Area branch manager Carolyn Lyrenmann is helping the Borgen Project fight extreme poverty all over the world.

While North Shore Bank employees typically want to improve their communities’ financial well-being, Carolyn Lyrenmann is taking that impulse a step further — helping to fight extreme poverty all over the globe as an intern for the nonprofit Borgen Project.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the AVP and Southridge and Forest Home area branch manager served as a volunteer ombudsman for Wisconsin’s Board on Aging & Long Term Care. That volunteer work was put on hold when access to nursing homes was restricted for the foreseeable future.

“Knowing this, I began looking for another way I could give back during this time, and stumbled upon the Borgen Project while searching online,” Carolyn said. “Until I came across it, I had no idea about the involvement the U.S. has in bringing countries into the middle class, and the impact it has on our country, as well as the people in the countries we assist.”

She applied for an internship as a writer with the Borgen Project and landed an interview conducted over video chat. “I learned that only 5 percent of all people who interview globally are given a role,” she said, “so I was truly fortunate to be selected.”

Carolyn made these pins for people who help out by emailing Congress about providing foreign aid to the very poor.

Last month, she started her 12-week stint, during which she is researching and writing articles for Borgen Magazine, emailing and phoning congressional representatives to push for bills that support the U.S. foreign aid budget, and raising funds.

“The writing portion is going well,” Carolyn said. “I completed my first article on child poverty in Israel, and it is close to publication. And I have emailed Congress 24 times and have been calling weekly. I also sent out 15 fundraising solicitation letters to my family.”

She will also be hosting some virtual fundraisers.

“I don’t have a schedule yet, but I’m doing a cake pop bouquet sale — they’re made to order for $25 a dozen. I’m selling encouragement plaques for $15 and offering an ‘Annie-gram,’ where for $75 I will put a red dress on and sing ‘Tomorrow’ show-tune style, which people can request that I do for friends and family who may be going through a hard time — masked, of course,” she said. For all of these, 100 percent of donations will go to the Borgen Project.

Besides her first piece, titled “Hope for the Future of Israel,” Carolyn has more stories in the works for Borgen. “COVID-19 Didn’t Stop Help for Haiti” will feature North Shore Bank client Dr. Anita Frew of Transformation Ministries. Another story will explore Southridge assistant branch manager Zoran Saric’s journey to America as a Croatian refugee.

“It’s a ton of work, but a once-in-a-lifetime experience — and a privilege, considering how few applicants are selected for the program,” Carolyn said.

You can visit Carolyn’s fundraising page at borgenproject.org/carolyn-lyrenmann/ and see videos and other information about her fundraising efforts by searching for “Carolyn Lancour’s Borgen Project Fund Raising” on Facebook. Shorelines will post links to her magazine pieces when they appear online.