Class Note 1992
I asked for updates on your leadership roles in charitable organizations, and was fortunate to hear from many classmates who are donating time and skills.
Carolyn Biondi: “I’m serving as executive director at a nonprofit called the Crisis Ministry (thecrisisministry.org), which provides food and emergency financial assistance for families at risk for eviction. We distributed more than 150 tons of food and gave away more than $400,000 to people in need in Trenton, New Jersey, and surrounding communities last year. We also have a job training program and helped 15 people to secure employment.”
Dan Frank: “I serve on the board of directors of the National Safety Council (NSC), the leading safety organization in the United States. The NSC is working to address issues such as traffic safety, workplace hazards, prescription drug overdoses, community safety initiatives and other efforts to reduce accidental deaths and injuries. In April we had a particular focus on reducing distracted driving. Many of us have teenagers now. Please remind them to put away their phones when they drive.”
Jeff Guylay: “I serve on the board of a nonprofit my wife founded in 2008 called Nurture (nurtureyourfamily.org). Nurture’s mission is to empower family members of all ages with the tools and resources needed to prepare healthy and delicious meals, even when faced with limited time and budget. We focus on low-income families who are more susceptible to nutrition related diseases such as childhood obesity. We collaborate with partner social services agencies and schools. In our adult education classes we teach participants how to cook delicious, low-cost, nutritious meals for the family, and we give each participant a slow cooker or rice cooker to empower them to change their eating habits. We are fortunate to have developed a longstanding relationship with Hamilton Beach Brands to source cooking equipment for our participants, made possible through Dartmouth classmate and friend Clara Rankin Williams ’93.”
Liza Millet: “I have been engaged in starting a pretty large community service effort in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with a few others, including Chris Hessler ’85. It is called Silicon Couloir (siliconcouloir.com) and our mission is to foster entrepreneurship in the Tetons. We host monthly networking meetings that are very well attended, started an angel/mentor group (the only one in Wyoming), host an annual Pitch Day for local companies to meet and attract investors and mentors and generally help people feel like they have the support to go off and create their business dreams. It’s been great fun.”
Lisa Bryan Stringfellow: “I founded a community service group named Stitch for a Cause (stitchforacause.org). I teach kids to knit, crochet and sew and we make and donate items to those in need. During the past 11 years we have donated baby hats to local neonatal intensive care units and to international organizations such as Save the Children, donated infant blankets and clothing to local agencies, and donated pet beds to our local humane society. We also participated in fundraisers and wish-list drives for the March of Dimes, a local women’s shelter, the Kentucky Humane Society and the Infant Resource Center, an agency that supports families in need with baby and toddler items. I am happy to pass on a fun hobby like knitting to the kids I teach, but am even more happy that I can instill in them a sense of service and desire to give back to the community.”
Many more ’92s wrote in about their commitments to service, so I’ll include them next time!
—Kelly Shriver Kolln, 3900 Cottage Grove Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52403; (319) 533-4326; news@dartmouth92.org
