Dateline Mussoorie: Condolence messages poured in on social media on the passing away of Mr Dana Crider, Chairman KEEN (Keeping The Environment Ecologically Natural), Mussoorie.
Dana Crider was the Founder and Chairman of KEEN (Keeping The Environment Ecologically Natural) an organization committed to waste management in Mussoorie. An entire generation had the privilege of witnessing his tireless efforts to promote cleanliness and care for one’s surroundings. Dana led by example and reminded everyone that keeping our community clean was not a chore, but an act of pride and responsibility.
Born in Pennsylvania, USA, Mussoorie had been home to the Crider’s since 1979. A Maths teacher at Woodstock School, he is remembered by generations of students as a strict but loving teacher.
A highly God fearing man and an integral part of the Union Church and the Christian Community in Mussoorie, his biggest contribution to Mussoorie was the organization KEEN, which he founded to handle the Waste Management in a town he loved dearly. Dana was deeply respected for his efforts by not only the Landour community but the town at large.
Today, KEEN has grown in strength. The organisation not only keeps the town clean but is a big source of employment for the most marginalised sections of society, many being women and the sole bread winners of the family. Even during Covid this was the only organization which was working relentlessly on ground to keep the town clean.
Mr Crider put in his entire life savings, including his and his wife’s retirement funds to start KEEN. Today the establishment is a shining example of how public-private enterprise came to bear fruit in a town he called home. The best homage for Mr Crider was that recently Mussoorie ranked No. 1 in Swachhta Survekshan Uttarakhand.
Lying under the Deodars he loved so much, facing the eternal snows in perpetuity, he leaves behind his wife Judy Crider, his two sons, the KEEN family and a community indebted to his vision and mission.
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