Sidney Minor, Kiwanis Gift Shoppe Supporter

What makes people have a generous spirit? Just ask Sidney Minor. Minor, who is vice president of Susquehanna Bank in Baltimore, also is the president of the Kiwanis Club of East Baltimore and chair of the Kiwanis Gift Shoppe board at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. At the Medical Center, Minor volunteers her time to oversee the designation of gift shoppe funds, which benefit patients and people in the surrounding neighborhood.

Minor explains that as a business leader, part of her role is to give back to the community. However, she adds, “There’s much more to it than the professional aspect. My passion for philanthropy comes from personal reasons, as well.”

One particular program that benefits from the proceeds of the gift shoppe is the Johns Hopkins Burn Center. Care for burn patients takes on a special meaning for Minor, whose brother was severely burned in 1964. Though he survived his burns, Minor still remembers her brother’s experience and all that he and her family endured during those difficult days many years ago. And although the Burn Center wasn’t in existence at that time, Minor knows that it was community involvement that was the driving force for the opening of the Kiwanis Burn Center in 1968 (located at Johns Hopkins Bayview).

“My involvement with the Kiwanis ultimately means that I’m helping people from all walks of life with many needs,” says Minor.

The Gift Shoppe Board helps raise funds for many Medical Center services and projects, such as the Community Care-A-Van and burn education in local schools. The latest beneficiary of funds–the Medical Center’s Community Health Library–was renovated to make it wheelchair accessible.