Page 16 – The Wege Foundation

GILDA’S CLUB TEN YEARS LATER – on youtube.com.

June 15, 2011September 2, 2014Community Service, Health Care

When Peter M. Wege and The Wege Foundation made the lead gift to found the cancer-support community known as Gilda’s Club Grand Rapids, Peter knew it was a good idea. Because both his parents had died of cancer, he knew that families of cancer patients need their own support network. But along with the other visionary thinkers who founded Gilda’s, Peter Wege had no idea it would become the overwhelming success it has in just ten years.

The busiest Gilda’s in the country with a schedule resembling a college catalogue, the founders’ dream to embrace all cancer patients and all the people who love them has happily come true. And, as you’ll see in this short video, “happy” and “smiling” and “laughing” are what the Grand Rapids’ Gilda’s is all about.

gildadoor (1) — Gilda’s Club is named in honor of Saturday Night Live comedian Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989. Gilda dreamed that all people affected by cancer, as well as their families and friends, would have access to the same kind of emotional and social support that she received during her illness.

The club’s namesake Gilda Radner was the darling of America’s comedians until the day she died of cancer. Any legacy named for her simply had to be funny. And so Gilda’s in Grand Rapids makes sure that happens.

ECONOMICOLOGY: THE RAPID’S SILVER LINE

June 2, 2011September 23, 2014Community Service, Environment

Public transportation in Grand Rapids is not only alive and well, it is also about to run better, faster, and more often. Thanks to the recent passage of increased millage for the Rapid bus system, the Silver Line will hit the road next year carrying more passengers more often to more distant destinations.

This major boost for the bus system in Grand Rapids exemplifies Peter M. Wege’s philosophy of economicology. He has long advocated for balancing the needs of the economy with those of the ecology. Every bus rider saves the green-house gases emitted by individual cars and reduces fuel consumption. Every gallon of gas not used reduces the need for oil companies to drill for more fossil fuel. Mark up one for the ecology.

Businesses that support the economy require one thing above all: good employees. But workers need reliable transportation in order to get to the jobs that keep the economy humming. The coming Silver Line will expand those job opportunities in West Michigan by taking passengers all over town and as far south as 54th Street.

This cool video shows the proposed route of the coming Silver Line starting downtown on South Division. Like Wege’s theory of economicology, the Silver Line will be a win-win. Win one for the ecology. Win one for the economy. Check out the video.

Wildlife Filmmaker Captivates GRPS Students

May 2, 2011September 2, 2014Education, Environment, Wege Speaker Series

Chris Palmer delivered the 15th annual Aquinas College Wege Lecture at 4 pm April 15. Earlier in the day, the internationally known environmental filmmaker began sharing his films and stories with 120 enthusiastic sixth-graders from the Grand Rapids Public Schools’ Blandford School, Zoo School and the Center for Economicology, housed at City High Middle.

The students learned that the underwater camera he used to make the IMAX whale film weighs 300 pounds and has no audio; the battery only lasts three minutes so the divers have to constantly resurface. Eleven hours of filming resulted in the 40-minute whale documentary and cost $3 million to make. In the IMAX theaters, the Southern Right Whale film grossed $7.5 million.

In his talk with 7-12th grade students, Chris noted that wildlife filmmakers often have to “stage” the action, as his crew did by digging a den themselves to film the female wolf with her cubs. Palmer, who struggles with the ethics of staging such settings, asked the students their thoughts on the subject. In general, the students did not object as long as the staging did not harm animals involved.

The Wege Foundation-sponsored speaker was delighted to meet the students at the Center for Economicology because his own work reflects Peter Wege’s passion for ecology and education in balance with the economy. A faculty member at American University, Chris Palmer founded the University’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking, teaching his students how to make environmental movies that will educate theater audiences. Palmer takes advantage of his contacts in the movie business to bring world-class filmmakers to his campus as speakers and mentors for his environmental-filmmaking students.

***Pictured abover is Palmer posing with City students. Pictured from left to right: Joshua Eid-Ries, Timothy Larson, Roya Oliai, Alondra Vergara, and June Rayburn.

Marine cinematographer Tom Campbell shooting high-definition footage of a 15-foot great white shark off South Africa, 2001.

