Three persons have been appointed to the Advisory Board of Mother Marianne’s West Side Kitchen, Board Chair Darren Woods announced.

They are:

  • Steven J. Brown, DM, FACHE (R), of Sauquoit.
  • Camille Vinci of Sauquoit.
  • Betsy West, MFA, of Utica. In addition to her appointment, Betsy was elected secretary of the board.

A board-certified senior healthcare executive, Steve Brown is a healthcare consultant and executive coach. He is a former senior vice present and chief operating officer with Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare and its parent corporation, Mohawk Valley Network. He holds a doctorate in management and is an adjunct professor at Utica College. In addition to volunteering at West Side Kitchen, Steve serves on the boards of Hospice & Palliative Care (board president), Munson Williams Proctor Institute, and Cedar Lake Country Club.

Camille Vinci, who volunteers at the soup kitchen on weekends, recently retired from her position as executive assistant at Slocum Dickson Medical Group. Prior to that she was an executive assistant at Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare. She began her career in the medical field as a medical transcriptionist at Rome Memorial Hospital and then opened a medical transcription service in Rome. She also was an instructor in medical transcription and medical terminology at BOCES Adult Education in New Hartford.

Betsy West is active in several ministries as a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. In addition to being a meal server/preparer at West Side Kitchen, she is an instructor for RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) and a nursing home Eucharistic minister. Betsy also had served at a homeless shelter in New York City and at a homeless tent city in Clearwater, Florida. Before retiring, she worked as a legal assistant for New York City law firms. She returned to school after 20 years to complete her college degrees (bachelor’s in creative writing and master of fine arts in 3D art).