Well, I put off this blog and now I’m coming down off Sudafed from an awful cold. Truly one of the worst. Either that, or it’s just been so long since I’ve really been sick that I forgot how it goes! Anyway, in this episode, we talk about Caffe Molise, for those of you a certain age, The Bay. Our beautiful and perfect friend, VaNita Levesque turned 50 and we celebrated (she’s also really excited to be the grandma of a grandson in October)! There’s garden talk, featuring leg zucchini, Jeremy’s bees are the bomb with their dandelion yellow honeycomb but we’re all worried about tomatoes and peppers.
The best part of this episode is when we talk to Hildegard, Hilde, and Jay Koenig with Ink Against Cancer and Ink Against Cancer Warriors Foundation.
Hilde hails from Caracas, Venezuela but grew up in a German Encampment and was the first mixed grandkid in the family. When she was little, she only spoke German and didn’t learn Spanish until she was about five or six. She and her family moved to Utah when she was about 16. Her father had to leave the country for political reasons. Her full time job is working with victims of crime and like Jeremy and I, went to Granger High School at the same time as us. Truly a kindred spirit!
Jay was born in Salt Lake at LDS Hospital. He went to a lot of high schools and got his GED at 21, what an amazing accomplishment. Jay is a Jack of all trades and a musician. His band was called ‘The Opposable Thumb.’ Jay’s grandparents migrated to New York and met at a church, then moved out to Utah for family.
Hilde is the oldest of three sisters, by 10 years and 12 years. She started working when she was very young, got into a bad relationship and which landed her on a feeding tube. She and Jay met in an old bar/porn theatre. They were both anti-marriage, but started out like old friends and Jay adopted her kids. They will have been married for 21 years on July 13th.
After marriage she got earned her paralegal certificate to work in victim aide, for social justice AND worked as security at a music venue. She and Jay started Ink Against Cancer because of Wolf, who they me at a music venue and who was instant family. Wolfe didn’t have insurance when he got sick, listen to Hilde and Jay talk about his story and how he inspired the Foundation. The foundation who uses artists, mostly tattoo artists, to help raise money.
They realized that while there is lots of money for research, there’s not any set aside for the actual person. They started out as an LLC before they set up the foundation to give themselves some time to learn. They became a foundation after the fourth year. Listen to the episode to learn about all the cool musicians they’ve met and who support them along with great sponsors like the Grizzlies and now RSL and the Jazz are joining in. They’ll talk about their yearly fundraiser and how they grant last wishes!
Hilde and Jay’s interesting or unique thing is Utah’s beautiful naturescape. Being able to explore, the indigenous reservations, local ruins, and Ink Against Cancer gets to work with our local tribes and have access to things that others don’t always get to see
If you haven’t already, set your Amazon Smile and Smith’s/Kroger card to Ink Against Cancer.
One last wonderous thing about Hilde, she was granted the 2022 Ignacia Zargoza Utah Victims of Crime, Woman of the Year Award by the Centro Civico Mexicano.
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