ALUMNI PROFILES
Donald C. Freeman
The Objects of His Affection

Candace Orcutt '57
A Matter of Multiples

Courtney Grimes '78
In the Lab, Showing His Mettle

Lynn Brunelle '85
It's Cool to Be Smart

by Alicia Nemiccolo MacLeay '97

C.J. Polcari '97 and young friend at Camp AmeriKids, a camp for children with HIV and AIDS.

All alumni share a bond through Colby, but C.J. Polcari '97 tapped his Colby friends' camaraderie to help children. As a Colby student Polcari spent his summers volunteering at Camp AmeriKids, a nonprofit summer camp in New York for underprivileged inner-city children with HIV and AIDS. He found the work to be so rewarding that he became an advocate of the camp, maintained friendships with campers and recruited other Colby students (and later alumni) to volunteer.

In March 1998, Polcari and fellow volunteer Karen Last told friends and family in Massachusetts stories about the children who had changed their lives. In an evening they raised more than $8,000 for the camp.

Empowered by the realization that they could make a huge difference for children in their community, Polcari and Last decided to start their own foundation to benefit children living with life-threatening illnesses in the inner cities of New England and New York. The result is the Starfish Foundation.

Since its 1998 inception, the foundation has worked with families to promote the social, educational and physical well-being of disadvantaged children living with life-threatening illnesses. Last summer they sent 10 Boston-area children to Camp AmeriKids. Next summer they hope to send 20.

Marnie Eckelman '97 and Steve Kidd '97, camp counselors in 1998, are now trustees on the foundation's board. They plan to hold a benefit this year in New York to help get the foundation up and running, said Eckelman, who described the work as "an amazing experience." Other Colby alumni are involved in the foundation in a variety of volunteer roles.

Polcari is now assistant director of Camp AmeriKids and is applying to medical schools to study pediatrics. His involvement with the camp allows him to observe firsthand the foundation's impact.

The Starfish Foundation supports children beyond camp. Its members have taken kids to their first Knicks game, paid for a teenager to become certified as a Red Cross Lifeguard, given Broadway tickets to a girl with cancer and run toy drives for Boston-area hospitals' pediatric departments. They also maintain consistent contact with the children, make hospital visits, organize group activities, reward good grades and provide academic and extracurricular scholarships. The foundation also has started to grant the wishes of terminally ill children and hopes to open its own Massachusetts camp in the future.

Polcari tells of a 17-year-old girl born HIV positive, whom he first met in 1995. Last winter she was in the hospital, not expected to survive the holidays and unable to attend a camp reunion. Polcari, Kidd and Last drove to the Bronx to see her, bearing Christmas gifts. During their visit the girl promised to attend an upcoming Camp AmeriKids New Year's party. Two weeks after the visit, the girl attended the party with her camp friends. "Their strength, drive and zeal for life are what continue to inspire me," said Polcari of the youngsters.

"Every time I have a conversation about the children or the foundation, someone is compelled to offer of themselves any and all forms of support and encouragement," said Polcari. "We have found that a little awareness about the needy population of children living with HIV and AIDS is all it takes to generate a team of dedicated donors and volunteers."

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