Congrats to Fairy Godmother Deborah Gardner, Winner of BYU Distinguished Alumni Award 2007

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We have outstanding Fairy Godmothers here at Startup Princess!! I couldn’t be more pleased with the level of expertise and experience we have with our Fairy Godmother mentors. They are continually striving for excellence and are often receiving recognition for their success.

Deborah Dushku Gardner Executive Director and Co-Founder of One Heart Bulgaria was just honored with the Distinguished Service to Family Award from BYU this weekend during Homecoming week. The award is among the highest honors the university offers. It is interesting to note that Gardner was the only woman to be honored this year and is one of the youngest to receive the award. Most of the honorees were well over 50 years old.

I had the pleasure of writing a recommendation for Deborah’s award as a Trustee of One Heart and as a close friend who served along with her in Bulgaria from 1994-95 and here in the USA over the last few years. Here is an excerpt from the letter that I wrote the University:

On a subsequent trip in September 2003, I traveled to Bulgaria with Deborah and Heidi Brown Barker to assess some infant orphanages and establish relationships for additional sponsorships there. We were all stunned and horrified by the babies suffering with hydrocephalus, a disease that is treatable with surgery, however, due to lack of funding and resources, in Bulgaria many children die before the age of three because of this painful disease. As we held the hands of babies whose heads were too large to lift and bodies too weak, we looked into their eyes and prayed for them…that their suffering would end quickly. Deborah did more. She went home and created a strategy to give life to these children!! She recruited sponsors and surgeons…and now is raising funds for a medical clinic. Several children NOW have a future because of Deborah’s incredible efforts.

Tears streamed down my cheeks when I saw her receive the award on Friday handing off her 5th baby, 5 week old Milla (which means “Sweetie” In Bulgarian) to her husband, walked up to the stage with confidence and stood at the podium to address the audience filled with distinguished individuals and other honorees. What is so amazing about Deborah is that the award was never (and has never been) about her. It’s about the children she and One Heart Bulgaria serve. She was quick to introduce her co-Founder, Heidi Brown Barker in the audience and to share the moment with her, she thanked God for moving mountains and preparing the way for their work and she conveyed the love and passion behind her work for the children…naming several of them individually–they aren’t just orphans, they have names! And thanks to Deborah and the One Heart Bulgaria team they have a hopeful future ahead…

I’m pleased that I can still serve as a Trustee for the organization and for a few years I was able to take an active seat on the Board–I enjoyed working professionally with Deborah when we didn’t even know how to build a non-profit or how we were going to execute our ideas…we just kept moving forward with faith and worked hard as a team–and it has paid off. Now there’s college internship programs and incredible support for many educational and medical programs. Just last week 30 dentists from the USA gave 500 orphans dental treatment in Bulgaria! And the story continues…can’t wait to hear what’s next, Deborah! To get involved or contribute, please visit One Heart Bulgaria.

Meet Deborah at The Startup Princess Conference, Oct 12, at UVSC.

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