UWPIAA NEWS
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Six-year old Olivia Cook of Bellingham, Washington was diagnosed with a rare kidney disease at the vulnerable age of eighteen months. Olivia’s parents, Kimberly and Bruce, have known for some time that the clock has been ticking. Neither parent could be her kidney donor, but for Bruce the reason was more devastating—the testing process in 2007 revealed that he had two forms of terminal cancer.
Danica first researched her family’s medical history, discovering that her blood type was a match for Olivia. After weeks of testing, doctors determined that Danica and Olivia were compatible. The transplant surgery was scheduled for months later. Meanwhile, Danica had another mission in mind — to help the Cooks pay for the onerous medical costs. Though they had insurance, several costs were not covered; expenses such as co-pays, deductibles and room and board for when Olivia needed extended hospital care, were mounting and would continue to mount with Kimberly now the only one parent able to work. Post-operation, Olivia would need to spend three months at Children’s Hospital in Seattle. Danica launched a community fundraising campaign called LivLife, envisioning annual events and a longer term dream of offering assistance to other families in similar dire straits. To get immediate non-profit IRS status, LivLife partnered with COTA, the Children’s Organ Transplant Association. Danica’s first fundraiser would be LivFest, a day-long festival of music, crafts, concessionaires, and family fun. She recruited a local songwriter to create a song entitled “Liv”, the middle letters of Olivia’s name. Local stations began airing it. Local merchants and individuals stepped up and donated the LivFest costs. Danica was interviewed by radio stations and newspapers. LivFest went live on May 22th. By mid-July Danica and LivLife had raised $60,000, all of it for the Cook family. Besides the ongoing efforts of Danica and LivLife in the Bellingham area, Danica has bigger dreams. Now she envisions a CD of original music by songwriters across America. It is rumored she already talked her way backstage when a popular touring artist performed in Seattle. Looking around this room I see a lot of songwriters. Danica will be coming after you. Danica’s father wrote in an email, “I could write pages of her experiences, funny tales, and awe-inspiring feats, but they pale compared to what she is about to do. She is about to donate a kidney to a terminally ill six-year old whom she just met.” Kimberly Cook wrote, “When I get a minute or two to think about things I would ask myself why us and why so much for one family? I then would tell myself that there is a reason, and now I know—it was meant for her to be for us and Danica become part of our family.” Danica is with us this evening due to a fellow alum who gifted Danica this reunion because of Danica’s selfless act. On July 14th, just sixteen days ago, Danica successfully gifted a longer life to Olivia.
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Several of John Loudon’s cast members in their supporting nominations remarked about a memorable visit to John’s family farm in the Netherlands while on tour in 1985. What was memorable? The family farm was a worm farm. Now you are thinking it is a bait farm. Lots of fishers used worms for bait. You would be wrong. John’s family harvested worm excrement. This discharge was used as organic fertilizer long before organic became a common farming technique.
John studied business economics and earned an MBA at a university I defy any non-Dutch to pronounce. From 1993 to 1996 he was a director of the Savage Paradise Foundation, an organization which produced and promoted 35 mm nature films with the aim of making the general public aware of the necessity to protect and preserve areas of outstanding natural importance. In 1996 John moved to Brandworlds Network as director and part-owner. Brandworlds became the largest sponsor consultancy in the Netherlands. In 2002 John launched his own company advising companies and non-profits on social responsibility. They say you can take the boy out of the country but never the country out of the boy. In 2001 John was elected to the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors of the Peace Parks Foundation. Peace Parks? Formed in 1997 by three men; Dr. Anton Rupert, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, and Dr. Nelson Mandela, the Peace Parks Foundation develops cross border nature parks (Trans Frontier Conservation Areas) all over the world, initially in southern Africa. John advises current and potential sponsors of the Peace Parks Foundation on their possible communications link to the Peace Parks mission, and also manages the relations with the Dutch National Postcode Lottery (a major Peace Parks contributor), the Dutch government, World Wildlife Fund and other funds. The establishment and development of peace parks is a dynamic, multi-faceted approach to jointly manage natural resources across political boundaries. It is an exemplary process of partnerships between governments and the private sector – an African success story that will ensure peace, prosperity and stability for generations to come. As Dr. Mandela said: “I know of no political movement, no philosophy, and no ideology that does not agree with the peace parks concept as we see it going into fruition today. It is a concept that can be embraced by all. In a world beset by conflict and division, peace is one of the cornerstones of the future…” If you visit the Peace Parks web site, you will count ten such parks either operating, under development or on the drawing board. All of them link together at least two countries. The first eight parks comprise a total of 422,500 square kilometers, or the combined area the size of twelve Netherlands. John visits Africa frequently and devotes about three days a week to the Peace Parks’ mission. A nominator wrote; “John is a visionary and he thinks big. John is also one of the most humble and down to earth human beings I have ever met.” I guess that comes from being the son of a worm excrement farmer. Catharina Sofjan Wolf was born in Indonesia. After high school she enrolled in Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, earning a degree in International Studies and Business Development. After college and travel with Up With People, she returned to Indonesia in late 1989 to pursue her career, by then a single parent. The late 1990s were turbulent times in Indonesia. Fearing for the safety of her son, she returned to the United States permanently in 1997, settling in Secaucus, New Jersey.
