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Opening gateways between two different worlds

Dr. Mike Spiger unloads a temporary storage container of larger medical equipment to prepare for shipping the equipment to Morocco. Photo by Bonnie Dickson

Things, as we all know, get improved or replaced on a fairly regular basis.  The cars we all drive don’t suddenly expire at the end of four years but many people choose to replace them with a newer model, different color paint or improved options after just that short period of time.  If we want to get a new vehicle, we take the old vehicle if it’s still in good condition to a car dealer and we “trade it in” for the newer vehicle.  Well think about this.  What happens to things that aren’t quite as fun when the people who own them want something new?  What happens for instance when the dental chair is tired and doesn’t look so good with the new carpeting or wall color?  What happens when catheters, yes catheters aren’t used and a doctor retires and closes shop?  What happens when something that was manual comes in a new electric version?  What happens is it goes to Gateway Medical Alliance (GMA).  Or at least it probably should.

In the early 50s, Michael Spiger was an Air Force brat whose father was stationed in Morocco.  He developed a love for Morocco that continued into adulthood and visited it several times. There’s a medical need in Morocco but the country’s laws don’t allow foreigners to practice medicine there.  In 1997, Spiger, now Dr. Spiger, collaborated with several Moroccan friends to send a shipping container of medical supplies and equipment over.

Spiger quickly realized that managing this new operation required full-time dedication and so in 1995, Spiger retired and he and his wife, Anne, launched what would become GMA.  They ran their operation out of their home for 10 years but now own an office on Canyon Road in Puyallup.

About 20 dedicated volunteers, mostly retirees, meet at a warehouse once a week and do inventory processes; sorting and packing donated medical supplies. “It doesn’t come like this,” said Del Platter, meaning the neatly stacked, sorted and shrink wrapped pallets that line the warehouse.  He and his wife Irma have volunteered at GMA for 11 years.  “Mike and Anne came to our church and asked for volunteers for Morocco.  We got stuck in our hearts.”  He added, “We went to Morocco once and worked at the other end.  It’s really an eye opener.  I think everybody should go overseas once.”  On their trip they saw a little girl with disabilities.  “We stopped at an intersection and interviewed the mother.  You looked at the little girl and you just…” he sighed and held his heart, “melt.  That trip was very satisfying.  The only trouble is it gets in your blood and you want to keep going back.”

On this end, once they have around 900 cartons, the volunteers pack a 40-foot shipping container to send to Morocco.  Each container contains roughly $300,000 worth of donated equipment and supplies.  GMA ships a container every three months.

GMA partners with Moroccans in everything.  They work with charitable organizations over there to distribute the equipment and in the process the organization builds relationships.  “We want to break down stereotypes that Muslims have toward westerners and in turn we get to learn about them,” said Spiger.  “It really is a people-to-people organization.

“We love them.  We want them to know we care.  We act as a catalyst to improve the lives of the poor and the underprivileged,” he said.  “These gifts go to university hospitals where we can bring poor people to them (the hospitals) and they do surgery on them.”  In addition to shipping supplies and equipment, GMA sponsors physical therapy centers, short-term dental clinics, community health education, fire fighter exchanges and share medical expertise with teaching hospitals.

While the majority of their equipment and supplies come from hospitals and government organizations, GMA also has needs for adult diapers, bandage materials, the previously mentioned catheters and other personal supplies.  “The high tech stuff can’t go out to the outskirts ‘cause they don’t have facilities,” said Del Platter.

“We like wheelchairs and walkers particularly,” added Spiger.  They also have a relationship with Children’s Therapy Center in Puyallup and “they give us children’s equipment when they (the children) outgrow them.

If you would like to learn more about GMA, go to their website, www.gatewayma.org.

Bonnie Dickson by — October 26, 2011 in Spotlight

One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer’s disease.  According to a special report on Alzheimer’s disease put out by the Alzheimer’s Association, the number of Americans with Alzheimer’s disease will escalate rapidly in the next 10 to 20 years as the baby boomer generation ages.  And while Alzheimer’s disease was first identified more than 100 years ago, it hasn’t been until the last 30 years that there has been any momentum in the research for symptoms, causes, risk factors or treatments.  Which leaves the 14.9 million unpaid caregivers with few resources.

Artist and author, Dan Koffman is trying to change that.  Koffman’s father had Alzheimer’s and his experience watching the toll on his mother while she cared for his father eventually led to his publishing several picture books designed to provide engagement and conversation with individuals with dementia.  Each book includes large pictures of easily recognized objects (fruits or hand tools for instance) with the goal of stimulating communication.  Koffman continued that theme in his latest book, Life in the US Military, which focuses on veterans with memory loss.  Over 600,000 military veterans have memory loss.  His latest book is a partnership with the Ladies Auxiliary VFW and includes familiar military themes such as equipment, a salute and vehicles.

Koffman hopes to write 30 different titles in all.  When he’s not working on that project, he’s on the web with a weekly webcast called Operation: Never Forget! Which focuses on veterans with memory loss and creating a support structure for caregivers.  To find him online go to webtalkradio.net/shows/operation-never-forget.  To learn more about his books or to order one, go to www.lifeintheusmilitary.com.  The book can be ordered online or a mail in order form is available for download.

