CCPA honors support from Binghamton community with Distinguished Citizen awards
The College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) handed out its first Distinguished Citizen awards during its annual Harvest Evening gala in September. The event celebrated contributions that have helped advance CCPA’s mission to improve communities through public service, nonprofit leadership and a commitment to social justice.
Barbara Ellis ‘81 and Eve DiMenna, both members of the Harvest Evening Committee, received the Distinguished Citizen awards in appreciation of their commitment to CCPA during the gala, held Sept. 17 at the Binghamton Country Club. The awards recognized their longstanding outreach to other members of the community to generate support for CCPA’s programs, as well as the critical financial and creative assistance they lend to ensuring the annual gala’s success.
“We really want to emphasize how much we appreciate community support for the work our students and faculty are doing,” said Patricia Gazda-Grace, CCPA community liaison and Harvest Evening committee member. “We thanked Barbara and Eve with this award because they are great examples of that local support.”
Dean Laura Bronstein said CCPA students are putting their classroom experience to critical use in the Binghamton community. Collectively, CCPA students perform more than 200,000 internship hours each year that generate an estimated $6 million in local economic impact.
“CCPA alums work throughout New York state, the nation and the world, with a substantial concentration in our own community,” Bronstein said. “Here they lead organizations that feed the hungry and house the homeless; they sit by your relatives’ beds when they don’t have long to live to make their passing peaceful; they provide mental health support to those struggling with anxiety, depression and substance use; they teach your children; lead our schools and our foundations; and run our local governments.”
The gala raised funds to support the work of CCPA’s students and faculty to address pressing social justice issues including the impact of poverty, accessible healthcare and quality education for all students.
“In today’s world, the work of the faculty, students and staff of CCPA is increasingly important,” said James Orband ’81, managing partner at the Hinman, Howard & Kattell law firm and a Binghamton University Council member. “Therefore, it is imperative to support the efforts of CCPA, which Hinman, Howard & Kattell has done for several years.”
Linda Biemer, retired professor and dean of the School of Education and Human Development at Binghamton University, a member of the Binghamton University Council and one of the gala’s sponsors, said she supports CCPA because it’s the college that connects most to the area.
“One of our many obligations as a public university is to connect with the community and serve the community, and a major way CCPA does that is by supplying interns and volunteers,” Biemer said. “Both students and local agencies learn from each other and together, help make our community a better place to live, work and continue to grow.”
