Click on a name to the left to
view the board member's profile.
Kathy Van Riper
Kathy Van Riper is a 38 yr. old wife and mother of 2. (Jillian 11 and Ian 8). Growing up an avid athlete, Kathy was floored when she learned of her breast cancer diagnosis at the young age of 30 (her children were 3 and 9 months). The adjuvant treatment was endured from August 2000 to April 2001, while rearing her two young children, with the help of her husband Marc. A year post treatment when life was abundant, back to "normal" and Kathy's new job was home schooling her daughter Jillian during her Kindergarten year, with her 3 year old son by her side. Then once again, proving is was a beast that her family was facing, she was rediagnosed with metastatic breast cancer 20 months after completing treatment. Kathy has been undergoing continuous chemotherapy since February 2003, a "job" that requires much endurance and determination. They have had many set backs over the last 5 years, but somehow, Kathy continues her zest for life, despite the circumstances. She and her family may be found around Northern California attending soccer games, running local road races, or just plain hanging out with family or friends.
kathy@kathyscamp.org
Marc Van Riper
Marc is the husband of Kathy, the namesake of Kathy's Camp for Kids. He was born and raised in a small farming community in Southeast Colorado. Marc came to California shortly after enlisting in the United States Coast Guard. He spent 4 years working at a search and rescue station in Bodega Bay. His passion for helping people started in the Coast Guard and continued with his employment as a firefighter in Sonoma County. While his passion for helping people remains today, he now works as an administrator for Kaiser Permanente at the Santa Rosa Medical Center. Marc stays active in a few Sonoma County boards and participates in many community projects. He enjoys spending time with his family, running the roads of Sonoma County and finding time to sneak away for some quiet fishing.
marc@kathyscamp.org
Tiffany O'Neil
Tiffany is a Sonoma County resident. She has been close friends with Kathy and Marc Van Riper (Founders of Kathy’s Camp for Kids) for over 6 years. She is married to her best friend Eric and has two beautiful children. Her oldest child, Jackson was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia in 2004. While it is very different having a child with cancer, Tiffany’s relationship with Kathy and Marc has grown into a mutual understanding of the difficulties of living with cancer. Tiffany’s family has attended a children’s oncology camp for the past three years which has been tremendously important in the healing process. She is very excited to be part of Kathy’s camp and to be assisting with the goal of forming a camp for kids who have a parent or caregiver affected by cancer.
tiffany@kathyscamp.org
Kate Burke
Kate Burke is a 2 time cancer survivor. In April of 2004 she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme brain cancer. Even after brain surgery, 7 weeks of radiation and 1 year of chemotherapy she was told her life expectancy was only 200 days. There is no cure for a GBM. Three years later she is miraculously in the 2% of people that survive this long. Kate was forced to retire from running her Lifetouch School Picture business. She and her husband Brian have been married for 13 years and have a 12 year old girl named Riley and an 8 year old boy named Colin. Her life's passion is to now help others with their cancer journey by providing hope. She has a website www.caringbridge.org/ca/kate that receives daily requests for information. Kate has a strong desire to help the children of people diagnosed.
She has recently been chosen as a Lance Armstrong Livestrong Delegate, participated in a movie about brain cancer produced by Schering-Plough and the National Brain Tumor Foundation and currently speaks to groups sharing her testimony.
kate@kathyscamp.org
Tobi Ferguson
Tobi brings a strong background in healthcare plus a wealth of experience in the non-profit sector with expertise in marketing, communications, management, and strategic planning. Her deepest passion is with critical healthcare and children's causes here in Sonoma County, where she has served as Chairman of the Board for the American Red Cross, Steering Committee for the Sonoma Health Alliance, Steering Committee for Leadership Santa Rosa, Croquet Event Committee for Make-A-Wish, and many more. Currently, she serves as Executive Director of the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Sonoma County. Prior to joining the Healthcare Foundation, she was the owner/principle of Cross Impact Consulting, a non-profit healthcare consulting firm focused on interim management, public affairs, corporate identity management, strategic planning, board development and organization development. She built her marketing and communications career! with such notable companies as Health Plan of the Redwoods, SmithKline Beecham and Johnson & Johnson. Tobi was awarded an MBA from Pepperdine University in Malibu with an emphasis in Marketing/Management. She received her BS degrees from CSU Long Beach in Microbiology/Business Administration.
