RE LOG - Spring 2017

SPRING 2017 Ransom Everglades LOG 3 We also recognize the good works of current student Joshua Williams ’18 , who has been deeply troubled by the plight of the impoverished since before he arrived to kindergarten. As a little boy, Joshua begged his mother and aunts to make dinners in individual containers that he helped hand out to the homeless in Miami. Those small family projects blossomed into the Joshua’s Heart Foundation, a 100-percent volunteer-run organization that provides food to thousands of people every year. Twenty-five years ago, lifelong friends, John Flickinger ’74 and Doug Weiser ’74 , started Summerbridge on the Ransom Campus. Their goal to provide educational opportunities to underserved students in Miami-Dade County has grown beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Today, Breakthrough Miami transforms the lives of promising young men and women across the city, and it is very much at the heart of all we do at Ransom Everglades. Beginning on page 24 you can read the summary of some of the community service and local outreach that originates on our campus every day, and that in many ways follows the examples set by those we have profiled in this magazine. The summary was created for the documentation associated with the SAP (Special Area Plan) that we are engaged in with the City of Miami as we seek to permanently unite the La Brisa property with the Ransom Campus. Finally, I am privileged to share with you a beautiful tribute to the late Sue Miller, a gracious and generous woman who never sought the spotlight and brought joy to the lives of those fortunate to have known her. Sue was one of the first people to write me when I was appointed head of Ransom Everglades, extending to me the warm and caring spirit that characterized her. The reminiscences provided by her three children, Stuart Miller ’75 , Leslie Miller Saiontz ’77 and RE Board Member Jeffrey Miller ’79 remind us how much Sue and her late husband Lenny contributed to the greater good. Sue made life better for us at Ransom Everglades, and we miss her dearly. Penny Townsend Head of School Headlines rarely come to those who spend their lives trying to improve circumstances for the financially stressed, forgotten, under-resourced or sick. Yet at Ransom Everglades, such efforts stir pride. They matter.