Kemper gets nod as county's top volunteer
by Bret Bradigan

For insight into Joan Kemper's life, you merely need to witness the teetering stack of bulging file folders, blueprints and correspondence piling up on and around her kitchen counter.
This is clearly the work of a busy woman. And despite the seeming chaos, an impressively organized and productive one, as those who benefit from her expertise can attest.
It scarcely matters which Ojai organization you mention, Kemper has had a hand in it at one point or another, and often at the point of its origin; Ojai Music Festival, Pergola Restoration Committee, Ojai Film Society, Help of Ojai, Ojai Valley Land Conservancy, Ojai Valley Museum, Ojai Valley Youth Foundation, Ojai Valley Community Hospital board of directors and chair of its development committee, to name a few of her past and present involvements.
"Everything interests me," she said. "That's my problem. It's hard for me to say 'No.'"
It's no wonder then that on Nov. 15, National Philanthropy Day, Kemper will be honored by the Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties Association of Fundraising Professionals as its volunteer of the year, along with her friend, Marion Stewart, who will represent Santa Barbara County.
The luncheon event will take place at Spanish Hills Country Club in Camarillo. E.J. Harrison and Sons will be honored as the philanthropists of the year.
It was Kemper's involvement in the hospital's development committee that led to the nomination and subsequent award. Gary Farr, who, along with his wife, Brenda, co-chaired with Kemper the Hospital Foundation Guild's recent Nightingale Ball, nominated her for the honor, and easily rounded up an impressive list of endorsements from other people in Ojai.
"Anyone who knows Joan is amazed at what she's done," he said. "She's absolutely tireless."
Kemper, who has lived in Ojai since 1986, believes that her contributions have already been amply rewarded. "I feel very strongly that if you live in a community, you give something back to it," she said. "The more you give to it, the more you get back from it."
Her career included theater management and production, as well as 15 years as a banking director. "I can't even balance my checkbook," she said, but her talent and expertise in marketing and audience development has been the constant theme in whatever endeavor she's pursued.
Her latest endeavor has been to help the fledgling Ojai Performing Arts Council get off the ground. OPAC will be the method and mechanism for the various performing arts organizations in Ojai to create momentum for the next big project - a community performing arts center. That center - Ojai Performing Arts Theater - will be the centerpiece of her efforts to usher in a new generation of active, motivated volunteers to carry on where she has left off.
"Young people have lots of energy, and they don't know what to do about it," she said. "You need to give them things to do that are constructive, as well as fun. It gets them out of themselves and into the community."
It will also, through exposure to a wide range of theater duties - from outfront dancers and singers and actors to backstage gaffers and grips - give them a leg up on career choices.
Career choices are something Kemper knows about, having had many herself. But Ojai itself might be the career to which her talents and drive have been best applied.
For tickets or more information about the National Philanthropy Day luncheon, call 962-5339, Ext. 17.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

Back to the news