tobi@kathyscamp.org
Teresa Denniston
Teresa has been a resident of Sonoma County for over 25 years is married to Rick Denniston and has two sons, one step daughter and three grandchildren. Teresa Denniston has participated in and led several outreach programs in the community and is pleased to bring her professional experiences and personal commitment to the cause of supporting children whose parents are dealing with cancer. She has consistently and actively supported Take Our Kids to Work Day; Redwood Empire Food Bank Food Drive; Meals on Wheels/Derby Day; Task Force for the Homeless and the American Heart Association. Caring for families who are dealing with chronic conditions is Teresa’s passion. Her devotion to others is driven by the foundation of her family; everyone participated in community service. She was greatly influenced by her late uncle FR. Edwin McDermott, S.J., who instilled in the family a sense of giving back to the community and to “just do the right thing. She holds a BS degree in Organizational Development from USF is a Certified Radiology Technologist and has worked in various aspects within the medical community. Teresa leads by example with her warm heart and open arms.
teresa@kathyscamp.org
Ryan Ottem
Ryan Ottem was born and raised in Santa Rosa, where he currently resides with his fiancé. He is presently enrolled in school full time with a goal of a Masters in Business Administration. He is employed full time at Kaiser Permanente in Santa Rosa, where he has worked for the past 4 years. During his time at Kaiser he has developed a relationship with Marc and Kathy Van Riper which has inspired him to become involved with their vision. When he is not going to school or working he enjoys watching sports and playing basketball.
ryan@kathyscamp.org
Ann Marozik
Ann is the mother of Kathy, the namesake and co-founder of Kathy’s Camp for Kids. She was born in Texas and lived in Austin for over 17 years. She attended the University of Texas in Austin and graduated from Durham’s Business School in Austin. Ann moved to San Francisco, California in 1963 where she was employed by Bank of America. She has lived in the North Bay since 1966, and in the city of Sonoma since l973. She loves the small town feel of Sonoma, the sense of community, as well as the surrounding beauty of the land. Ann loved raising her 3 children in Sonoma where the family roots go deep, with all 3 kids attending Sonoma Valley schools from Kindergarten through high school. Ann has been employed for 26 years for two ophthalmologists in Sonoma, the last 15 years as office manager. She is actively involved in her church community, having held various positions on the church council through the years. In her spare time, Ann enjoys spending time with her husband, John, a retired Lutheran pastor and her family which includes 6 grandchildren. Ann and John enjoy hiking, traveling, and going to the movies.
ann@kathyscamp.org
Kirk Copeland
Kirk Copeland has spent the last 15 years pursuing his passion, building strong brands while achieving measurable results through response-driven programs. Spending the first part of his career with Bank of America launching the bank’s first national Hispanic Brand Campaign “Cerca de ti” and its supermarket banking channel. After leaving Bank of America, Kirk was director of marketing communications for EventSource.com a meeting planning website. From there He went on to help establish a successful brand for Chela Education Financing. Presently, Kirk is the Director of Marketing for Education Finance Partners where he has taken the company from start-up to the fourth largest originator of private student loans in just four years.
kirk@kathyscamp.org
Sharon Ryan
Sharon is a lifelong Sonoma County resident. She has worked in the Health Care Industry for nine years and loves her job as Administrative Supervisor at Kaiser Permanente. Sharon enjoys helping others and giving back to the community in any way she can. At work, Sharon is part of the Diversity Committee where she strives for our patients and staff to be educated and open minded so that everyone can be treated equally and with respect. Outside of work, Sharon takes great pride and joy in annual involvement and fundraising for the American Heart Association Heart Walk, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Human Race and The Arthritis Foundation. In 2007 Sharon accomplished a lifetime goal of running a marathon for the Leukemia/Lymphoma Society and has been inspired to continue her work in the community. Sharon is so honored to be a part of Kathy's Camp for Kids and is passionate about what the organization stands for. In Sharon's spare time, she enjoys gardening, music, wine tasting, and most of all spending time with family and friends.
sharon@kathyscamp.org
Janet Alexander
Janet moved from Florida to Santa Rosa in 1982 in search of better weather and new adventures. She moved to the town of Sonoma in 1988 to be closer to Butch Alexander, the man she later married. Butch introduced her to Kathy Van Riper the namesake of Kathy's Camp for Kids and later coached Kathy in cross country and track when she attended Sonoma Valley High School. Janet received her Bachelor of Science in nursing in 1978 and has worked in a variety of capacities, including that of Breast Health Specialist, teaching breast self-examination and speaking to groups in the community about breast cancer. Janet is currently working in the out-patient surgery department at Sonoma Valley Hospital. She holds bachelor's degrees in sociology and Spanish and has a teaching credential as well. She taught Spanish and physical education for three years most recently to children in kindergarten through fourth grade. Janet feels strongly that children are one of the main things that give life meaning, and is looking forward to having her life enriched by the children who attend Kathy's Camp. Janet's hobbies include traveling, studying foreign languages, running and learning to play the flute.
janet@kathyscamp.org