Bonnie Dickson by — October 26, 2011 in Everything Else

What do a P-51, a concert violin, a toy train collection and an old beach cabin have in common?
All four were turned into creative gifts to charity, made in lieu of cash.

That’s right. Your favorite nonprofit might be the best place to give things you had never considered giving them, because you figured what they need most is cash to sustain their missions.

What sorts of things?  Maybe your spouse collects vintage baseballs, but none of your daughters wants to inherit them.  Maybe you inherited a beach cabin back in Minnesota, but you never use it.  Maybe you wound up with a classic Dusenberg that is gathering dust in a garage.

The best market for memorabilia is usually another collector.   If you donate them to a favorite charity instead, three good things happen.  The charity sells them for cash, you may receive a tax break, and those baseballs still wind up in the hands of someone who loves them.

Likewise, that old cabin on the lake you feel guilty for neglecting can provide a hefty gift to charity, allowing you to hang on to other assets for your own use.   This makes a lot of sense, especially when other assets have declined in value.

You also receive a subtle bonus when you turn a keepsake into a charitable gift.  If you simply sell it, you might suffer seller’s remorse.  Giving it to charity triggers a ripple effect.   That concert violin might fund a scholarship for a music student.   That vintage car might provide job training for someone struggling to find work.

Check the attic.  What you thought was part of your dusty past may have a future.

Mike Robinson is Senior Vice President of Planned Giving at United Way of Pierce County. Please consult a qualified estate planner before making a charitable gift.

Contributing Author by — October 26, 2011 in Everything Else

Starting a new business at age 60!  What was I thinking?  I thought I was crazy when I decided to go to law school at 45, graduating at 49.  I started practicing elder law right away in Bellingham.    Back then my friends were all talking retirement, downsizing, snow-birding, and I was entrenched in billable hours, court hearings, and all night sessions writing briefs for court.   The bonus in all that work was that I loved my work and enjoyed fighting for my elderly clients and their families every single day.   I moved to Tacoma to open an elder law practice in 2001 and have been here for 10 years practicing Elder Law.

Now at age 60, my friends are all retired, have moved to sunnier climates, and when most people start to wind down their life, I start my own law firm.  And to make it even more interesting my new partner is 32 years old.  So this 60-year-old elder law attorney (and yes, I can be my own elder law attorney now) is learning what the “cloud” is, what “virtual” is, and how in the world can you have a phone system going through your computer.

My partner, Sean Flynn, has a Masters Degree in Business and received his law degree about 1 1/2 years ago.  So he is just starting in law, although he has a lot of experience in real estate as a result of work experience and family interests.   He is somewhat of a technology whiz kid so I was not prepared for what was in store for me.

When I approached Sean to ask if he wanted to go into practice with me, one of his first comments to me was “we can have a virtual office with all our files and documents in the cloud.”  So as I sit there listening to him, I am picturing how my clients will be able to find me in the cloud or in my virtual office to come in to see me or sign documents.  I am having a hard time visualizing that happening.

My life as an attorney and paralegal (15 years prior to being an attorney) has been brick-and-mortar:  an office with a chair, desk, file cabinets and legal assistants.  You can touch your chair and files.  You can see them in front of you.  Your clients can see them.  All is well.   To me, the cloud is all “up there” somewhere.

“You see I have clients who like to see me and hug me,” I told Sean.  “They like to sit in a chair and put their arms on a table.  They like to see documents.  They are like me, they like to see and touch.”   This sounds like an old Dick and Jane Book.  I say, “I like to touch.”  Sean says, “Virtual is the way to go.”  I say, “I like to see.”  He says, “the cloud is where it is at.”

So we compromised.  I have my office with tables and chairs and some files.  I have legal assistants and computers.  But we also have an office in Seattle that is very close to virtual since the staff for that office are located here in Tacoma, the files are all on the “cloud” and the phones are run through the computer.   Even the way my clients can pay me now is changed.  The old days of checks are almost over.  My clients can now  pay their bill virtually on my iPad or my iPhone.    The funds go directly to our bank accounts.   So this old dog has learned new tricks from this young pup of an attorney.

Science is saying that in order to fight off Alzheimer’s Disease you should learn new languages or take on new learning experiences in your 60s or 70s so you form new synapses in your brain.   If that is true, I will never get that dreaded disease since I have formed so many new synapses in the past few months learning the “cloud” that I think I have rewired my entire brain.

So much has changed in the law office in just 30 years. I know that by the time I retire, law offices may be all virtual.  More and more of my clients contact me by cell phone, voice message, email, text messages or on Facebook.   The age of sit down face to face law practice is changing day by day.  But I am holding on to my desk and chair with clenched hands.  I like face to face contact.  You get more hugs that way!

Jonete W. Rehmke is a partner at Rehmke & Flynn, PLLC, 917 Pacific Avenue, Ste 407, in Tacoma, WA  98402.  She can be reached at (253) 209-0899.

Contributing Author by — October 26, 2011 in Everything Else