Bobby Markels, MCCF Founder
Bobby
Markels, MCCF
Founder & Writer
How She Came to
Mendocino:
"I deserted my
job as administrative
assistant/executive secretary for
the Dept. of Psychiatry, Mt. Zion
Hospital, San Francisco and arrived
with my two young adolescent
children Fall of 1966.
I lived and
worked at the Randall Packard
Gallery till April of '67. An aunt
had given me $1,000 to 'start a new
life' and realizing I couldn't stay
unless I owned a home (as even then
rentals were expensive in the summer
for someone of my means ($75.00 for
a 3-bedroom house) I bought a 1/3
acre parcel with a modest (to say
the least) house and a sort of
rental cabin/trailer thing which I
rented for $35.00 per month.
This house cost
$8,500 and had been previously
traded for a '58 Chevy. In 1972 a
fire burned down most of the house
and carpenter-friends rebuilt it for
$3.00 an hour and lunch. I
'finished' in September of '72, but
there was still no ceiling in one
room, just the roof and tar paper on
some wall and floors; in other rooms
uncovered cement was flooring and my
black burnt out bathroom was an
eyesore.
I worked making
it livable till 1980, also producing
my first two books, 'How to Be a
Human Bean' and 'Mendocino Malady'
(On The Eve of My 50th Year) at
which time I went down to Sonoma to
attend the university there.
I graduated cum
laude and Valedictorian
(student speaker) came back and
started a reentry program at the
College of the Redwoods, staying
there for two years, during which
time I published 'Being Here',
'Popper' while still working on
remodeling the house until when I
published 'Lately I’ve Been
Thinking.’ Later came ‘Summing Up’
and the final ‘Mendocino Malady –
The Complete Collection 1966-2006’.”
Bobby Starts the Mendocino Coast
Children’s Fund
I had been
reading about the plight of children
throughout the planet and my mind
and feelings were occupied with
wanting to be of service. I thought
about sending $25 a month to one of
those foreign children's groups
which helps kids but a friend told
me that fine as their groups were,
the money didn't go to the kids,
rather it usually went to the
community for building schools and
hospitals, certainly good causes.
But I wanted it to go directly to
the children.
I was in Ft.
Bragg one day on errands and drove
through a neighborhood and saw some
little children playing in the
street, two didn't have shoes, and
they were all in danger of oncoming
cars. Later that day, walking up
Little Lake, I had an Epiphany. (I
felt like Paul on the way to
Damascus!): Why don't I start a
kids' fund right here on the coast.
I was thrilled thinking about it.
The first three women I asked,
friends in a small woman's group,
were tied up in other things; I
didn't know who else to ask to help
me. I phoned a couple of women I
sort of knew, asking if they were
interested and received responses
like, ‘Well you know, Bobby, their
parents will drink up the cash' or
'Oh, they'll cheat in order to get
things and then sell them back to
the stores'. I was very discouraged,
though I kept trying.
One day I called
Betty Barber, as I knew she did lots
of community work, and she said
she'd love to help. Then I went to
see David Herstle Jones and asked if
we had business problems would he
help; neither of us could even
figure what he could do at that
point but I had a second name on my
list. I phoned Margaret Holub who
said she'd join and was just
tremendous. In between a lot of
no's, Mary Cardiff said she'd act as
legal advisor (and she ended up
doing a lot of work) and then
Marshall McNeil joined,
Inge Bell, and Renee Oschin. Our first meeting was
on the balcony at Daley's (this
building is now known as The Company
Store). Linnette Zimmer came in as
our dearly beloved accountant and we
had a respectable group.
Our aim was to
help local children’s needs like
school supplies and other essential
items, as well as all kinds of
special health needs, psychiatric
needs, and so on, and as requests
came in we helped a lot of children
get glasses, attend special camps,
receive special needs’ physical
equipment; everything one can
imagine, roses as well as bread.
Our very first
'order' was for school backpacks for
19 kids. We scouted around and
figured out to give vouchers at Rite
Aid for backpacks and Feet First for
shoes. We sent out mailings. I
did a couple of readings to raise
money and what was the most fun for
me was people would grab me on the
street and talk to me about the
group, asking how to either send
money or receive money; it was a
very fulfilling time."
Today
MCCF founder and writer Bobby Markels still
lives in Mendocino and shares her
wisdom and counsel with the current
board of directors of the Mendocino
Coast Children’s Fund. Her books are
available locally at Gallery
Bookstore and can be purchased
online at www.gallerybooks.com
in Mendocino Village.
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