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Cynthia Harper
Cameron Community Ministries
48 Cameron Street
Rochester, NY 14606
Work Phone: 585-254-2697
FAX: 585-254-5582
Email: ccmexec@rochester.rr.com
Web: www.cameronministries.org
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The church barbeque was in full swing. The food was plentiful, as was the fellowship. Among those enjoying the outing was Cynthia Harper, a native upstate New Yorker recently returned to Rochester, N.Y., from Denver, Colo. While browsing the tables of baked beans and potato salad, she recognized an old friend. During their conversation, she mentioned she was looking at job opportunities and asked if he had any leads.
As fate would have it, her friend was a member of the Cameron Community Ministries’ executive director search committee. She applied for the position, and in August 2008 Harper became the new executive director. Her immediate goal, she says, is to expand services and increase awareness of the center to potential donors and people in the community. “We have a great relationship with much of the community, but there are people who don’t know about Cameron,” she says.
Cameron Community Ministries was founded in 1984 by American Baptist Churches of the Rochester-Genesee Region and the Presbytery of Genesee Valley. Cameron provides meals and clothing for the needy as well as after-school and summer programs for youth. The center is located in the city’s Lyell-Otis neighborhood, an area of high poverty. “Cameron is located very near an elementary school. Most of the children who attend are eligible for free lunches and we, at Cameron, serve thousands of meals a year to the community.”
Harper’s interest in community service and volunteerism began when she was a child growing up in Dansville, N.Y. Her parents were her role models. “They were always very active in church volunteering and I usually participated.” As an adult, she has given her time and considerable talent to various civic organizations—from legal advocacy for women in crisis to serving the Juvenile Diabetes Association as a board member.
A mother of two teenage boys and an eight-year-old girl, Harper is a strong children’s advocate, and she now brings that advocacy to her position at Cameron. She hopes to expand the youth program to include involvement in community service and to establish a cultural arts program. “You never know what will trigger something in a child that could change that child’s life. The more unique things you expose a child to, the better the chances of something touching that child’s life.”
EDUCATION
- MBA – University of Rochester – Rochester, N.Y
- BA – The College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio
EXPERIENCE
- Junior League of Denver – P.R./Operations/Holiday Mart
- Community Educational Volunteer – administered –promoted events – Castle Rock, CO
- Junior League of Rochester, N.Y. – President/Communications Dir./P.R. Chair
MEMORABLE DATES:
- January 10 – Birthday
- June 22 – Wedding Day
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