New Horizons for Learning: Giraffe Project, April 2002

What's a giraffe?

giraffe icon GIRAFFE IN THIS ISSUE

Making a Difference
Janet L. Trinkhaus of Seattle, Washington

Janet L. Trinkaus took the milestone of turning 50 as the moment to change the course of her life. She'd ended a marriage, sent her son off to college and completed her work for her marketing clients, so she looked at what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She'd always wanted to work with kids and she didn't think anyone was helping kids who were losing family members to AIDS.

It was 1988 and AIDS was seen by much of the public as restricted to gay men. When Trinkaus started looking for funds and volunteers to work with kids affected by AIDS, it was tough going. She began by opening her own home to such kids, on her farm north of Seattle. But their needs were so great, she sold the farm and many of her possessions to create and sustain Rise n' Shine, a nonprofit that helps these children deal with the terrible losses they faced.

Gradually Trinkaus's passion for this cause enlisted donors and volunteers. Today Rise n' Shine serves 160 kids at a time, providing weekly support groups, one-on-one mentors, hot meals and sleep-away camps. One of the ways she raises funds is the annual "Big Bailout." Community leaders undergo a mock "arrest" and must post $1,000 bail, which they have to raise from friends within an hour. The event generates about $20,000 a year for Rise n' Shine-and a great deal of community awareness of the children's needs.

Most of the kids are living with mothers who have AIDS. "Seventy-six percent of these women are single, divorced, widowed, and on public assistance," Trinkaus reports. Rise n' Shine gives their kids a respite from poverty and illness, and a look at positive possibilities for their own lives. But there's no sugarcoating of their situation. The organization deals honestly and responsibly with issues of physical and emotional pain, alienation and death. Summer camp is a place for fun, games and songs around the campfire. But at the Rise n' Shine camp, there is also time for tears, as the children conduct memorial services for parents, siblings or for fellow campers who do not return.

For more information about the Giraffe Project and about other Giraffes, go to www.giraffe.org or contact A.T. Birmingham-Young at 360-221-7989 during US West Coast business hours. For information on Giraffe educational programs, ask for Jennifer Sand.

We asked the folks at the Giraffe Project to let us share some of the wonderful stories of personal transformation and public service here at New Horizons for Learning. The people at the Giraffe Project believe in being "free flacks for heroes -- finding, commending and publicizing people who stick their necks out for the common good." Their mission is to get others to look up, notice, and appreciate the quiet leaders in our communities.

Visit the Giraffe website to learn about The Giraffe Program, a K-12 curriculum that teaches kids about real heroes and gets them going on lives of courage, caring and responsibility, and the Giraffe Partners Trunk--everything a business or club needs to help a classroom full of kids to stand tall.

Posted with permission by New Horizons for Learning

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