Angels Among Us

This year’s group of angels has moved heaven and earth to help their neighbors at home and abroad — and one of them does it with the mere twinkle of her smile.
Here are five stories of do-gooders who have spread their wings, their pocketbooks, their time, their talents and their hearts.
Thank heaven for angels.

BY NATALIE HOLLINGSHEAD
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRYANT LIVINGSTON

Doug Jackson and Bill Jackson
Doug Jackson PROVO  |  Bill Jackson SPRINGVILLE

It’s hard to be around Doug Jackson without some of his enthusiasm rubbing off. The Provo man is passionate about providing medical care to developing countries — in fact, he is so genuinely excited about the future of his nonprofit organization, Deseret International, that you can almost feel energy radiating from him.
It isn’t surprising Doug is so deeply invested in the company’s cause. He has been involved with Deseret since his father, Bill Jackson, founded the organization in 1989. Bill, a doctor, was serving as an LDS mission president in Manila, Philippines, at the time. Bill had been involved in international medical charity work for years and started the nonprofit after seeing a need for volunteer surgical services in Manila. He planned on shutting down the organization when his presidency ended, but a handful of generous donors stepped forward to keep things going.
“From there we’ve kind of done our own thing and kept going,” Doug says. “We aren’t looking to expand, but expansion just keeps coming to us.”
In the nearly 20 years that have passed, Deseret has expanded to 22 countries with 30,000 charity surgeries annually. Doug stepped in as the nonprofit’s “cheerleader” or president seven years ago, but he still works as a CPA and is the only person in the organization who receives a stipend.
It is hard for some people to understand how an organization with so little overhead can get so much done, Doug admits, but the reason lies in a unique methodology pioneered by Deseret and dubbed the “entrepreneurial approach.”
Rather than flying U.S. doctors around the world to perform surgeries — usually to correct cleft palates, hare lips, club feet and hands, crossed eyes, cataracts, burns, and heart problems — Deseret develops programs in each country that rely on local doctors to help local people.
“The best way to do charity work is to have the locals do it, and it just so happens that it is way less expensive than the traditional way,” Doug says. “We have doctors in Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Bolivia, Indonesia and all over the world who are well-trained, they know the language, they know the culture, they know the medicine and they are willing to do the work. They just want someone to watch over their shoulders.”
And help foot the bill. The doctors receive necessary medical equipment, medicine and occasionally even buildings for their use in exchange for performing charitable surgeries one day a week. Usually, the doctors want to serve in their community, they just lack the resources to do so, Doug says.
“We have 400 doctors across the world who are willing to give their time and all I have to do is set it up,” Doug says. “I’m the cheerleader. I’m e-mailing, I’m coordinating and getting equipment and medicine, but they do all the work.”
Using skills he learned from his father, Doug negotiates tirelessly with doctors, hospitals, medical supply companies, pharmaceutical companies and even shipping companies to stretch each Deseret dollar. It can be taxing, he admits, but the challenges of the organization mean little when compared to the needs of people in struggling nations across the world.
“Every time I visit, I walk away thinking, ‘Is there anything else I should be involved with? Is there anything more important I should be doing with my life?’ ” asks Doug, who pauses before answering his own question. “No.”

Donate for a difference
Deseret International is continually expanding and “there is always a need for cash,” says Doug Jackson, who runs the nonprofit. “We grow as much as we can afford to grow.”
Every $1 in donation provides more than $100 in medical services. More information about Deseret International, including information on donating to the nonprofit, can be found at www.deseret-international.org.

