Following in distant cousin's steps, woman takes stand for children | Community Spirit

Julia Baggenstos has never met her step-cousin Maggie Doyne, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting to follow in her footsteps.

After her senior year of high school, Doyne left New Jersey for Nepal, where she met hundreds of orphans – ex-child soldiers, young girls sold into sex slavery – who lacked a place to live and learn.

Desiring to build a safe home for them, Doyne used $5,000 of babysitting money to buy land. She opened the Kopila Valley Children’s Home three years ago on that land, where she now lives. Last year, she opened the Kopila Valley Primary School, which now boasts 250 students.

“As I began to learn more about Maggie and all she has been able to accomplish at such a young age, I felt inspired to help her in any way that I could,” Baggenstos said.

Baggenstos, who grew up in Snohomish and graduated from Western Washington University with a degree in sociology, is hosting two fundraisers in Seattle over the next week to raise money for Doyne’s organization, BlinkNow.

“If Maggie was able to make enough money to build the Kopila Valley Children’s Home through babysitting and local fundraising, I knew that any small efforts that I made here would make a big difference over there,” Baggenstos said.

Baggenstos, 24, works at the Bellevue Boys & Girls Club. She said she has always been passionate about children and dreams of working in an orphanage.

To that end, Baggenstos has purchased a ticket for Nepal, where she will be spending three months helping out at the Kopila Valley Children’s Home, which houses 35 orphans.

She said Doyne’s father told her the two things the Children’s Home needs most is money to keep it up and running and long-term volunteers.

“While Maggie has many volunteers that pass through … it is those who are able to stay for an extended period of time that make the biggest impact in the children’s lives,” Baggenstos said.

Baggenstos is leaving in October but wanted to do something to help while she awaits her trip.

She said she hopes the Concert Benefitting Nepal will make more people aware of Doyne, who believes people can change the world “in the blink of an eye,” and the work she is doing in Nepal.

“It’s people like Maggie that make all the difference,” she said. “I am taking a stand for the children of this world, and I am committed to making a difference in their lives.”

The Concert Benefitting Nepal takes place at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center, located at 4272 Fremont Ave. N. Music will be provided by Andrew Vait, Kevin Long and Simon Kornelis, and artist Fritha Strand-Davern will do a live painting. Tickets are a $15 minimum donation at the door, and there will be a raffle with prizes.

Speed Dating for Nepal takes place at 7 p.m. Aug. 30 and Aug. 31 at Amber, located at 2214 First Ave. Entrance is $35, half of which will be donated to BlinkNow.