Ignoring the obvious pun, Rainn Wilson doesn’t much enjoy the rain. Although he hails from Seattle and spent half of his life here, the Emmy-nominated actor, most famous for his role as Dwight Shrute in “The Office,” said he prefers the sun-drenched valleys of Los Angeles and crisp mountain air of Bend, Ore. — the two cities between which he splits his life.
Yet last weekend, through torrents of rain, wind and the ominous gray clouds in between, Wilson dashed from Kane Hall at the University of Washington to lunch with Mona Foundation members to coffee with various journalists to Pike Place Market to visit his mother at her jewelry shop and to the home of Steve and Libby Miller on Mercer Island. The actor/comedian, who graduated with a degree in drama from the University of Washington in 1986 (He went on to complete a master’s at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts), had returned to rain-soaked Seattle for a good cause: the 10th anniversary of the Mona Foundation, which Wilson has been involved with for two years.
In celebration, a fundraiser luncheon was held at the Miller’s East Mercer home: an elegant banquet overlooking the choppy waves of Lake Washington. Shortly before the luncheon began, Steve Miller led Reporter staff to his son’s rec room, which he thought might be a “quiet” place for us to talk with the Mona Foundation guest speaker. But once Wilson spotted the glistening drum set in the corner of the room, he couldn’t resist picking up the sticks and rocking out for a few minutes; a reminder that Wilson is as much a musician as he is an actor, comedian and philanthropist.
With that itch out of his system, the Seattle native sat down to talk about what he was here for — commemorating 10 years of supporting international education and grassroots development through the Mona Foundation.
After chatting with the Reporter about his recent visit to Haiti with foundation members (see Q&A page 15), his role in the Emmy-award winning TV show, “The Office,” and his work in an upcoming independent film with actress Ellen Page that is currently in pre-production, the actor was shuffled away to speak with guests before the luncheon officially began.
About 100 people attended the Nov. 7 reception, many of whom — like Wilson — have spent hours volunteering in some way with the foundation’s 19 projects on four different continents.
As the luncheon’s guest speaker, Wilson added a personal note to the ceremony in addition to a bit of comedy — “How’s the chicken, everybody? I haven’t gotten the chance to taste it yet… Don’t touch my chicken. I see you eyeing it over there.” — with some stories from his experience last month in Haiti. The actor visited Mona Foundation schools in the country, alongside foundation president Mahnaz Javid and several other members, including Esther Schorr of Mercer Island. Although many may perceive the group’s visit as a “charitable” mission, Wilson sees things differently.
“The Mona Foundation isn’t really a charity,” Wilson said, after explaining his aversion to the word. “It’s really a program for social development. The way that it develops communities is through giving the gift of education — especially to women and girls — and empowering them to take that into their communities and build the communities.”
In closing, Javid, the Kirkland-based organization’s president, reminded the room that although the Mona Foundation — which focuses, in particular, on raising the status of women and educating young girls in developing countries — now serves 30,000 children across the globe, she hopes to double its growth next year “as we’ve done every year for the past 10 years.” Saturday’s event alone raised $70,000.
“For every child that we serve, there are 10 more waiting,” Javid told the crowded room. “I think that through the efforts of wonderful people like we have here, and many groups like this that help elsewhere, I am absolutely sure that we will reach this goal.”
For more information on the Mona Foundation, visit www.monafoundation.org.
Q&A with actor Rainn Wilson
Mercer Island Reporter journalists Elizabeth Celms and Megan Managan sat down with “The Office” actor Rainn Wilson to talk before the Mona Foundation’s 10-year anniversary celebration on Nov. 7.
Q: Welcome to Mercer Island. Have you ever been here before?
A: I’ve been on Mercer Island a few times. Once I ran out of gas in the middle of the floating bridge during rush hour. Yeah, I was one of those people. I actually made the a.m. radio traffic news. I felt terrible. Then a guy pushed me all the way, literally bumper to bumper. He sent a truck and started pushing me toward a gas station.
Q: Since we only have you for 10 minutes, I’d like to talk a bit about the Mona Foundation. What message do you hope to get across to those communities where education is not an immediate priority due to economic or cultural circumstances?
A: Well, one of the great things about Haiti, because I just got back from there last week — where I visited the projects of the Mona Foundation — is that in Haiti, education is the priority. Families will do anything to get their kids into school. They really will starve themselves to save the money to put their kids in school. There just aren’t enough schools and there certainly aren’t enough good schools. So education really is a priority. They just need more of it — more and better.
Q: I’m sure you came away from that experience with so much. Is there one thing, though, that stood out?
A: It’s exactly what we’re talking about. Haiti is a completely broken country. There’s no infrastructure. There’s just devastating poverty and deforestation and hunger and garbage everywhere, and nothing works. And yet, the schools that we saw were so beautiful and filled with so much life and hope and happiness. Haiti has gotten hundreds of billions of dollars in hand-outs. We need to stop the hand-outs and teach, help train and empower the Haitians to take care of themselves and run their own country and be future leaders. That’s why education is definitely the way to go in terms of social development programs.
