2011 Heroes of Marin — Presented by the Pacific Sun and Circle Bank ROBERT VENTE
Ed and Nancy Boyce Community Spirit Award by Dani Bu rlison
T
o say that Ed and Nancy Boyce are involved in all that is good in Marin County wouldn’t be a far stretch from the truth. The couple, Washington state natives who relocated to Marin County 40 years ago, have risen above and beyond the calls of their medical background duties through working with and/or supporting more than 60 local nonprofit programs through their organization, MarinLink. With the mission statement of linking people, services and products for health, sustainability, education, spirituality and business for the entire Marin community, MarinLink manages to benefit not just the needy, but all residents. Just contemplating the magnitude of the work they do in the community is enough to make anyone exhausted. Still, the couple stay engaged. “This is just really fun to do,” says Nancy Boyce in MarinLink’s Northgate Mall office location. Nancy worked as a nurse for almost four decades, in public health and as a school nurse, where she established the Marin Community Foundation-funded project Marin County Preschool Health Manual. The project, a collaboration between the Marin County Office of Education and the Marin School Nurses Organization, was among the reasons she was recognized as one of Marin’s Public Health Heroes in 2003. Although Ed claims that it may be a bit of an exaggeration, many locals refer to him as the man who has delivered more babies than any other doctor in Marin. An advocate for both home and hospital births, some of Ed’s deliveries even took place in the Boyces’ home. A key player in helping local midwives obtain hospital privileges, Ed trained the county’s first nurse practitioner and is the former medical director for Planned Parenthood Marin. He is still active in the medical community through work with Marin General Hospital, where he serves as a member of the
Physician Well-Being Committee. Though officially retired from their medical careers, the couple, who live out near China Camp, are anything but idle. “We’re really trying to get people connected so they can work collaboratively,” says Nancy. And the Boyces are indeed the ones to contact when looking for nonprofit resources. If they aren’t already directly involved in a project, they certainly know others who are. Serving as a fiscal sponsor, partner, community service site and/or a service learning connection, the Boyces—along with MarinLink executive director and co-founder, Mary O’Mara— have a long list of hands-on projects. Project Homeless Connect, Safe Passage along Lucas Valley Road, Novato Community Garden, Warm Wishes, which provides 5,000 backpacks to homeless throughout the Bay Area, and the Marin County Stroke Resource Directory, to name just a few. And if that list doesn’t fill their time at MarinLink, the Boyces have been involved with Dominican University’s School of Nursing, Marin Interfaith Council, Healthcare for All, Marin Child Care Council, Commonweal Advisory and the Sierra Club, which awarded them in 2010 for their involvement with their environmental and social justice endeavors. In addition to attending meetings, offering support and organizing events like the Warm Wishes volunteer day, where community members stuff backpacks with hats, gloves and other winter necessities, the Boyces and MarinLink redistribute funds to much-needed local community projects to ensure their long-term success. Last year, the dollar amount was at a whopping half-million mark. 14> Ed and Nancy Boyce are the epitome of what its like to live a life of service. The couple manage to continue making the already wonderful county of Marin an even better place for people from all walks of life. For this, the Pacific Sun is proud to award them with our Community Spirit Heroes of Marin award. <
MarinLink has been ‘filling unmet community needs’ since 2005; the Boyces have been meeting Marin’s needs for decades.
Hero FYI + The Boyces both graduated from the University of Washington and moved to California 40 years ago when Ed was stationed at the Hamilton Air Force Base and was accepted for a residency with Kaiser Permanente.
+ Macerich Corporation, which owns the Northgate Mall, sees such value in the work the Boyces do at MarinLink that it hosts their organization for the low space rental fee of $10 per month.
+ Ed, who has delivered countless babies in Marin County and is a champion for women’s health, has a delivery room named after him at Marin General Hospital.
+ In 2010, volunteerism through MarinLink was valued at $134,000.
+ MarinLink’s Stroke Resource Guide has printed more than 1,000 copies in its first printing. Major donors to the project are Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, San Rafael, Kentfield rehabilitation Hospital Foundation, Marin General Hospital and Marin Healthcare District Board. + MarinLink became an official 501(c)3 in 2004.
+ The Dec. 3 Warm Wishes volunteer event in Novato gets around 200 volunteers to help pack 5,000 backpacks with warm winter items each year. To volunteer or donate funds, visit www. marinlink.org or call 415.472.0211 + MarinLink is located at 5800 Northgate Mall, Suite 250 San Rafael, upstairs from Subway sandwich shop in the food court. Hours are 10am-4pm weekdays. 415/472.0211, www. marinlink.org
NOVEMBER 25 - DECEMBER 1, 2011 PACIFIC SUN 15