Summer 2001 - Wayne State College

Doris Buffett Bryant Receives President’s Service AwardWhen Doris Buffett Bryant ofWilmington, N.C. gave the commencementaddress at Wayne State College in May, shehad a surprise announcement. Bryant, thepresident of the Sunshine Lady Foundation,Inc., a non-profit, philanthropic organizationshe founded in 1996, announced that shewas beginning a Wayne State CollegeSunbeam Program (see related article), inwhich up to $30,000 will be channeled eachyear to worthy causes through Wayne StateCollege students selected to be “Sunbeams.”Following her address, Bryant waspresented with the first Wayne State CollegePresident’s Exemplary Service Award byDr. Sheila M. Stearns in recognition of herunselfish service and generosity to others.In the five years since it was founded,the Sunshine Lady Foundation has awardedmore than $6.2 million to a variety ofbeneficiaries, including organizations,families and individuals who need a helpinghand. The foundation was started with $10million in “seed money” from a bequest shereceived following her mother’s death.Most grant requests come to theSunshine Lady Foundation through anationwide network of friends andassociates Bryant calls “Sunbeams,” whoforward names of worthy recipients to theFoundation. Several Wayne State Collegestudents have been beneficiaries ofSunshine Lady Foundation grants. JudyJohnson, WSC director of college relations,is one of Bryant’s “Sunbeams.”Bryant has been featured on ABC’s“Good Morning America,” and has been thesubject of national magazine and newspaperDr. Sheila Stearnspresents the firstPresident’sExemplary ServiceAward to DorisBuffett Bryant.articles. She attended Mount VernonCollege, George Washington University,and graduated from the University ofOmaha with a bachelor of science ineducation. Among many other roles, shehas been a first grade teacher, domesticviolence crusader, political activist, motherand grandmother. She is married to AlfredBryant and has lived in North Carolina for10 years.WSC College Sunbeam ProgramSharing the Joy of GivingHer foundation is called the Sunshine Lady Foundationfor good reason. Doris Buffett Bryant, its founder andpresident, has brought more than a ray of sunshine into thelives she touches. Her commencement announcement that sheis starting a College Sunbeam Program at WSC affirms that.Beginning in the fall of 2001, a committee comprised ofWSC faculty and staff will annually select six students to serveas Sunbeams for one academic year. Sunbeams will each beeligible to receive up to $5,000 during the year for a project oran organization with which they are personally and materiallyinvolved which provides a service to the local community andwhich is compatible with the Sunshine Lady Foundationmission and guidelines.“For college students, the experience to serve on behalf ofa philanthropist opens up a whole new world of responsibilityand reward,” said Mitty Beal, Sunbeam projects coordinatorfor the Sunshine Lady Foundation.“We are very grateful to Mrs. Bryant for her generosity,”said Dr. Sheila M. Stearns, WSC president. “The CollegeSunbeam Program goes hand-in-hand with our commitment toenhance character development and regional service. TheCollege Sunbeam Program will make many service-orientedprojects possible. The results will be far-reaching.”The Northeast Nebraska ConnectionDoris Buffett Bryant’s ties to northeast Nebraska go back morethan a century. Her maternal grandfather, J. Ammon Stahl, was alongtime county superintendent of schools in Cuming County. Hergrandmother’s family--the Barbers-- founded the town of Bancroft.The Stahl family lived in West Point, where Bryant’s mother, LeilaStahl Buffett, two sisters and a brother were raised.Bryant’s grandfather purchased the Cuming CountyDemocrat, a weekly newspaper in West Point. Her mother workedthere throughout her high school years, crediting it with being thereason she met her husband, Howard Buffett, who was the editor ofthe University of Nebraska’s Daily Nebraskan where she workedwhen she attended the University.After their marriage, Howard and Leila Buffett moved toOmaha, where they raised their family: Doris, Warren and Roberta.Buffett served a term in the U.S. House of Representatives in the1950s. After her husband’s death, Mrs. Buffett continued to makeher home in Omaha. She died at age 92 in 1996.The Buffett connections to northeast Nebraska remain.Following her mother’s death, Bryant established the Leila StahlBuffett Genealogy Center which is housed in the J.A. Stahl Libraryin West Point. The Sunshine Lady Foundation provides funding forprograms and resources in the Center as well as genealogycompetition and pioneer school day each spring for Cuming Countyfourth graders.Wayne State Magazine 5WSC Magazine Summer 01510/2/01, 2:48 PM