Member profile: Ellen (Ellie) Barnicle Kiesling

ZCorp PRDigital • November 11, 2022

Rotarian sails the lagoon, once bagged an ample alligator

Occupation/company: I’m a retired IBM Systems Engineer and an International Marketing Manager.


A few things you liked about that work: I enjoyed solving peoples’ problems as a Systems Engineer, Marketing Manager and International Contracts Manager. Leading a team was always special and very fulfilling. It was exhilarating being able to travel on international business and work with people from other countries.


When you joined Rotary: I joined Rockledge Rotary physically in July 2022, but my heart joined in 1974 as a Rotary International Exchange student to Dungog Rotary in Australia, NSW.

Why you joined Rotary: I joined to serve the youth of Rockledge, especially helping students become Rotary International Exchange students. I also want to serve the community through relationships with fellow members that bring their experience and wisdom to their passions. 


Where you’re from, originally: I’m from the small town of Hollidaysburg in Central Pennsylvania.


Other places you’ve lived and worked: I lived for a time in Dungog, NSW, Australia, as an exchange student. My degree is in marketing (with a minor in computer science) from Penn State. I worked for IBM in Washington, DC; Atlanta; Kingsport, TN; and Orlando. Also in Orlando, I was a director for Tupperware and the owner of Oasis (nursery and interior plant maintenance). In Rockledge, I worked in sales for Hershey’s.


Your major influences in life: My major influences are my mother and father, God, IBM personnel and all members of my blended family. That includes Scott, my husband of 20 years; Taylor (25 years old); Emily (30 years old) and Kate (32 years old).


An interesting anecdote from your history: I once won the alligator lottery, pulling a 10-foot gator into an eight-foot boat in the middle of the night after using a .45 caliber bang-stick. The cracked alligator meat was great!


Things you do outside of work, interests, hobbies: My interests include off-grid living, horticulture (fruit and nut orchard), sustainable ecology and soil food web. I’m also involved in efforts to save the Indian River Lagoon and enjoy sailing there.


Tell us a little about your philosophy of life: My priorities are God, husband, family, friends, business and everything else. I want to leave this world better than when I came into it.


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October 4, 2021
Cheryl Cominsky just wanted to do a little volunteering for The Children’s Hunger Project – that’s all. It turned out to be more than that. In April 2020, she became the nonprofit organization’s executive director. “I started as an office volunteer and then it just became my heart,” said Cominsky, a Rockledge Rotarian . “It was never my aspiration to be executive director. I didn't walk in here with that idea in mind.” The Children’s Hunger Project in Cocoa is addressing a gap in schoolchildren’s meal programs. While in-school breakfast and lunches are available during the week, some children go hungry on weekends. In response to this problem, volunteers for the organization get together and pack weekend food packages that teachers place into the children’s backpacks. The packages contain nutritious, easy-to-prepare foods these children can bring home on Fridays. Volunteers meet at the Cocoa location to prep the weekend food packages. A number of businesses, civic groups and faith communities in the area support the effort with generous donations. “It’s just wonderful to be supported and surrounded by so many good people,” Cominsky said. The Children’s Hunger Project has been in Brevard County for 11 years. It started out serving 27 students. Now, the program is in 46 elementary schools helping to feed about 2,700 every week. In the early days of the pandemic, the number of meals served reached 6,000 but has since tapered off. “We're 72 miles of beautiful beaches with spaceships and rocket launches , but we still have families and children who need help,” she said. A New Jersey native, Cominsky moved to Florida with her husband and son in 2000 (a second son was born in 2002). The move came after she spent years in Pennsylvania managing sales for a software-reselling business. After that job brought the family to the Florida east coast, her husband's job prompted a move to Tampa. Seven years ago, they relocated to Viera . For much of her adult life, Cominsky has been involved in volunteer efforts, helping organize events, fundraisers, and functioning in other child-advocacy capacities. “You’ve got to care for other people,” she said. “Everybody needs some help sometimes.”
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