Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/320292
35 centralight winter '10 Alumni News 35 centralight summer '14 How much of a community impact can you make in 52 weeks? Aaron Brown, '98, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, wanted to find out. Three years ago he and his wife, Erica, and two daughters started Impact 52, a family service project, and they've been volunteering with different community organizations ever since. "I wanted to teach my kids the values of giving back and caring about others," says Brown, whose daughters are 13 and 15. "We try to find volunteer projects the whole family can get excited about." Their original goal was to volunteer every week for a year, but the project proved to be so uplifting, they're now on their third year The family that volunteers straight. Brown and his family also have created an Impact 52 website (impact52.org) as a way to share their stories and inspire others. "We are the students, and volunteer experience is the teacher," Brown says. "Every week has been special." Brown got his first volunteer experience as a member of the CMU basketball team, when the athletes would donate their time to causes. "I look back on my four years at CMU with a huge smile and a lot of fond memories," he says. "They were the best years of my life." • Under the hood with Jay Leno Jeremy Dimick, '07 M.A. '09, got to talk cars with one of America's most serious gearheads during a segment of the "Jay Leno's Garage" web series this year. Dimick, curator of collections at Sloan*Longway in Flint, introduced the museum's 1910 Buick Bug to Leno, pulling in extensive research about its history and engineering – and then let Leno take it for a spin. Dimick has worked with museums across the state since graduating from CMU's museum studies program. "What a piece of history this thing is," Leno said during the segment. "Look at the flames shooting out of there – they're setting the cameraman's coat on fire." "I'm just glad we were able to be a part of it and keep spreading the word about all the fantastic things Flint and our museum have to offer people, even those that aren't into cars," says Dimick. • Dimick introduced the 1910 Buick Bug to Leno, later letting him take it for a spin. Go to youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Pa6wQ18Sc to watch the complete 10 minute segment.