On February 1, 2008, Rachel Meyn was named to head the US office of Safe Passage, which is located in Yarmouth, ME.  In this capacity, she will serve as the organization’s Director of Development.  Rachel has been active with Safe Passage since 2001, as both a full time volunteer in Guatemala and as the Outreach Coordinator in the US since 2003.

Safe Passage was founded by Yarmouth native, Hanley Denning, in 1999 to provide educational and social services to the children of the community of the Guatemala City garbage dump.  Today the program serves 550 children at its center in Guatemala City.  Although Denning was tragically killed in a runaway bus collision in Guatemala in January 2007, Safe Passage continues stronger than ever with the support of hundreds of volunteers who travel to Guatemala each year and over 6,000 donors who made gifts to the organization in 2007.

In making the announcement, Executive Director Barbara Nijhuis noted that after an extensive search and meeting with "many well qualified candidates, we found the best person for the position was Rachel, who has done so much for Safe Passage, first as a volunteer and in recent years as Outreach Coordinator in the US.”

Nijhuis went on to say, “Thanks to the time Rachel spent in Guatemala, she understands the daily reality of our children. Sharing her stories, she has already touched many hearts and I am confident she will touch many more hearts and help to lead Safe Passage into its bright future.”

In 2003, at the request of Hanley Denning, Rachel moved to Portland, Maine to serve as the Outreach Coordinator. Rachel set up her office in donated space and started serving as Hanley’s right-hand person for all public relations in the US.  “When Hanley made trips home from Guatemala that year, we were making three to four presentations every day to church groups, schools and clubs.  As more and more people visited the program in Guatemala City, support for the organization and Hanley’s dream grew.”

For the last five years, Rachel has traveled extensively throughout the US, meeting interested volunteers and donors, and has made multiple trips to Guatemala each year to facilitate group trips and growing sponsorship relationships for the organization.

Rachel, originally from California, is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz and fluent in Spanish.  While in college, she traveled to Guatemala to conduct research for the rural areas.  It was there that she met Hanley Denning and formed a close friendship with Hanley,.

Rachel was recognized as a Paul Harris fellow in 2007 by the Boothbay (ME) Rotary Club and was recently featured in an article in Port City Life magazine as one of Portland’s most impressive adults under 30.

In addition to a large presence in Maine, Safe Passage has active Friends groups in many US states and in France, England, Denmark and Holland.  The US office is responsible for the organization’s world-wide fundraising efforts and for maintaining relations with the thousands of volunteers, sponsors and friends who support the program in Guatemala City.

Rachel Meyn can be reached at Rachel@safepassage.org