Palmer spent the afternoon talking to students at Grand Rapids Public School's City High Middle School. — Palmer spent the afternoon talking to students at Grand Rapids Public School’s City High Middle School.

Senior Ramell Collins is pictured with Principal Dale Hovenkamp and Palmer outdoors near the cold box he built to use sunlight to raise plants in the winter.

Wege Family Welcomes Wildlife Filmmaker to Aquinas

April 30, 2011September 2, 2014Wege Speaker Series

Two generations of Peter Wege’s family turned out in April for the 15th annual Wege Lecture at Aquinas College given by Chris Palmer, the renowned wildlife film producer. Pictured above being recognized in Aquinas’s Performing Arts Center from left to right are: Patrick Goodwillie, Mary Nelson, Jim Nelson, Jonathan Wege, Peter Wege II, Caitlin Wiener, Jessica McLear, Christopher Carter, and Rachel Wege-Lack, Peter Wege II’s daughter, who is shown introducing Chris Palmer to the full auditorium.

Chris Palmer, whose wildlife documentaries have appeared on IMAX, Disney Channel, and Animal Planet, among others, showed clips from his films, including up-close encounters with Southern Right Whales and a wolf pack making a den. In his elegant British accent, Chris Palmer captivated the audience with his animated style and passionate commitment to protecting wildlife.

“I want the world to be preserved,” he told the crowd, “and wildlife films are one way to tackle the problems of the environment. All the films I make are part of a conservation campaign.”

Chris Palmer is a full-time faculty member at American University where he started the Center for Environmental Filmmaking in the School of Communication. In 2009 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Media at the International Wildlife Film Festival.

After his talk, Palmer greeted audience members and signed copies of his new book: Shooting in the Wild: An Insider’s Account of Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom. The accompanying slide-show photographs feature guests at the Wege Lecture and the reception and dinner afterwards.

Mr. Wege's granddaughter, Rachel Wege-Lack, is shown introducing Chris Palmer to a full auditorium. — Mr. Wege’s granddaughter, Rachel Wege-Lack, is shown introducing Chris Palmer to a full auditorium.

FROM 3 TO 21 COMPUTERS: CATHERINE’S HEALTH CLINIC GROWS

April 1, 2011September 2, 2014Community Service, Health Care

When Susan Broman, Executive Director of the Steelcase Foundation, called Ellen Satterlee, her counterpart at the Wege Foundation, about Catherine’s Health Center, Ellen agreed to check it out. The non-profit general-practice clinic for Grand Rapids’ low-income and medically underserved was not a typical Wege Foundation grantee.

But Ellen knew Broman would not have made the unusual request if she didn’t think Catherine’s was a special case. Not far into her visit, Peter Wege’s executive director understood why Susan had called. CHC’s mission is directed at the working poor: the people who make too much for Medicaid, but whose subsistence jobs don’t offer health insurance.

Named for Catherine McAuley, the 18th Century founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Catherine’s provides medical care, screening, and health education to people from all over Grand Rapids. Some 85% of CHC’s regular patients have no insurance, but pay $10 for a visit – when they can. And while drug companies get a bad rap for their prices, Dr. John Walen – CHC’a staff physician – works with them to get free medications. Last year Dr. Walen’s patients received $700,000 worth of free pharmaceuticals.

Catherine’s came to be in 1996 under the auspices of Saint Mary’s Health Services after a nearby well-child clinic closed. Until this year, Catherine’s operated out of 1200-square foot corner in the basement of St. Alphonsus Church. Thanks to the generosity of donors like Steelcase and The Wege Foundation, in 2011 Catherine’s moved next door into the former Alphonsus grade school remodeled into a 6800 square-foot health clinic. The $1.3 million new CHC space earned a LEED Silver Medal from the U.S. Green Building Council.

In 2005, Catherine’s became independent from Saint Mary’s. Today Catherine actively partners with many other human-service agencies, demonstrated by CHC’s earning the first annual Douglas Mack Award for collaboration and improving the health status of our community.

Standing in the reception room of new Catherine's Health Center at 1211 Lafayette NE are, left to right, Executive Director Karen Kaashoek, CHC physician Dr. John Walen, and Janet Zahn, Development Director. As with most of the furniture at Catherine's, the chairs in the photo were donated by Steelcase, Inc. — Standing in the reception room of new Catherine’s Health Center at 1211 Lafayette NE are, left to right, Executive Director Karen Kaashoek, CHC physician Dr. John Walen, and Janet Zahn, Development Director. As with most of the furniture at Catherine’s, the chairs in the photo were donated by Steelcase, Inc.