Inge Olsen
ALPINE

Inge Olsen is proof that you don’t have to run a nonprofit or donate thousands to make a difference in the world (although those things are nice). Rather, Inge is making her mark on the world one hug, smile and kiss at a time.
Mere seconds after meeting Inge, you realize the Alpine woman is someone special.
The giveaway is the wide smile that stretches from ear to ear and seems to reside permanently on the 88-year-old woman’s face. Or maybe it is the powerful hugs she freely shares, lifting spirits that didn’t realize they needed lifting. Or, perhaps, the tip-off is her sparkling eyes that twinkle like Inge’s got a surprise in store.
But ask the Alpine woman for the secret to her perennial happiness and sunshiny personality and she’ll likely laugh and divert the compliment.
“I’m not anything special,” says Inge, with her charming Danish accent. “No, not at all. I’m just regular me.”
Well, pardon us, Inge, but we’d beg to differ.
Inge is well known throughout Alpine for her angelic and loving personality, says friend Paula McKinlay, who nominated Inge for Angels Among Us.
“She has a ready hug for everybody she meets, and Inge loves everyone,” Paula says. “She is always positive and upbeat and always telling everyone how blessed she is.”
A native of Denmark, Inge immigrated to the United States in 1956 with her husband, Gustav, and their four children. Her fifth child was born after their arrival in the country.
Although she has lived in Utah for more than 50 years, Inge still retains much of her Danish heritage. It is especially evident when she has company over, because Inge doesn’t let anyone leave her house without offering them a snack (crackers and Danish cheese, if you’re lucky) and a drink.
“That’s how we do it in Denmark,” Inge says. “You always sit and share some food or a drink. It’s more cozy that way.”
Inge has a steady stream of visitors, and with her amiable personality and world-famous hugs people linger longer. It doesn’t bother Inge, who is a widow and likes the company. Her husband died in 1999, a year after the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
“It’s not fun to be alone,” Inge says. “When I wake up in the morning and it is such a beautiful day, I need somebody to share it with and say, ‘Isn’t that a beautiful day?’”
Although her life hasn’t been problem-free (“there is nobody that goes free,” she says), the venerable woman doesn’t let her troubles get her down. She has survived cancer and the loss of her husband but manages to raise the blinds every morning and greet the day with a smile.
For many years, Inge volunteered weekly at “This Is The Place” state park, where she’d greet visitors with a hug and three kisses on the cheek. Although she can no longer volunteer regularly at the park, Inge still finds opportunities to share her love of life with all she comes in contact with. She spends much of her time working on family scrapbooks and has created dozens of books filled with memories that her 16 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren love to inspect.
“All who meet Inge leave as friends,” Paula says. “Life does not pass her by. She is always ready to ‘go and do’ with any who invite her. She is a wonderful woman, full of life. She is truly an ‘Angel Among Us.’”
We couldn’t agree more.

Share a smile
A smile goes a long, long way. According to scientific researcher and happiness expert Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D., happiness benefits individuals, families, communities and society at large. Some benefits include higher income and superior work outcomes; more satisfying and longer marriages, more friends, stronger social support; more activity, energy and flow and better mental health; and even a longer life.

Dan and Lita Alger and Family
WOODLAND HILLS

When Dan and Lita Alger took their family on a two-week journey to Ethiopia two years ago, they went ready to work. They didn’t know their greatest contribution would come when they returned.