And a child shall lead, proved to be an inspiration for Cathy. Through her son she learned to appreciate youth’s passion and commitment to make a difference, witnessing and supporting her son’s founding of two not-for-profit organizations when he was thirteen and fifteen years old. Cathy is now actively promoting youth volunteerism believing that all youth can make a difference, whether locally, nationally, or globally. To wit: she has served as a trustee and officer of the Secaucus, NJ Public Education Foundation since 1998, funding off-budget programs to the tune of $150,000 over the past twelve years. She volunteered 15,000 hours since 2003 with People to People International and their “Go International, For Tomorrow” Secaucus chapter, to help sponsor educational, cultural, and humanitarian activities in seventy-seven countries on five continents, while coordinating activities with fifty other organizations. She has been an advisor to the Congressional Awards program since 2006, a United States Congress’ award program for young Americans. Two students from her area have been awarded the gold medal and another fifteen are being mentored. She also served as Director of Programs of Wrap 4 A Smile Foundation, an outreach program for the less fortunate to encourage youth to participate in community service projects and to promote public healthcare programs. And she has served as a certifier of Presidential Volunteer Service Awards since 2006, mentoring over one hundred students as they contributed over 17,000 hours of community service which in turn enhanced their college applications, along with scholarship awards and grants to some of this nation’s most prestigious universities. According to a close friend, one recent evening Cathy had ten high school seniors camped out in her house with their laptops, and was running from room to room assisting them in creating their college resumes. Cathy has written, “I have learned that fighting poverty and stopping hunger does not end with supplies and monetary assistance only, but must be supported hand in hand with continuing education. I maintain the belief that we can live in a better world if everyone supports the effort of the mission: EDUCATE, ACT, and MAKE A DIFFERENCE.” Like so many alumni who preceded her, Joanne Noordink of the Netherlands took to heart the lyrics sung so often during her time of travel, especially a song with the lyrics, “one to one, we change the world.” In 2007, Joanne traveled to Uganda, Africa to volunteer for six months in an orphanage. The experience changed her life. She was especially affected by a priest she met who shared with her his dreams for an impoverished area.
In December 2008, Joanne’s cast mates received a disturbing email from another member; Joanne was missing. In March, 2009, the worst was realized, Joanne’s body was found not far from her Netherland’s home. In an email, her father who wrote after learning the news of this award for Joanne, he relayed that Joanne had been a victim of a crime of random violence. He wanted us to know that he along with Joanne’s mother were in Uganda recently and saw both the church and clinic in full operation and the school nearly half finished. Her dream lives. He closed by writing, “Thank you and all the committee members for selecting Joanne for this award. My wife and I are so very pleased and proud. It keeps her alive in many hearts.” To help honor Joanne the IAA Board of Governors have provided a table in our marketplace to promote Joanne’s foundation. Her fellow cast members will help you get involved. Please take some time to stop by and honor this extraordinary person, who lit up all who knew her. She lives on. For the past 15+ years Jill Johnson has been the cast representative for Cast B, 1985. Her nominator reports that because of her “never take no for an answer” approach, at least 50% of her cast has attended the past three reunions.
Jill kept her cast connected through a Yahoo group (which she launched eleven years ago), and through Facebook. As a result one cast member reports that she has been able to re-connect with seventy other cast members, some of whom she had not seen or heard from in decades. Jill has also been a great facilitator of mini-reunions of cast members as they travel through Los Angeles, her home, or who show up a week in advance of the reunions to party. While not a factor in her selection, we want to note and express our gratitude for Jill’s ongoing dedication to Up With People, the UWPIAA, and our history. Since the original organization closed its doors in 2001, in her spare time from Sony’s music and entertainment division, she has voluntarily overseen the Up With People music archives, and their use, preserving the integrity of the original music. As such, she remains in close touch with our founders and songwriters. Jill is the reason you can now download Up With People music from iTunes. |
Returning home she was called act, and act she did. She shared the priest’s dreams, found some sponsors, and launched an organization called Mukwano Uganda. Mukwano is the Ugandan word for friendship. She returned to Uganda looking for a piece of land to buy in southwest Uganda. Once she found it, construction began on a new church. A year later her foundation began helping the expansion of nearby hospital. One new program educated the people about the dangers of unsafe sex, a critical need because of the AIDs epidemic in Sub-Sahara Africa. In 2009 new school construction began. Joanne’s foundation helped launch all of these initiatives and continues to support them.
Casts A, B, and E, as of early this week, were in hot competition for having the highest percentage of members in attendance at this reunion. Cast E nipped Cast B for the early registration honor, and Casts B and E bid the most in the suites competition. Our IAA treasurer thanks you.