Bakersfield Life

Remembering a mother's love

    The bond of a mother's love is so great it is rarely broken, even in death. Just ask Brian Mendiburu, who 10 years ago next month buried his beloved mother and created the Mendiburu Magic Foundation as a way to honor her memory by helping countless others in her name.

    It was June 19, 2000, when Nancy Ann Mendiburu lost her six-year battle with ovarian cancer. Just 54, she left behind husband Juanito, Brian and his brother, John Gary, who  all grieved in different ways. “I was very close to my mother and I decided to use my time and energy in her memory,” Brian said. The day his mother died, the foundation was born. “She was aware of what we planned to do. Her only criteria were cancer and youth.”

   As matriarch of the Basque family, Nancy exuded a combination of beauty and fierceness marked by her striking good looks, relatives say. She was also intent on instilling in her children a sense of empathy. Brian, now 32, recalls an experience when he was just 10 during a seemingly meaningless trip to the grocery store with his mother. “The clerk was rude to my mother, and when I asked her why she didn't say anything, she said to me 'You never know what that clerk is experiencing and what is going on in her life,'” Brian said. “That was my first exposure with empathy.” The life lesson served him well.

   The early years of the foundation, more of a small family venture, relied on small junior high school basketball tournaments to raise money, which was then given to the American Cancer Society in Nancy's name. But clearly, the seeds of something special and magical had been sown in the wake of her death. “I still remember coming home from work each night and there would be 80 or 90 voice-mail messages on the answering machine,” said Brian. “I couldn't keep up and I kept asking how could we help all these people and thinking there has to be a better way.”

    In 2004, Mendiburu Magic Foundation was outgrowing itself, becoming more formalized and assembling a board of directors whose names read like a who's who of prestigious local community leaders, including former Superintendent of Schools Larry Reider, former Police Chief Bill Rector and businesswoman Adoree Roberson. “They are there because they are friends and mentors,” said Brian, who attracted them to the foundation on the promise that he wouldn't ask them for money and that their meetings and fundraisers would be few. “We didn't want to duplicate what other organizations were doing and yet we wondered how we could make it a well-oiled organization.” Whether it was the Mendiburu family name -- well regarded in the Basque community -- or the right vehicle at the right time, today the foundation is a sophisticated model for successful nonprofits, despite having no paid staff or office and relying solely on volunteers.

    There are two components to the foundation – patient assistance and youth development. The organization works with hospital social workers who assess the needs of local children and their family. “They (social workers) are able to identify the needs and anything that is not covered by insurance and expenses that fall through the cracks,” said Brian, who serves as  board president. “We felt that was a big need that wasn't being absorbed by other nonprofits.” The foundation also funds cancer research.

     Four years after it was founded, another woman would become as integral to the organization as its namesake when Brian married Valerie Lopez. Today he credits his wife with infusing the effort with the same spirit and passion he admired in his mother. “Valerie deserves a lot of the credit for where we have gone. She is responsible for the restructuring and the tremendous growth the foundation has experienced.” For her part, 27-year-old Valerie has only one regret – that she never had the opportunity to meet the woman at the heart of the foundation to which she has dedicated the last six years. “It is hard to not have met her, but I feel like I know her from all the stories,” said Valerie, who serves as the foundation's vice chairwoman.

    Today, on the eve of the foundation's 10th anniversary, Brian Mendiburu is more reflective. “This was the best vehicle that I could find to pay tribute to my mom and have an impact on Kern County,” said Brian, who by day is dean of students at his alma mater, East High School. If it was his mother who was the impetus for the organization 10 years ago, it is the grandchildren she never met – Brian and Valerie's sons Braden and Jackson -- who motivate them to continue with the foundation's work. “It is very important to teach our boys the concept of giving back to the community,” Valerie said.

    “To start a foundation is one thing. To sustain such an undertaking is difficult,” Brian said. “It is bittersweet to see that my mom has been gone for 10 years, but I am glad to see all the good we are doing.”

Upcoming events

Sept. 18

Pyrenees Fiesta, the foundation's annual fundraiser

6:30 to 11 p.m., Bakersfield City Firefighters Hall, 7320 Wible Road

$50; for advance tickets, e-mail bmendiburu@bak.rr.com 

Oct. 10

Nancy Ann Mendiburu Cancer Fighter Day

Contact Mendiburu Magic Foundation for more information, 587-9940.