The Foundation's Community Service and Distinguished Alumni Awards Dinner will be held on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
This year's Distinguished Alumni honoree will be U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink, who graduated from East Grand Rapids High School in 1987.
After graduating from East, Brink earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Kenyon College and a master's in international relations from the London School of Economics. She has worked for the U.S Department of State since 1996, serving first as U.S. Ambassador to Slovakia before becoming U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine in 2022. She took office during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This year's Community Service and Leadership Award honorees are Leslie (Wiener) Hooker, EGRHS class of 1983, and Suzanne (Schuler) Wilcox, EGRHS class of 1980. Hooker and Wilcox are being honored for their years of work and advocacy on behalf of people with disabilities. In 2018, Hooker and Wilcox founded Beer City Dog Biscuits, a West Michigan company whose core mission is empowering people with disabilities through the creation of dog biscuits.
The Community Service and Leadership Award began in 1998 to honor a person or group of people who have significantly contributed their leadership and spirit to the community of East Grand Rapids. Recipients of the award need not be EGRHS alumni, though many have been.
You can register to sponsor the event or get tickets on our Awards Dinner page.
