Grateful for Their Gifts
The Gift of Time
It has been said that the only things worth counting on are the people you can count on. We know that we can always count on Kathleen Russo. The 1986 BHS graduate and life-long Bexley resident, has a long history of community service and volunteerism including with the Bexley Theatre Parents and organizations like Childhood League. Her service to the Bexley Education Foundation started with volunteering to help with the children’s art projects for BRAVO! – which led to her co-chairing the event in 2012 and then being elected to the Board of Governors in 2016.
Over the past seven years she has served on every foundation board committee, helped lead foundation marketing and rebranding efforts, reviewed grant applications and endowment funding requests and chaired the alumni relations committee. With alumni relations close to her heart (she and her husband Michael are the parents of two Bexley grads), she has hosted receptions for visiting alumni, assisted with open houses and other alumni events and helped welcome Bexley seniors to the alumni ranks. Kathleen’s willingness to always lean in, step up and help out where and when needed has made a huge impact on our foundation - for that we are forever grateful!
The Gift of Talent
Lara McKenzie is a wonder. As a Principal Investigator in the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, she leads a research team which focuses on how to increase adoption of parent safety behaviors to prevent and/or reduce the consequences of childhood injuries. When not conducting life-saving research, she is the mother of middle-school age triplets, fundraising co-chair for the BMS PTO and the brains behind the beauty of BRAVO!
For the foundation, Lara formerly coordinated children’s art projects at Maryland Elementary. Now she combines her analytical skills with creativity to skillfully execute plans, along with her decor co-chairs, for BRAVO! decorations, table centerpieces, party favors, etc. Once she knows the theme the researcher in her emerges and she creates presentations with various options and then curates those options to create the best looks for the event. Lara then goes one step further by engaging others to be part of the decorating crew, working long hours to bring the theme to life. We are indebted to Lara for putting her amazing talents to work for our foundation!
The Gift of Giving
Randy and Amy Dupler knew that they had made the right choice to be in Bexley when they learned that seven of the children who lived on their street would start Kindergarten with their son. That was the beginning of their engagement with the Bexley Schools and the Bexley community, which has only grown over the years. The Duplers have been supporting the Bexley Education Foundation since 2007 both personally and through Dupler Office, the company Randy co-founded with his twin brother Brandon in 2006.
Randy has a passion for supporting causes that give kids opportunities to thrive and succeed in life. He is a lifetime trustee of the Boys & Girls Club of Central Ohio and continues to volunteer with BSA Troop 166 where he previously served as Scoutmaster and where his oldest son achieved Eagle Scout status. The troop’s activities connected Randy more closely with city leaders and especially those in the Bexley’s Recreation and Parks Department. Randy and Amy are now the proud parents of two Bexley graduates and one more slated to graduate in 2026. Their belief in the power of education drives their generosity based on the belief that “education is the foundation of any strong community.” We could not be more thankful for their continued support.
