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Board of Directors | Character Camp

Dr. Garry Blackmon
Board Chair

Dr. Garry Blackmon serves on a number of boards and charitable foundations. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Houston Fire Fighters Relief and Retirement Fund, one of the largest pension funds in the country with assets totaling over four billion dollars. Additionally, he serves on the Executive Board of the Oldham Little Church Foundation. He is a former trustee of the Houston Baptist University, where he served for nine years.

He is the founder and senior pastor of Crossway Christian Fellowship in Houston, Texas. In addition he also served as chaplain for the Houston Fire Department, a position he held from January 1, 1999 until his retirement.

He’s been a frequent speaker at First Baptist Houston, a regular seminar presenter for Leaders Edge and the UBA Church Growth Institute. He has provided the invocation at numerous functions throughout the city, including the City-Wide National Day of Prayer, the Mayor’s Breakfast, The Mayor’s serves Award Ceremony, Houston Fire Department graduations, and the City-Wide Metropolitan Baptists Ministers Conference and many other events.

Dr. Kimberly Harden
Medical Director

Dr. Kimberly Harden is a board certified family medicine physician. She is a native Houstonian, currently residing in Chicago, IL. Armed with southern charm, she delivers compassionate care to her patients in the clinic and hospital setting. Dr. Harden is currently on staff at Rush Oak Park Hospital, West Suburban Medical Center and Doctor on Demand. She serves as Medical Director for Character Camp and loves sharing fond memories of caring for campers and chaperones on summer retreat. At leisure, she enjoys cooking, foreign travel, working out and target shooting.

LaDonna Randle
Board Member

LaDonna is a nurse (retired) from M.D. Anderson, where her gift of encouragement made her a distinguished favorite with many oncology patients. On the IV team, she was well-known for her skill, professionalism and proficiency. While assisting patients through their recovery, she enjoyed always adding a personal touch and inspirational counseling. In her leisure, she loves spending time with her grandson, line dancing and traveling. She is a long-term supporter of Character Camp, has served as Camp Nurse and volunteers copious amounts of time with board service, fundraising, recruiting and helping with events.

Dennis Bingel
Board Member

Dennis is from Ann Arbor Michigan and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Engineering. He has been a transplant to Texas for more than 25 years. He has 35 years of experience in Project Management as it relates to major projects and construction in the Utility (Gas and Electric), Hotel and Petrochemical industries. Currently, he is a celebrated project controls manager with one of our nation’s largest refiners. He enjoys serving on the Character Camp executive team because of the principles on which the organization is founded and because of the vision, passion and ethics of the leadership. Also important to Dennis is the fact that donations to Character Camp are 100% for the benefit of the children rather than to salaries and corporate overhead.

Dr. Gwendolyn Smith-Whigham
Board Member

Dr. Gwendolyn Smith-Whigham, B.S., D.C., is a Chiropractor and professor of medicine. In her leisure, she officiates girls’ track meets, serves on the Alumni Board for Ross S. Sterling Aviation High School and is a very proficient organizer of large-scale events. She and her husband Charles enjoy traveling and an active social life. She has a broad background in executive board service and volunteerism. In addition to her Doctorate of Chiropractic, she holds numerous certifications including L.F.A.A.I.M, F.I.A.M.A., D.A.I.P.M., F.A.C.H.E., C.C.S.P., F.A.B.D.A.

Richalyn Jezek
Board Member

Photo and Bio coming soon.

Dr. Takaya Jones
Board Member

Dr. Takaya Jones, MD is a board certified family medicine physician who currently practices within the Baptist Health System of Florida. Dr. Jones is committed to providing compassionate, patient-centered, quality care for patients of all ages and believes that patient education is key in promoting health and wellness. She is a Jacksonville native who calls Orange Park – just outside of the downtown area- her home.

Takaya is the Co-Chairman of the Pink Ribbon Symposium (PRS), a health and wellness platform for breast cancer survivors and the community of Jacksonville, Florida. Takaya has successfully planned community walks, Rotary Club engagements and has been instrumental in arranging the health and wellness symposium the PRS is well known for. The organization has support of sponsors that range from Raymond Jones and AARP to Walmart and the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Dr. Jones is married to her husband Paul  and has one son. When she is not treating patients, she is busy with her family life, enjoying small town charms in the big city of Jacksonville, service to the Pink Ribbon Symposium and shopping.

Cora Battle
Board Member

Cora is a State Grants and Work-Study Coordinator for the University of Houston Downtown.  She helps provide State grants to high school graduates in Texas as well as those who just completed their two year degree from a community college in Texas.  She hires college students under the university’s Work-Study Program to allow students to gain work experience while attending college. Cora has been serving as a Board Member with Character Camp for three years, helping children attend Character Camp through her fundraising, volunteering and recruiting. She is enjoying being a member of a caring, hard-working and dedicated board to ensure Character Camp’s success.

Jennifer Hardy
Board Member

Jennifer Hardy graduated from the University of Houston – Clear Lake, with a Bachelor of Science degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2011. She has been working as a teacher of gifted students since that time. She has experience volunteering in the community with a local hospice, where she would visit nursing homes as a clown to help boost morale. She has helped with habitat for humanity building houses, and many other organizations to help people through difficulties. She enjoys chaperoning to build not only the kids’ character but hers as well. In her leisure, she enjoys spending time with her husband and family, doing stand up paddleboard, playing kickball, and painting.

Charles Njuguna
Board Member

Charles is the President and CEO of Deep Down, Inc. He also served as the Chief Financial Officer, Business Manager, Contracts Manager and Corporate Accounting Manager. He holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin – Red McCombs School of Business. With his broad business background, Charles is also a member of Hotel Industry Professionals Worldwide. 

David Frinsco
Board Member

David is the former President and CEO of the Worldwide Turnaround Management Company. He worked in the refining and petrochemicals industry for 34 years with a focus on managing and supporting turnarounds, outages and shutdowns. He worked for a refining company for the first 18 years of his career with a focus on maintenance and turnaround management. He was with WTMC since its inception in 1998 (co-founder) and worked as Operations Manager, VP of Business Development and President and CEO. Because of his proven business savvy and analytical prowess, David serves on the Executive Board as leader of the Land Development Committee. David has been a strong supporter of Character Camp as well as a volunteer for more than a decade.

Nicole Davidson
Board Member

Bio and Photo coming soon.

Vikki Calub
Board Member

Bio and Photo coming soon.

Eric Calub
Board Member

Bio and Photo coming soon.

Jeng Liang
Board Member

Bio and Photo coming soon.