In 2011, we started on a project, The TOF Film Project, to capture on film some of the remarkable and heart-warming stories of our students. We engaged Ben, 26, who had just won a national award for a documentary filming the stories of three families at a pediatric end-of-life home, as the creative director for the film. Kaitlin, a TOF grantee and student in medical anthropology at UC Berkeley joined us to assist in the interviews. Jennie Berlekamp, Piedmont, CA, stepped up with a grant of $5,000 to cover production costs.
We decided to film three very different students. Lizz, an undergraduate drama major at U.C. Irvine, has juvenile rheumatoid arthritis – The Orion Fund paid for her infusions for the school year. Lizz tells her story of the impact rheumatoid arthritis has had on her chosen career. Kolya is a student at UC Berkeley, majoring in interdisciplinary studies, with advanced Crohn’s Disease. The Orion Fund paid for uncovered medical costs for Kolya – his favorite saying often starts with “after 10,000 hours in the hospital…”. Kolya chose to tell the story of his good friend Gideon, who died in 2011 from Crohn’s. Then there is Paula, now a legislative assistant in Sacramento, who graduated from UC Berkeley in political science. The Orion Fund paid living and medical costs for Paula when she was diagnosed with Ewing’s sarcoma, with metastasized tumors to her lungs while a junior at UC Berkeley. Initially given a 15% chance of survival, Paula is doing well now.
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