George LeBard: A Life of Service

George LeBard has always been successful at taking care of others' needs.

If not for an odd twist of fate—and a bad back—George LeBard would likely be serving as executive chef in some highbrow hotel. But instead of preparing food, the personable LeBard oversees its distribution to families in need in Truckee and North Lake Tahoe. Although LeBard loves cooking, the chef gone astray has come to prefer working in the service of others.

As executive director of Project MANA (Making Adequate Nutrition Accessible), LeBard coordinates Vista and Americorps volunteers who collect and distribute food in Incline Village, Kings Beach and Truckee. Through the three distribution sites, some 600 individuals are served each week. "These are mostly working people, children in need and single parents," LeBard says. "Also, older people on fixed incomes, many of whom are trying to survive on $800 or less per month." LeBard is "almost a northern Nevada native, having moved to Reno with my family when I was four. I went to Sparks High, then got an assistant manager job at a drive-in restaurant in Incline Village. I graduated from Incline High, attending school mornings and working afternoons and evenings."

After graduation, LeBard landed an apprenticeship in the kitchen at the Hyatt Lake Tahoe. "I'd always loved food and really wanted to be a chef, but my feet and back complained about all the standing," he explains. "I left in 1981, and because I had no idea what else to do, I joined the Peace Corps."

It was a fateful decision. A normal Peace Corps tour is two years, but LeBard's time in Belize was extended to three years. One day toward the end of his tour he passed a piece of recentlycleared land. "That's when I saw it," he says. "An abandoned school, gutted but structurally sound."

At the time, Belize had no postprimary schools for kids who couldn't pass the national selection exam. "Only 50 percent of the population attended high school, and only 20 percent of those graduated. I saw an opportunity to develop a 'trade school' of sorts, where they could learn to utilize their land—their most abundant resource," he says.

LeBard applied for and received a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development, with one caveat—the agency required him to stay for another two years to get the Belize High School of Agriculture up and running.

"The first year, we had 25 boys from the nearby villages. Today there are over 200 students from all across the country," says LeBard. Amazingly, he accomplished all this as a volunteer—in other words, without a paycheck. There were perks; chief among them, he says, his Belizean wife, Irma.

With the school on solid footing, LeBard returned to Sparks, Irma in tow. "Coming home was much more of a culture shock than going to Belize," he remembered. "I'd spent seven years without electricity or flush toilets. Back in Sparks, I'd go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and reach for matches to light nonexistent candles."

Before the LeBards had time to adjust to their new surroundings, Belize was calling them to return. The Peace Corps offered him a position as training director for the country's program. Over the next five years, he moved up to associate director, then deputy director. At the end of that time, however, program policy required him to return to the United States. "I had my choice of transferring to Washington, D.C. or quitting," says LeBard. "I chose the latter."

At the time, Belize had attracted foreign investment from Taiwan with a package that included business property and homes for managers and their families. The Taiwanese were thrilled—except with the Belizean education system. "The problem was the language barrier. Taiwanese high school students were put into the sixth grade because they couldn't understand English," says LeBard. (English is the official language of Belize, although Spanish is widely spoken.) "I was hired to develop a school for Chinese students emigrating from Taiwan."

When LeBard's own children, all boys, reached the ages of seven, nine and eleven, he and Irma decided it was time to reconnect with the U.S. "Any longer would have been extremely difficult, especially for our oldest son."

LeBard spent six months scouring the Internet for possible jobs. "I'd send resumes to my niece, who would forward them to prospective employers," he says. "I arrived here with $500, my family and a letter from Project MANA, saying they wanted to interview me. We had to borrow the money to rent a house here in Incline."

Since its inception in 1991, Project MANA has developed multiple programs including Fuel for the Holidays, which assures that children can receive a hot lunch when school is not in session; Kids Can Cook, which teaches children the basics of food safety and nutrition; and Dar a Luz, which provides courses in budgeting, shopping and nutrition. Such ambitious programming requires strong leadership. LeBard was a perfect fit; he was named executive director in July 1998.

In July 1999, LeBard was approached by the Parasol Community Foundation and asked if he would help form a coalition of North Tahoe nonprofits. "It looked like a huge challenge," he says, "and at first I said no, but I met with founder Carla Hansen and by the time we were done, I said okay. No one says no to Carla. Attaining cooperation among so many nonprofit entities was a real struggle. But now we have lots of people involved, lots of enthusiasm."

So what's next for George LeBard? "A couple of demonstration community gardens and the Nutrition Coalition—a partnership to battle obesity between the local hospital, businesses, fitness organizations, schools and the Parks and Recreation Department. Oh, and a family trip back to Belize, so our boys never forget their roots."

—Ellen Hopkins