CNJ+ April 2023

Do You Know About

Meet Your

CONNECTING TO

? Neighbor

MEDIA IS EASY

Nominate a neighbor or friend for a story in CNJ+... we want to share these stories! 1. Please email the publisher at cami@guntherpublications.com 2. In the subject line write “Meet Your Neighbor” 3. Attach a high-resolution photo with a brief email about the nominee

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After the Allied landing on D-Day, living conditions grew worse, and Arnhem was subsequently heavily damaged during Operation Market Garden. This was an operation by the allies to take the nine bridges, but they were met with heavy opposition by the Germans and could not take the bridge to Arnhem. During the 1944-45 Dutch famine, the Germans hindered or reduced the already limited food and fuel supplies to civilians in retaliation for Dutch rail way strikes that were held to hinder the occupation. Like others, Hepburn's family resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits; a source of starchy carbohydrates. Dutch doctors provided recipes for using tulip bulbs throughout the famine. It was a time when many people starved to death and died of malnutrition. Hepburn never forgot the newly formed UNICEF Organization coming to feed and aid them after the war ended. Suffering from the effects of malnutrition herself, Hepburn become gravely ill with jaundice, anemia, and a respiratory infection. Her mother wrote to an old friend asking for help. He sent her thousands of cigarettes, which she sold on the black market. She used the money to buy penicillin for her ailing daughter. That most likely saved Audrey’s life. The financial situation of the Van Heemstra family was changed significantly as a result of the occupation, during which time many of their properties (including their principal estate in Arnhem) were badly damaged or destroyed. Hepburn and her mother moved to Amsterdam after the war. Due to her frail state of being, Hepburn was not fit to go on with her ballet studies. Her mother had to support them by working as a cook and housekeeper for a wealthy family. This is when Hepburn turned to acting. She made her film debut playing an air stewardess in Dutch in Seven Lessons, in 1948, an education al travel film. She supported herself with part-time work as a model, and dropped "Ruston" from her surname, using Hepburn instead. She then appeared in several theatrical plays, and as luck would have it, she was spotted by a casting director who cast her in many different television shows. While playing a small role in Monte Carlo Baby, which was filmed in Monte Carlo, French novelist, Colette, discovered her talent and cast her in the title role in the Broad way play Gigi, which prompted her into Stardom. She went on to star in many successful movies after that with top male stars of the time. Throughout her life, she never forgot the traumatic horrors of war that she was witnessed. They left a profound mark on her. She used her influence to raise awareness on starvation and severe malnutrition of children around the world. She knew what it was like, firsthand, to be hungry. She was lucky to have been among those who received food and medical attention right after the war from UNICEF volunteers. Hepburn was known for many things: a star, an academy award winning actress, a philanthropist, a fashion icon, an advocate, a wife, a mother, and more. Throughout her life, she had sponsored many charities, but in 1988 when she was chosen as the official spokesperson for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, she found her true calling. It was her turn to give back to an organization that personally helped her regain her health after the war. She was a tireless advocate for children’s rights and made over 50 trips to countries all around the world seeing first-hand the conditions children in war torn and disaster-ridden areas had to endure. She went to Ethiopia, where years of drought and civil strife caused terrible famine, visited a polio vaccine project in Turkey, helped with training programs for women in Venezuela, helped with initiatives for children living and working on the streets in Ecuador, worked on projects to provide drinking water in Guatemala and Honduras. She started radio literacy programs in El Salvador, saw to building schools in Bangladesh, provided services for the impoverished children in Thailand, provided nutrition initiatives in Viet Nam, provided camps for displaced children in Sudan, and even kept on working after being diagnosed with intestinal cancer. Before she died, she was working in Africa helping underprivileged chil dren. She sold dresses from some of her most famous roles to provide food, clean water, and clothes for the kids. Then she advocated on their behalf before governments, special assemblies at the United Nations, to the press, and anyone eager to cover this international star. Hepburn worked relentlessly for UNICEF. She gave up her time and money to help children all over the world, and still made time for her own children. She testified before the US Congress, took part in the World Summit for Children, launched UNICEF’S State of the World’s Children’s Report, designed fundraising cards, participated in benefit concert tours, and gave many speeches and interviews promoting UNICEF’s work throughout her partnership with UNICEF. Through the Red Cross, she made contact with her father, after finding him in Dublin. Although he remained emotionally detached from her, she sup ported him financially for the rest of his life. Hepburn received the United States highest civilian award, The Presidential Medal of Freedom, in 1992. That year, thou ill with cancer, she continued her work for UNICEF, traveling to France, Kenya, Somalia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. She made one last trip back to her beloved home in Switzerland shortly after. This was the place where she wanted to be when she died. Hepburn died at 63 years of age. A beautiful soul cut short too soon. There is no doubt that the work she did made such an impact for children all over the world. Her work and the work of UNICEF continues to help those children all over the world in need.

20 CNJ+ | FORMERLY THE MILLSTONE TIMES

APRIL 2023