The Woodland Hills couple spent their vacation volunteering at the Village of Hope, a five-and-a-half acre compound in Kersa Illala, Ethiopia. As part of their humanitarian expedition, the Algers spent most of their days inside the Village of Hope, helping in the medical clinic and the high-risk children’s center. They planted fruit trees, taught mothers how to bathe their children, handed out hygiene kits and interacted with local children who admired their acrylic nails, sunglasses and braces.
“The minute you’re there, these people just love you for being there. It’s instant,” Lita says.
While the family was surprised at how friendly the Ethiopian people were, they were also shocked at what the villagers managed to live without — including ready access to electricity, running water, medication and even food.
Most children attended school in a hut made of sticks and mud that had no electricity and upwards of 90 kids in one classroom.
“This was my defining point,” Dan says. “We knew touching poverty at this level was going to impact us in a way we didn’t understand.”
The family spent the 17-hour flight home brainstorming ways to help the people of Kersa Illala. What they came up with is known as the Dagoo Harawaa Foresight Education Program.
Dagoo (dah-go) is an Ethiopian word used to call people together to help one another. The spirit of dagoo had been lost over generations of poverty and illness, and the Algers wanted their education program to restore that dagoo or goodwill by helping the villagers help themselves.
The program works like this: every $150 donation is matched by the Foresight Management Corporation, which sponsors the program. That $300 pays for one child to attend private school for one year. It also pays wages for those children’s fathers, who are required to work four hours per week at the Village of Hope in exchange for their children’s education.
“It gives them the opportunity to work for their child’s education and helps their family become more self-sufficient,” Lita says.
The small donation gives the families access to an unlimited supply of clean water, provides educational classes for parents, pays for the fathers’ work uniforms and for bonuses that include chickens or goats. It also includes a $50 donation toward the public school to help improve those facilities.
Almost two years after the Alger family’s initial visit to Ethiopia, the Dagoo Harawaa program has sponsored 100 students to attend private school. The program employs a workforce that’s 100 fathers strong, who spend their hours helping those who cannot help themselves, like widows, children and the elderly.
Although village leaders have already noticed the return of dagoo in their village, the Algers say their work is hardly done.
They are working on finding more sponsors so they can expand the program.
“We hope that the program will act as a catalyst in helping the villagers solve the problems they face in surviving and educating their families,” Dan says.

Sponsor hope
The Dagoo Harawaa program educates a child at a private school in Ethiopia while employing the father in community service projects. Families earn goats and items that foster family independence. Parents attend classes on health, sanitation and other topics designed to improve health and welfare. Annual sponsorship of a family is $150. To view profiles of families waiting to be sponsored, visit www.villageofhope-ethiopia.org.

Tammy Rodeback
PROVO

Some people feel disheartened by the doom-and-gloom that takes center stage on the evening news. But for Tammy Rodeback, news of misfortune is a call to action — especially when she was watching TV on New Year’s Day 2007.  Newscasters were announcing the death of Larry Edward Carter, a Provo man who froze to death on Dec. 31, 2006, in the Jeep he had been living in. Larry, 48, had been homeless on and off for 15 years.
“They were saying on the news that there wasn’t a homeless shelter in Utah County anymore because the hotels that were being used as homeless shelters were torn down,” explains Tammy, a Provo potter. “There wasn’t a place for homeless people to go, and I couldn’t believe it.”
The news stayed on Tammy’s mind for days, prompting her to think of a way to help the county “step up” and build a homeless shelter. Inspired by charity functions she’d been a part of in St. George and Salt Lake City, Tammy called on her fellow potters to organize Bowls for Humanity, which is a charity dinner where participants buy ceramic bowls donated by local artists.
A soup dinner comes with the purchase of a bowl, and attendees eat the soup out of the very bowl they purchased.
For the first event, Tammy teamed up with the owners of Gallery One Ten in Provo, who were already planning a celebration of the gallery’s first anniversary. Although she only had a month to plan, Tammy contacted all of the local potters she knew and secured donations of more than 200 bowls. She also arranged for a local catering company to donate soup for the bowls.
Crowds of people showed up for the event, selling out the bowls, which sold for $5, $10 and $20 a piece. All of the proceeds went toward the homeless shelter being built on 900 South in Provo by the Food & Care Coalition.
“We basically threw it together in a month,” Tammy says. “It was crazy, but it worked and it flowed. For a first year, it was pretty full.”
Tammy worked with the Food & Care Coalition for the 2008 event, which was moved to the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo.
This year, more than 400 bowls were donated for Bowls for Humanity.
“It’s still a work in progress and we’re looking at different things to make it bigger and better,” Tammy says. “But both events have been a success considering how quickly, for the most part, they have been put together.”
Tammy plans to organize the event the first Friday in March every year. The date for Bowls for Humanity coordinates with Downtown Provo’s gallery strolls.
“It’s a fun event and it’s a win-win,” Tammy says. “You’re donating money but you’re getting something in return.”
Now that’s newsworthy.