As a local coordinating agency with the Michigan Department of Community Health, CHC is able to provide free services specifically for women.

10th Wege Lecture at U of M – A Brilliant talk by Dr. Larry Brilliant

March 2, 2011May 30, 2017Environment, Wege Speaker Series

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman described Dr. Larry Brilliant as a 60s Hippie idealist, a 1990s entrepreneur, and 21st Century high-techer. And Brilliant proved to be all those things March 16 when he delivered the 2011 Peter M. Wege Lecture for the U of M’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment.

Larry Brilliant got his start as an activist for good causes while an undergrad at Michigan when he was one of a few students to hear an unknown black pastor named Martin Luther King speak. “None of us were ever the same again,” Dr. Brilliant told his audience at Rackham Auditorium.

This year’s Wege lecturer went on to earn his M.D from Wayne State followed by an M.A. in Public Health at Michigan where he served on the faculty from 1977-86 teaching international health and epidemiology. Dr. Brilliant is a physician board-certified in preventive medicine.

In 1985 he founded a non-profit called Seva that ultimately restored eyesight to 3 million people by eliminating preventable and curable blindness. He also co-founded The Well, one of the early digital communities, as well as inventing and patenting an upgrade for online transactions.

The public-health epidemiologist moved to India where he helped mobilize 15,000 health workers to visit homes looking for smallpox. While over half a billion people died of smallpox in the 20th Century, when Dr. Brillant’s campaign was done, smallpox was officially declared “eradicated” – the first time in history that a united effort had wiped out a contagious disease.

As Michigan president Mary Sue Coleman put it, Dr. Brilliant “does not do small.”

Saline High School students attending the Lecture sponsored by the U of M’s School of Natural Resources & Environment: Sarah Marshall, Aviva Shwayder, and Caroline Devries. Peter Wege would have loved their answers when these girls said why they came to the Wege Lecture. Aviva summarized for the three: “To change the world, you first have to educate yourself.”

U of M Professors and chairmen of the Center for Sustainable Systems Dr. Greg Keolian, on the left, and Dr. Jonathan Bulkley, 3rd from left. On the right, Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of Michigan's SNR & E School, and Martin Philbert, Dean of the School of Public Health. — U of M Professors and chairmen of the Center for Sustainable Systems Dr. Greg Keolian, on the left, and Dr. Jonathan Bulkley, 3rd from left. On the right, Dr. Rosina Bierbaum, Dean of Michigan’s SNR & E School, and Martin Philbert, Dean of the School of Public Health.

15TH ANNUAL WEGE SPEAKER SERIES

February 25, 2011September 2, 2014Wege Speaker Series

The Wege Foundation & Aquinas College are pleased to present Chris Palmer as this year’s speaker.

He has confronted sharks, stared down Kodiak bears, and camped with wolf packs to make wildlife films and teach others about the natural world.

And in his latest book, “Shooting in the Wild, An Insider’s Account to Making Movies in the Animal Kingdom,” filmmaker Chris Palmer uncovers a more pervasive and troubling trend toward sensationalism, extreme risk-taking, and even abuse in wildlife films. Jane Goodall called it “a very important and much-needed book.”

Over the past 25 years, Palmer has led the production of more than 300 hours of original programming for prime time television and the giant screen (IMAX) film industry. He has worked with renowned environmental names including Robert Redford, Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, and his expertise on the subject exposes the dangers of, and tricks to, filming wild animals. Chris has witnessed life threatening, abusive and manipulating filming techniques, all for the sake of ratings and getting the “perfect” shot.

With shocking insight, Chris uses true stories to unveil the reality behind the scenes of America’s favorite wildlife shows.

Palmer joined the full-time faculty at American University in August 2004 and founded the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at the School of Communication. In 2009 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award for Media at the International Wildlife Film Festival. He is president of the Mac Gillivray Freeman Films Education Foundation and serves as chief executive officer of VideoTakes, Inc.

