheck.

“I grew up in a place that had an identity, and that identity brought people together to work on different things,” Walker says. “Today, our attention can be drawn away from that, and it’s really easy to lose that sense of identity that comes from being around your neighbors and community members. I think it’s important to tie those frayed ends back together, and that’s what I see community work as doing. It’s bringing fullness back to some places that maybe have been torn a little bit or frayed over time.”

Honoring his efforts, the Management and Professional Staff Advisory Committee and Campus Support Staff Advisory Committee selected Walker as the 2024 winner of the Community Spirit Award, given annually to a Purdue staff member who sets a high standard for service, encourages a sustained commitment to civic participation and inspires others to serve in their communities. Walker is the 13th Purdue employee to receive the award since its inception in 2011.

Though Walker has only lived in Indiana for seven years, he’s already made a big impact on the town of Vernon and the communities that surround it.

Shortly after moving to Vernon, he and his wife formed the Jennings County Running Club as a way to connect with others across the community. But that goal quickly transformed with the creation of the Spring Tonic 5K, an annual fundraiser hosted in April that supports improvements to the town’s old school gymnasium.

The Vernon gym project is one that is near to Walker’s heart — a project he also directly supports as a Vernon town council member, a position he’s held for the past four years. The goal is to transform the building into a functional community center, a plan that’s well on its way to victory, thanks in part to grants secured by the town, leading to a refinished floor and a host of trails connecting the facility to local parks.

Walker says the initiative is a testament to what can be achieved when a community comes together.

“I don’t think we can do community work alone, ever,” Walker says. “It’s something that requires you to be a team player and come together with others and say, ‘This is something we want for our community.’ I’ve been very fortunate to play a leading role in some things and a supporting role in others, but the only way I’m able to be involved is because of other people also seeing what they want to do in the community and going after it.”

Chasing after an idea is a strategy that has paid off time and time again. In 2021, when a need arose for after-school programs in the area, Walker and others formed a steering committee to expand the Boys & Girls Clubs of Seymour into Jennings County. Today, the organization operates four sites in Jennings County and will soon offer new programming at the Vernon gym once additional renovations are complete.

Seeing his efforts have a true impact is the only reward Walker ever strives for, so being recognized for it is just the cherry on top.

“I’m honored,” Walker says. “It’s really humbling to have the things that I’m doing recognized, but there are hundreds and thousands of people within the university doing amazing work in the communities they live in too. And I’m grateful that MaPSAC and CSSAC are recognizing that because it’s important that we call that out and remind each other to say, ‘You’re doing a great job.’”

Walker wants communities to thrive, and his work — both personally and professionally — supports his vision. And as he reflects on his impact in Vernon and Jennings County, he’s grateful to be part of an even larger community — one that is driving positive change across the state and beyond.

“Purdue has reached across the entire state of Indiana and is creating an impact everywhere for Hoosiers,” Walker says. “It’s amazing to be part of an organization that has that kind of reach and can have that kind of impact on individuals’ lives at scale across the state of Indiana.”