Build a home for the homeless
If you’d like to donate money or pottery to the annual Bowls for Humanity event, or if you’d like to advance efforts to build a homeless shelter in Utah County, contact the Food & Care Coalition in Provo. Visit foodandcare.org or call (801) 373-1825. Endowment funds cover administrative costs, so donations go straight to benefit those in need. As little as $10 will feed one person for a day, while $100 can provide work training for a week. Donations of all sizes are accepted.

Linda Breeden
PLEASANT GROVE

Linda Breeden isn’t your typical adoptive parent, and that may just be what makes her parenting so extraordinary.
Linda was a single mother of two girls when she decided to adopt nearly 10 years ago. In less than a decade, she has brought eight children into her family, rescuing the kids from a life of destitute poverty and illness in the developing country where they were born. Adopting eight children isn’t the path every single parent would take, Linda says, but is has certainly been the right road for her.
“I’m a single mom and I’ve got kids coming out my ears, but every one of these children is supposed to be here,” Linda says happily.
The Pleasant Grove woman says she felt prompted to explore adoption years ago after a meeting at her church where the speaker asked members of the congregation to consider whether all of the people who were supposed to be in their families were there.
“The thought would not come out of my mind about adoption,” says Linda, who followed the tugs on her heartstrings and decided to make efforts to adopt.
Because it can be difficult for a single adult to adopt in the United States, Linda decided to focus her efforts on international adoption. She researched and felt good about adopting a child from the Marshall Islands, a Micronesian island in the western Pacific Ocean.
In 1999, Linda went on a weeklong trip to the islands to pick up a baby who was waiting for her. She returned with not one but three children: the two-week-old baby, a 6-year-old and an 8-year-old.
“My two little girls were excited to have some new little siblings, and they have done really well with them all,” Linda says.
Since that fateful trip in 1999, Linda has adopted five more children from the Marshall Islands. She finds out about the children from the birth parents of her adoptive kids, who have been known to call with a request that Linda adopt another of their children or a niece or nephew.
“Adoption is accepted in their culture,” Linda explains. “They know that the child can do better somewhere else and get better assistance, and it is OK with them. They’re giving up their kids for a better life. They know there is nothing on the island for them at all.”
Linda’s kids can be divided into two groups: the big kids and the little kids. She has five children between ages 15 and 17, and five more children between ages 3 and 9.
“We have a big gap in the middle,” she says. “At one time we had four in diapers and I thought, ‘My hands are never going to be the same.’”
Her lifestyle certainly hasn’t been the same since taking the eight children into her home, but Linda doesn’t focus on the cost of caring for a large family. She and her children lead a very simple life, she says. Linda teaches the children piano and they can participate in one extracurricular activity a year (such as soccer or ballet) that costs money. They eat mostly at home and rarely go out to eat.
“It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to have a lot of kids,” Linda says. “Money is just money. When you’re talking about the life of a human being, there is no comparison.”
Linda’s mother lives with her and helps her care for the brood. She has also been helped out by “countless angels” who have donated time, money and services to the family.
“We have a family affirmation that we’ve written up and part of it says, ‘I have legions of angels to help me win and succeed,’” Linda says. “It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a group of angels to make things work.”
When her youngest child joined the family last July, the 3-year-old boy had a marble-size contusion growing out of his eye, and his other eye was under-developed. He couldn’t walk and barely crawled and had a host of other disabilities.
Through the help of friends and strangers, the child has received two operations and is beginning to thrive for the first time in his life. He is walking and running and attends preschool for blind children.
“People have donated money, dropped off clothes and dropped off anonymous money,” Linda says. “A lot of people have helped in a lot of different ways. It’s not just financial support, it’s people helping no matter what their talents are. This is not a one-person effort.”

Adopt An Agency
Many Utah agencies facilitate international adoptions. For example, Wasatch International Adoptions is a reputable agency that specializes in international placement and has adoption programs in Asia, Eastern Europe and Central America. Wasatch International Adoptions is a nonprofit organization that also donates significant amounts of humanitarian aid to children throughout the world. Visit www.wiaa.org for more information.

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