Childhelp PR Article - Cover Story

Photography by: Geoff Reed Photography Creative Direction & Retouching by Rick Rome

At Home Childhelp With Yvonne Fedderson & Sara O’Meara, founders of by:

Rick Rome & Deborah Brown

Yvonne Fedderson and Sara O’Meara have been

This single decision would create the organization

friends since they met on the set of The Adven-

that we today know as Childhelp.

tures of Ozzie and Harriett over 50 years ago. They acted together, lived together (along with their late

“Yvonne and I were warm and safe in our hotel

husbands), and shared a quest to save millions

room in Tokyo, Japan after four days of a severe

of abused, neglected and abandoned children.

typhoon” Sara recalls. “It was one of the worst

Theirs is a story of love and commitment, and of

the city has ever seen. We had never experienced

rising to a challenge to right some terrible wrongs.

such fierce storms in our lives.” For a couple of those nights, they sat in their hotel room in total

Their mission for children began in 1959 when

darkness with the high winds pounding at the win-

they were sent on a government-sponsored good-

dows. All power had gone out, and it was a “red

will tour to visit troops in Japan.

flag” alert.

A single decision made during that trip created a

At the first sign of clearing, and despite hotel staff’s

wave that would carry them both to their calling in

advice to stay in, Sara and Yvonne bundled them-

life. This single decision would be responsible for

selves up and ventured out to explore the storm’s

saving children worldwide – over 6 million to date.

aftermath. Youthful curiosity would be a savior to

so many. What Sara and Yvonne found in their lit-

After they made it back to their room, Sara and

tle adventure was a heartbreaking combination

Yvonne looked at each other nervously wondering

of devastation on the streets from the storm, and

what to do next. How to order extra food without

a group of abandoned children a mile or so into

raising suspicion was on both their minds! When

their forbidden walk.

the food arrived from the hotel staff, it came with

The children, many barefoot and ranging from two years of age to 12, were huddled together under a small awning trying to protect themselves from the freezing winds. Their knuckles were cracked and bleeding from the weather. Sara and Yvonne immediately unbuttoned their coats and beckoned the children to come to them for warmth. The children dove under one by one, the coats ballooning as all 11 squeezed in. Sara remembers looking into Yvonne’s eyes as they felt the shivering clus-

Sara & Y vonne wit h abandon ed in the children found streets of Japan (1

959)

ter of children against them. “We didn’t know what to do to comfort them. We pulled out our Englishto-Japanese dictionary in a desperate effort to

the necessary number of plates and utensils: 13

translate and ask them where their parents were.”

plates, 13 glasses, and table settings for 13. The hotel staff knew exactly what Sara and Yvonne

Having no luck, all they could think of to say to the

were up to and the staff participated.

children was, “No papa sans? No mama sans?” and the children just cried harder. At that moment

Later Sara and Yvonne decided to approach the

Sara and Yvonne knew what they had to do. They

Colonel about the situation. He was very reproach-

shuffled themselves and the children through the

ful when he told them how severe a mistake they

devastation of the storm back to the hotel room.

had made. He immediately created a list of orphan-

They were determined to give the children what

ages that would receive the children.

they needed at that moment: a hot meal, warm dry clothes, and a good night’s sleep. If they were

Unfortunately, the children were rejected at every

caught by a military officer or other official, it could

turn because they were the product of an American

have ended their ability to help these children, so

soldier father and a Japanese mother. Sara and

they made sure they did not get caught. Walking

Yvonne ended up sneaking these children back

through the lobby with children under their coats

into their hotel room, but this time not under their

and frozen smiles on their faces, they made it to

coats, but rather up the hotel’s back fire escape.

the hotel room and the desperately needed shelter it provided.

Sara and Yvonne quickly realized that these children were not going to be taken in by any of the or-

phanages on the Colonel’s list. This enraged them.

They were there on a U.S.O. tour and they had to perform. When they ended up on stage once again they had a gut wrenching decision to make. “As we went through the show that night,” Sara recalls, “Yvonne and I could hardly concentrate on our performance. When it was over, instead of leaving after our applause, we just stayed there at center stage. Our hearts

g

ainin

ert e ent n n o & Yv 59) Sara ildre (19 h the c

pounded. I don’t remember who

children in spite of miles of red tape and bureauc-

started talking first. But by the time

racy. They are an amazing team, with an amazing

we were done, we had spoken out about these

friendship.

children. We pointed out to the soldiers that some

and accomplished amazing goals. What we have

of these children might be their children, and we

to question in ourselves is this. Aren’t we all ca-

begged them to assist these innocent little Amer-

pable of making a huge difference? Every one of

Asian orphans.”

us has the capability of kindness within us, and if

They have overcome amazing feats

we all spent just one hour per day trying to help Sara and Yvonne then passed a hat pleading for assistance. The two showgirls hit a nerve and the response was fantastic.

The next morning more than

others, wouldn’t this be a better world?

Yvo n first ne & S a a Bab rrivals ra with ylift ” ou of “Op er t of Viet ation nam

a dozen soldiers arrived at the hotel in an army truck, filled with blankets, Crations, and lumber to help the one orphanage that might take these children in. The original 11 children turned into over 100 in very short order as word spread throughout the community.

Sara and Yvonne have spent the past 50 years overcoming obstacles and roadblocks, helping

If all of us could take a moment to reflect, understand that our journey in this life is not a big party or adventure, how much better would all our lives be? Sometimes we are not as giving, sharing or charitable as we can be. But if we could take a moment to think outside of the box in order to make a difference, what kind of difference could we make?

Remember that these two women, two U.S.O. tour girls, have saved 6+ million children. They used their Hollywood voices and garnered huge support and funds from the entertainment community.

They worked diligently to effect change and even attracted the attention of Nancy Reagan when she was First Lady of California. At her urging, Sara and Yvonne turned their attention to “America’s

n of

best kept secret” of child abuse and all the ways they could help countless innocent victims.

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Childhelp now has a hotline, residential treatment centers and advocacy centers that provide insight into “best practices” related to child abuse investigation and treatment methods. Two women, a lifelong friendship and a legacy of saving millions of children. There is a lesson here for all of us. •

Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline:

1-800-4-A-CHILD

To find out more about Childhelp or to contribute please visit:

www.childhelp.org

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Yvonne & S ara taking time to play

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