Four students receive annual awards for community-service involvement

The benefactors of the Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Awards, Helen and Robert Appel, right standing, and Margot and Gerald Robinson, center, join finalists for the awards, seated from left: Erica Frenay and Jessica Rubin, and standing: Cheryl Bowdre, Suzanne Guziec, Michelle Lamboy and Krista Strahan. The award winners were Frenay, Rubin, Guziec and Lamboy. Jon Reis/Photolink

Four Cornell undergraduates have been honored for their community service work.

The Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Awards were presented April 24 to sophomores Michelle Lamboy and Suzanne Guziec and seniors Jessica Rubin and Erica Frenay for their service projects.

The awards were established by alumni Gerald Robinson '54 and Margot Robinson '55 and Robert Appel '53 and Helen Appel '55. They were created to recognize and honor students who have had significant involvement in community service by providing support for their projects. Three community service projects initiated and proposed by Cornell students are selected annually and each project receives $1,500.

Michelle Lamboy, in human ecology, from Lake Ridge, Va., and Ithaca, founded the Cornell Non-Traditional Student Organization. Through word-of-mouth advertising, the membership in the organization has increased five-fold in less than one semester. The group organizes social activities, disseminates information and addresses issues relating to nontraditional students.

Suzanne Guziec, in agriculture and life sciences, from Dunkirk, N.Y., is one of the founding members of Together Ithaca Empowers Students (TIES). This mentoring and educational program connects children at the Southside Community Center in Ithaca to 40 Cornell student volunteers. The students organize biweekly field trips and educational activities in Tompkins County for the children.

Jessica Rubin, in arts and sciences, from Bronxville and New Rochelle, N.Y., and Erica Frenay, in agriculture and life sciences, from Canastota and Oneida, N.Y., are members of the Dilmun Hill Student Farm, now entering its third growing season near Cornell Orchards. The project is expanding its connections with the Ithaca community, increasing the availability of fresh organic produce and educating youth about agriculture, while providing practical farming experiences. Rubin and Frenay have arranged for 18 teen-agers from the Greater Ithaca Activities Center to prepare soil and plant seeds. During the summer, the teen-agers will staff a farm stand selling fresh, low-cost produce.

For more information on the Robinson-Appel Humanitarian Awards, contact the Public Service Center at 255-1148.