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glencoeanchor.com life & arts
the glencoe anchor | June 6, 2019 | 19
Loyola students trace family roots in humanitarian outreach
Hilary Anderson
Freelance Reporter
Many young people
spent their school’s recent
spring break somewhere
warm basking in the sunshine
with friends.
Not Loyola Academy’s
Ivana Cooper, 16, and
Marco Signoretto, 14, of
Wilmette, who are cousins.
The two instead traveled
at their own expense to the
Ljubluski Special Needs
Rehabilitation Center in
Bosnia and Hercegovina.
They brought with them a
check for $15,176.40 and
presented it to the Center.
The money was the result
of their grassroots efforts
begun shortly after
the 2018 holidays to raise
money for the facility.
“The Rehabilitation Center
provides educational,
therapeutic and vocational
services to children, teens
and young adults,” Cooper
said. “Most residents have
physical or mental disabilities.
They range in age
from about 1 to around 33.”
What is noteworthy
about Cooper’s and Signoretto’s
efforts is that it was
one of their own choosing,
not a mandated service
project by their school.
There were several reasons
why both young people
decided to raise funds
for the Center.
“Foremost in their minds
were the stories they heard
from their grandparents,
Karlo and Dragica Karacic,
who emigrated to America
from Hercegovina,” said
Mara Cooper, Ivana’s
mother who also is Croatian.
“They have deep family
roots that triggered a
need for giving back.”
“Our grandfather, Karlo
Dragica, escaped from then
Communist Bosnia in the
middle of the night,” Ivana
Cooper said. “He traveled
in a type of “underground
network” to a town in Italy
where he was placed in an
immigrant camp for about
a year. Our grandmother
escaped, too, but she was
younger and it was not as
dangerous.”
Ivana Cooper’s older
brother, Dane, also inspired
her to become involved in
the needs of others.
“When my brother was
a college student, he raised
funds for an orphanage
in Cambodia,” she said.
“I was moved even more
when I heard about Cambodia’s
Phymean Noun
who received CNN’s Hero
of the Year Award for her
efforts to save Cambodian
children she discovered in
a trash heap. She founded
a school for them and the
People’s Improvement Organization.
It was then I
decided to ask my cousin,
Marco, to join me and raise
money for a similar organization
and he agreed.”
In addition to the local
churches to which the families
belong — Wilmette’s
St. Joseph and Sauganash’s
Queen of All Saints — the
family is involved in activities
at St. Jerome’s, a Croatian
parish on Chicago’s
South Side.
They also participate in
activities at the Croatian
Cultural Center on
Chicago’s North Side
where Cooper does folklore
dances and plays a Croatian
instrument, the Tambura,
similar to a guitar.
“Through our contacts
we were able to learn about
the Rehabilitation Center
and the needs there,” Cooper
said. “We got in touch
with the Center, asked if we
could do a fundraiser for
them and of course, they
needed financial help.”
The two cousins along
with other family members
began asking friends for
donations.
“My mom, Jadranka
Signoretto, and I started
contacting people,” Marco
Signoretto said. “We made
a list of email addresses,
talked with teachers and
friends, put information on
social media and distributed
fliers.”
Cooper took the effort
even more personally.
“I have two jobs and was
saving my money to buy a
new soft top for my car,”
she said. “I decided the Rehabilitation
Center could
Wilmette’s Marco Signoretto, 14, and his cousin,
Ivana Cooper, 16, both students at Loyola Academy,
work with students at the Ljubluski Special Needs
Rehabilitation Center in Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Photos submitted
put my money to better use
for its residents. It was not
a hard decision. We have so
many resources here where
we live. The residents have
so little.”
The cousins’ fundraiser
proved successful.
“Our friends and their
families were so generous,”
Signoretto said. “This was
my first time doing such a
big project. It was kind of
overwhelming. Those who
helped us raise the money
were so nice and caring.”
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The two cousins along
with Mara Cooper personally
delivered the check
for $15,176.40 during their
2019 Spring Break.
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