Wendy Skinner is the recipient of this year’s Debra S. Newman ’02 Community Recognition Award, presented by The Cornell Tradition. The award honors individuals in the local community who have demonstrated a strong commitment to public service and leadership. Skinner is one of the early co-founders of Sustainable Tompkins and served as our first chair of the ST coordinating committee.
Skinner was recognized for her work as the founder and coordinator of SewGreen, a not-for-profit organization located in downtown Ithaca. SewGreen operates a reuse shop for sewing materials and provides sewing education to the community. Programs include a free teen apprenticeship program, jobs for lower-income youth and older workers, college internships, and sewing classes for all ages.
Among others, previous recipients of the award include Gay Nicholson, president of Sustainable Tompkins (2008); Mary Grainger, an active volunteer with a number of local human services organizations (2009); and Noel Desch, for his volunteer work with the Rotary Club of Ithaca, the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, and other charitable groups (2004). Read the rest of this entry »
