When you meet Diane Chapman, chances are she’ll introduce herself as a retired accountant and leave it at that. The truth is, Puente’s current treasurer is a community pillar, an entrepreneur and an environmental activist who helped steward Puente’s finances at its inception, and she has been proud to watch it grow. If she were a superhero, Chapman’s superpower would be to keep finances in check with a sweep of her pen. Fortunately she uses her powers for good, supporting the best causes for personal reasons. For years she oversaw finances for Jacobs Farm-Del Cabo, the pioneering organic tomato grower headquartered in Pescadero. She was a longtime treasurer for Pescadero Community Church, where she worships. Seventeen years ago, the church welcomed a minister named Wendy Taylor who enjoyed greeting local farm workers in Spanish. Slowly, she got to know these men and came to understand how many basic necessities they lacked and how lonely their lives were. When Rev. Taylor proposed a church ministry called “Puente” to feed these workers, offer them bicycles, warm clothes and bedding, the church got behind her. Chapman especially: she did Puente’s accounting when it was in its infancy, right up until the organization became a nonprofit. She was there in the earliest days of La Sala, when Puente was volunteer-run, and she got to … Continue reading Puente’s superhero treasurer: Diane Chapman