GILDA’S CLUB BREAKS INTO LAUGHTER MARCH 10, 2011

February 15, 2011September 2, 2014Community Service, Health Care

The first-ever Laugh Fest in the country opens in Grand Rapids March 10 with non-stop funny entertainment happening in 32 locations until March 20. LaughFest features humor to raise money for the serious cause of supporting cancer patients and their families. Gilda’s Club of Grand Rapids is celebrating its tenth anniversary as one of the most active cancer-support facilities in the country. Leann Arkema, President of Gilda’s Club, credits Peter M. Wege’s vision and generosity for getting the Grand Rapids Gilda’s started in 2001.

LaughFest has been listed on USA Today’s web site as a national happening naming Kevin Hart and Chondra Pierce as two of the popular comedians bringing their stand-up acts to Grand Rapids.

At the end of February, LaughFest’s organizers announced they are going for the Guinness Book of Records by setting a new high for rubber-chicken tossing. Since the existing record is 265 chicken throwers in Boston last April, Leann Arkema fully expects Gilda’s active supporters to at least double that number March 10, the opening night of the festival. The rubber chickens will be handed out for throwing across Rosa Parks Circle in front of the Grand Rapids Art Museum at 7:30 p.m. The traveling comedy group LaughScat will entertain diners at ten downtown eateries following the throw.

March 19 LaughFest winds down with a free dance party starting at 9 p.m. in the Amway Grand Plaza’s Ambassador Ballroom with live music by the local band Mid-Life Crisis. At 3 p.m. March 20, all visitors to Rosa Parks Circle who come to say goodbye to the first – but surely not the last – LaughFest will be given a commemorative yellow smiley face like the ones on the T-shirts in the photos.

laughfestmary — Pictured above is Mary Nelson, left, and Carroll Velie who are co-chairing LaughFest that is bringing popular comedians – including Bill Cosby and Betty White – to town for the 10-day event. Nelson, a Wege Foundation Trustee, and Velie, a former Gilda’s Club board member, wear T-shirts sporting the LaughFest’s smile logo.

laughfestellen — Mary Nelson and Ellen Satterlee, CEO of The Wege Foundation are shown at the LaughFest kickoff in January.

10th ANNUAL WEGE LECTURE ON SUSTAINABILITY

February 1, 2011May 30, 2017Environment, Wege Speaker Series

larrybrilliant — Dr. Brilliant was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People and top 20 Scientists and Thinkers (2008); UN Global Leadership Award (2008); TED Prize (2006); Peacemaker Award (2005); International Public Health Hero (2004); and two honorary doctorates. In 2009, The Final Inch, the documentary about polio eradication which Dr. Brilliant inspired and was funded by Google.org, was nominated for an Oscar.

The University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems in the School of Natural Resources and Environment will present the 10th annual Peter M. Wege Lecture on Sustainability March 16 at 3:30 p.m. in Rackham Auditorium on U of M’s campus. This annual free Lecture Series focuses on critical issues of sustainability and honors Peter M. Wege for his many outstanding contributions to the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems and to the environmental field.

Previous internationally recognized speakers have addressed vital sustainability challenges facing society in the 21st century, including global climate change, freshwater scarcity, and the loss of biodiversity.

Dr. Larry Brilliant, MPH, MD, a University of Michigan alumnus and president of the Skoll Global Threats Fund, will deliver this year’s Peter M. Wege Lecture. The 3:30 speech will be followed by a public reception in Rackham’s lobby. After serving three years as a Google VP and the first executive director of Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm, Dr. Brilliant joined Skoll Global Threats Fund.

He is a medical doctor and MPH, board-certified in preventive medicine. For ten years Dr. Brilliant lived and worked in India and was one of a four-person United Nations’ team that led the successful World Health Organization smallpox-eradication program in India and South Asia. He later founded the Seva Foundation that has given sight back to nearly 3 million people worldwide through its work in eliminating preventable and curable blindness.

Dr. Brilliant has been a professor of international policy and epidemiology at the University of Michigan and written two books plus dozens of scientific articles on infectious diseases, blindness, and international health policy. He’s volunteered as a physician during disasters, including the Asian Tsunami in Sri Lanka and Indonesia and the Bihar Floods. After the anthrax attacks in the United States in 2001, he volunteered as a first responder for the Centers for Disease Control’s bio-terrorism effort.