Mourning a great man
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - Annie Duke
This week is a sad one for me. Ken Bacon, President of Refugees International, passed away this week. Ken was an extraordinary individual with an amazing passion for finding lasting solutions to the refugee problem around the world. He was a Wall Street Journal reporter who became chief Pentagon spokesman under Clinton. He joined RI in 2001.
I met Ken Bacon in October, during the filming of The Celebrity Apprentice. Because Ante Up for Africa was in the process of becoming a 501c3 while the Apprentice was filming, I couldn’t play directly for my own charity. So I played for RI which is aligned in its mission with the mission of AUFA. At my first meeting with Ken I presented him with a $245K check from winning a task on Celebrity Apprentice and to say his reaction was reserved would be a drastic understatement. I was a little taken aback until I figured out the he was just an incredible sincere individual. We ended up chatting for a very long time about the issues in Sudan and Darfur and I could see the passion and real commitment to the issue that this man had.
I saw Ken a few times after that, once at the filming of the final task of the Apprentice where without Ken’s help I don’t think I could have pulled the auction off. The last time I saw him was for the 30th Anniversary Gala of Refugees International where I presented that $245K check again to a much greater reaction.
Ken brought a passion to the cause that I hope to emulate. We should all be so lucky to have someone like Ken Bacon fighting for us and the things we believe in. I am truly lucky to have known him, if even for such a brief time. I am certainly a better person for the time I got with him.
Tags: Ante Up For Africa, Celebrity Apprentice, Clinton, Ken Bacon, refugees international
