wellington volunteer
NANCY PULLEN
Helping Those In Need Through Church Groups And The Big Heart Brigade Story by Matthew Auerbach Photos by Abner Pedraza
Volunteering comes naturally to Nancy Pullen. Growing up in Miami, she watched her parents give of their time to many organizations. It wasn’t long before she followed in their footsteps. “My first shot at volunteerism came when I was in junior high school,” Pullen said. “I spent my summer vacation as a candy striper at Jackson Memorial Hospital. During the school year, I volunteered there on Saturdays. My desire to choose a career in nursing was solidified there.” Pullen has continued to volunteer and remains as committed to the idea of helping others as she was during that summer vacation. She is Wellington The Magazine’s November nominee for our Volunteer of the Year Award. Pullen followed through on her decision to become a nurse. She earned an associate’s degree in nursing from Broward Community College and a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Barry University. “I began my nursing career at North Shore Medical Center in Miami,” Pullen said. “That is where I met my husband, Fred. He had been volunteering at a mission hospital in Haiti and was severely injured in an automobile accident there. He was flown up to Miami for treatment,
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and I was his admitting nurse. I worked in orthopedics and then in the intensive coronary care unit at North Shore.” Pullen has been married to Fred, an ear, nose and throat specialist, for 33 years. They have three stepchildren and six grandchildren. A few years after they tied the knot, Pullen began working in her husband’s private practice so that their days off and vacation time coincided. During this time, she also volunteered with the Mercy Hospital Foundation in Miami, eventually serving as president of its board of directors. The Pullens would soon leave Miami behind. “We had begun spending summers on the island of Nantucket in Massachusetts,” she said. “We purchased a second home there in 1990, and in 1993 we opened a bookstore on the island.” Her place of residence may have changed, but Pullen’s devotion to volunteerism remained steadfast. “When we lived on Nantucket, I volunteered with the Nantucket Historical Association as a docent at their historical sites,” Pullen said. “I also volunteered with A Safe Place on Nantucket, where victims and
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survivors of domestic violence could receive treatment, counseling and support. I also volunteered at the Nantucket AIDS Network. We left Nantucket in 1999 so that I could attend seminary at the Orlando Institute. Part of my training was to serve an internship at a church.” A year later, the Pullens found themselves living in Wellington. “A close friend had started a church in Wellington, and we saw what a beautiful community it is,” Pullen recalled. “We moved here just as the building boom hit. Fields and pastures were quickly replaced by houses, stores and restaurants. Instead of having to drive to get to those things, we realized that we never have to leave Wellington for anything!” The Pullens became members of New Community Church (now LifeChurch) in Wellington. “I began my church staff volunteer position there,” she said. “That turned into a full-time volunteer position that lasted until 2007.” That is when Pullen left New Community Church and began volunteering with Bill Tumulty in the Life Missions Department of Christ Fellowship Church, which led to her current involvement with the Big Heart Brigade, a nonprofit organization started in 1992 by