Faces of Sustainability: Terri LeGrand
Terri LeGrand, the assistant director of financial aid at Wake Forest, is also the co-founder of the non-profit organization Piedmont Environmental Alliance (PEA). In addition to serving as the organization’s volunteer director, Terri serves as the co-chair of PEA’s Earth Day Fair. This year marks the 5th annual celebration of Earth Day for PEA, as well as the biggest celebration and fastest growing Earth Day event in central North Carolina. Last year, more than 7,000 people came out to support the fair on Wake Forest’s campus. And this year, with more than 100 vendors scheduled to appear and a forecast for good weather, the fair should draw more visitors than ever before. Terri says that the most challenging part of organizing the fair is keeping up with how quickly it is growing.
The central message of the Earth Day Fair is promoting individual sustainability- teaching people how they can make a difference in their own lives. While many vendors applied for spots at the fair, it is those who fulfill and promote this central message that will be showcased on Saturday, the 17th. While the impact of this event is not measurable in a quantitative sense, Terri says seeing so many people come out and learn how to become more environmentally aware as individual citizens is the most rewarding part of planning such an event.
PEA is active year-around. Check out their website to learn more about how to get involved at http://www.peanc.org/.
Kathleen Pritchard, Outreach and Communications Intern