It all began with a plane trip. On a flight to China over 20 years ago, Marjorie Grant sat next to a local attorney who was president of the board of a wonderful school helping teenagers who were not able to “make it” in regular schools. It was a long trip, and Michael T. White had a well-primed listener, a woman already devoted to early childhood development as evidenced by extensive work nationally on the needs of school-aged children.

So Marge immediately visited the DeLaSalle Education Center, and shortly thereafter, joined the board. She has been involved with it ever since that day in 1981, serving on many a committee, serving as board president and chairwoman, and most importantly, serving as a worker to fund this 30-year-old institution that is so often a kid’s “last chance” at an education.

In fact, she is the sole board member who has been appointed for life.Marge’s vision and focus has extended to her work as vice president of community relations for AMC Entertainment Inc. Her program, “Read for the Stars,” was devised as an incentive program to keep kids reading during the summer since research well documents the loss of learning for those three months. Students take a brief “report” straight to the concession stand when they go to the movies, and in return, they get a kids’ sack filled with goodies—and another form to fill out for their next book.

On the board of many other organizations (“maybe too many,” she laughs), her leadership roles with the Variety Club and ALS also have both led to national board work. She talks about her causes fervently, but not about herself. Becky Cooper, executive director of ALS, recognizes this: “You never know what Marge does because she’s the last one to say anything about it. She always manages not only to stay out of the limelight, but to make it shine on someone else.”

That plane trip didn’t really start anything. It just continued a life-long journey, one that such a short blurb in Ingram’s magazine can’t begin to cover.