Alumni Association Home > Past Issues > 2005 > November-December 2005	Print View

When the devastation following Hurricane Katrina filled the news late this summer, most of us promptly donated money or supplies. We didn’t know what else we could do. Simon (B.A. ’65, Morris) and Karen Zeller, however, soon found out what they had the capacity to do.

Two weeks after the hurricane, the Zellers headed to Louisiana with a truckload of supplies donated by residents of Faribault, Minnesota, and distributed them at a church in Baton Rouge. They had told the Faribault newspaper that, if a displaced family was in need of shelter, they were willing to make available the threebedroom house that they use for office space. While the Zellers were still in Louisiana, the Red Cross called and reported that a family from New Orleans had already arrived in Minnesota and desperately needed help. Less than 36 hours later, Simon and Karen were welcoming eight strangers into their lives.

Melvin, a single father from Honduras with five children (Tania, 11, Harold, 7, Aminda, 5, Cynthia, 3, and Jimmy, 2) along with his brother, Brian, and a family friend, Cecilia, came with only a garbage bag containing their sole possessions. The family needed everything, from advocates to financial help. Not a problem. Flipflop sandals were replaced with new sneakers. The Catholic school waived tuition for the three older children, and Karen sent them off to school in brand-new clothes. Someone donated bicycles.

Friends donated a car for Melvin and then held a rummage sale to pay for a year of auto insurance. Trained as a carpenter, Melvin lost all of his tools in the disaster. Local businesspeople not only replaced the tools, they also promised him a job. Cecilia is helping the woman next door with her catering business. And all of the adults are enrolled in classes to improve their English.

The Zellers’ connections to the Twin Cities campus were cemented through their daughters who were Gopher athletes: Jennifer (B.S. ’93), a basketball player, and Kristen (B.S. ’94, M.D. ’98), a swimmer. Karen is on the U’s Advisory Committee on Athletics, and the Zellers were the first donors to endow a women’s basketball scholarship. In 1998, when their son Tom was two courses shy of a degree, he died in an accident, and the Zellers later endowed a scholarship at the U in his name. They also have two other children—Mark and Erin Michelle, or Mikki, who were both adopted from Korea.

Who are the Zellers? They would tell you that they’re just ordinary people who love their family, their community, and the University of Minnesota and who believe that extraordinary times afford extraordinary opportunities. Their propensity to open their hearts began in the 1960s, when they returned from Korea, after a 12-month military stint, with two adopted sons. The Zellers expect their New Orleans family to be with them through the spring—and to become long-term residents of Minnesota. So they’ve already begun talking to the young ones about attending the University. The kids have no idea what this means, but I’ve sent them U of M T-shirts so they’ll be ready for their visit to campus this fall.

All of us experience tragic events in our lives. Few, however, can comprehend losing everything and having no place to turn. We all mourn the Katrina tragedy and give what we can. And we all benefit from people like the Zellers, who show us that the capacity to care and to make a difference knows no boundaries.