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CERAMIC TILE DESIGN
TIMELESS ELEGANCE
CERAMIC TILE DESIGN
TIMELESS ELEGANCE
THINKBIGGER
Large format thin porcelain tile, stocked locally.
to children ages 6 to 18 who have the disease;
another four sessions host siblings of young
patients. Family camp weekends, offered during fall and spring, include programs for teens
and bereaved families.
Sparrow, 50, lives in an Eichler-built home
in Lucas Valley with her husband, Paul, a
writer, and their two daughters, Claudia, 15,
who goes to Terra Linda High School and
is a member of the Marin Environmental
Leadership Program, and Annika, 16, who
attends the Marin School of the Arts, a
musical theater program at Novato High
School. For more than 25 years in the Bay
Area, Sparrow has been active in fundraising, including major drives for the California
Academy of Sciences and the San Francisco
Ballet, and she worked with the late Warren
and Chris Hellman on philanthropic projects.
Initially, what brought you to Camp Okizu?
In 2014, when the camp approached me, the
9-year-old daughter of one of my best friends
had just died of cancer. And a few years before
that, my dad died from an aggressive form of
cancer — glioblastoma brain cancer. So the cause
was near and dear to my heart. Also, I strongly
believe in the healing power of nature and the
transformative power of, well, fun — there’s no
better word for it. And the folks involved with
Okizu are a fantastic group of caring, fun people.
One of the original Okizu doctors, Dr. Michael
Amylon, from Stanford, was so inspiring to me.
In addition to being a longtime fundraiser, I am
also a trained marriage and family therapist
and I was impressed when Mike told me that
Okizu involves the whole family, facilitates peer
support and fosters an accepting community
environment. Also, right away I felt that John
Bell — the founder of Golden Bear Travel as well
as a founder of Camp Okizu — and his family
were my kind of people. I wanted to be a part of
all of that, so it was a good match for me.
Was there a moment you knew you’d made
the right choice? When I first came to camp
I saw a 10-year-old girl who could barely walk
be carried over to the zip line. We all held our
breath as she was harnessed in. Then the counselor ran her down the hill and launched her
into the air. To our surprise she let go of the rope
and spread her arms and flew like a bird to the
