Founders
Sara O'Meara (then Sara Buckner) and Yvonne Fedderson (then Yvonne Lime) first met each other in 1958 on the set of The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, a popular 1950s television show. The pair, rising Hollywood actresses, played the part of Ricky's girlfriend and quickly became fast friends.
While on a government-sponsored goodwill tour to support the troops in Tokyo the pair founded Childhelp in 1959 when they opened International Orphans to support 11 Japanese-American children found wandering the streets, unable to get into any orphanages because of their mixed heritage. Within three weeks the number of children increased to 100.
Over the years the pair would work together to grow Childhelp into one of the largest child abuse prevention and treatment non-profit organizations and operate today as Chairman and CEO (Sara) and President (Yvonne). Their efforts have won them more than 100 awards and honors. The most recent award in June 2008, was the 2008 Most Dynamic Woman Award from Clarins USA. Sara and Yvonne have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for five consecutive years from 2005–2009, receiving endorsements from prestigious figures such as former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and former First Lady Barbara Bush.
Read more about this topic: Childhelp
Famous quotes containing the word founders:
“It was no wonder that her sons stood tall and straight. She was a rich mine of life, like the founders of early races.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“The founders of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.”
—Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864)
“A spot whereon the founders lived and died
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And every bride’s ambition satisfied.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)