Our Staff & Volunteers
Our office is staffed by primarily six employees and many volunteers that help both in the office and behind the scenes at our special events. Read more about our staff and email them with any questions. Our volunteers are not in the office everyday, but they’ll respond as soon they can. We look forward to hearing from you!
Marci Kuttler Bossow Schankweiler (say that 5 times fast) is currently President and founder of Crossing the Finish Line, which she started with her late husband, Peter R. Bossow, in 1999. In her tenure as director, Marci, with her team of employees, volunteers and colleagues, has solicited funds to support the organization's goal of providing respite excursions to young adult cancer patients and their caregivers. More than 3,000 people have benefited from the life-altering services that CFL offers.
Marci's level of energy and enthusiasm leads many to question if she is, in fact, a human being. Her staff is fairly sure that she knows a secret and has found a way to inject more than 24 hours into each of her days. In her spare time, Marci enjoys presenting science projects in her daughters' classrooms, verbally insulting her Blackberry and the man who got it for her (Tom McGinn), fighting for sidewalks in her neighborhood and finding solutions to the world's most pressing problems.
Before the inception of CFL, Marci practiced law in the Philadelphia firm of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman and Goggin and at the Law Office of Thaddeus Mikulski in Trenton, NJ. Yes, you read that correctly. She left a lucrative career in law in order to give her time, talent and money to CFL. She has never regretted the decision, but becomes nervous when she thinks about ways to fund her daughters' college careers.
She is active in her local community and can often be found at her family's bakery business in Sea Isle City, NJ and Doylestown, PA. She also was an adjunct professor in the Communications Department of LaSalle University, Philadelphia, PA and in the College of Business from The College of New Jersey. Marci is an alumna of Mt. St. Joseph Academy and pursued a teaching degree in Mathematics from LaSalle University, where she later became an honorary brother of the Sigma Phi Lambda Fraternity. She attended Temple University Law School and completed her law degree in 1995. She later received an LLM in Taxation in May, 1998, also from Temple University Law School.
Marci was raised in Doylestown, PA and is the oldest of nine children. Marci's siblings and their spouses fund the majority of CFL's live and silent auctions - with only minor pleading from Marci. Marci has remarried. She currently resides in North Wales, PA, with her husband, Mark (a man with great and unrelenting patience), and their two small daughters, Maura Grace and Rose Marie, who are honorary CFL staff members.
To reach Marci, please e-mail marci@crossingthefinishline.org.
Miriam (Mimi) Kefer, Program Coordinator, started as a volunteer with Crossing the Finish Line in 2003. Soon, she realized that she couldn't get enough of CFL and begged to become a staff member (or was it the other way around and did Marci beg her to become a staff member?). She is a Registered Nurse with 40 years of experience, but can't explain to Joe Gisondi why he gets a headache after talking to her. Prior to CFL, Mimi spent 10 years as a telephone case coordinator for injured employees. She also spent eleven years as a Psychiatric RN. She currently commutes three times a week to the CFL office, where she comprises one half of the Program Coordinator Team. She was once seen as a joyful caring human being, but Joe has since brought out a darker far more sarcastic side in her. She can often be found hanging around Joe's desk making fun of everything about him from his hair style and clothes to his pronunciation of the words "water" and "hello".
Mimi has two daughters and is also a proud grandmother. Mimi can often be found in Ireland, where she goes on vacation about five times a year for what feels like three months at a time. It is also where her youngest daughter resides.
Mariann Kuttler is the other half of the Program Coordinator Team. She is the Peanut Butter to Mimi's Jelly. The ladies often like to play good cop/bad cop (we'll let you decide who plays which part). Mariann is a native of Philadelphia, which is where her tough streak comes from, and has been a Registered Nurse for 40 years. She received her R.N. from Fitzgerald-Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, and her B.S. in Psychology from Philadelphia University. She has held a variety of nursing and nursing management positions at Holy Redeemer Health Care System, the University of Washington at Seattle, Oxford Hospital in Philadelphia, and at Fox Rehabilitation Center.
Mariann has been a business owner for over 35 years as the successful proprietor of MaryAnn Pastry Shoppe with locations in Doylestown, Pa, and Sea Isle City, NJ. She is a favorite in the CFL office due to her frequent contributions of powdered donuts, cinnamon buns and other decadent pastries. Mariann and her husband, Herb, are the parents of nine children (including CFL Founder/President, Marci Schankweiler) and reside in Doylestown and Sea Isle City. She is active in Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish, Doylestown, and St. Joseph's Church in Sea Isle City.
If you'd like to contact Mimi or Mariann (they're so close they share an e-mail address), please e-mail them at program@crossingthefinishline.org.
Amber Gruver, CFL's Development Coordinator, has been with CFL since August 2006. She is a graduate of La Salle University (but then again, who isn't) and has watched CFL grow in leaps and bounds through the years.
Amber likes to say she has the best looks in the office, but Joe Gisondi quickly puts her in her back into place. She spends her leisure time shampooing her hair, dancing to top 40 music, telling stories about her seven-year-old brother and reading really intellectual books. She is completely selfless except when it comes to sushi. When she is actually in the office she is kept extremely busy by the constant questions - as Amber is the expert on everything, except computer speakers and anything electronic. If there were a major disaster in which Amber was the sole survivor, Amber would be up to the challenge of keeping CFL running. She'd be lonely, but she'd have the time.
If you'd like to contact Amber, please e-mail her at amber@crossingthefinishline.org.
Ashley Dolloff, Intern turned Development Associate, has been with CFL since May 2007. She is a bright ray of sunshine in the office to everyone except Joe Gisondi. Ashley likes her nieces, tailgating Eagles games with her family and burning several Sailor DVD's each day but hates the idea of setting foot in Doylestown. Her favorite part of coming to work is re-living her weekends with her colleagues through animated stories.
Ashley currently attends La Salle University (and will be an alumni circa May 2009 - joining the ranks of the majority of the CFL community). If you'd like to contact Ashley, please e-mail ashley@crossingthefinishline.org.
Joe Gisondi, CFL's Administrative Associate, is the lone wolf in a staff comprised of women. Joe is the best looking man in the office, which isn't really that great of an honor considering that no other men work at CFL full-time. He enjoys the daily banter he endures and feels that it adds character and excitement to his life.
Joe joined the CFL staff after briefly volunteering in May 2008. While working at CFL, he has made great use of his spectacular people skills and has also improved his comedic timing. He enjoys baseball, sarcasm, emotional music and fixing Mimi and Mariann's computers. Amber and Marci often use him as a crutch when they experience technological problems, such as how to use their cell phones or e-mail.He is definitely not a La Salle graduate, but sometimes wishes he was just to have a talking point at CFL events.
If you'd like to contact Joe, please e-mail him at joe@crossingthefinishline.org.
If you want to volunteer (or have been contacted by a volunteer), you may contact us at info@crossingthefinishline.org.
Volunteer opportunities are available for light office duties, on our management committees, for any of our special events committees and our Port Support Program.
Welcome aboard! Bon Voyage!
