Men We Love: Jeff Peterson
October 1, 2009 by Jessica Warnock
Filed under Men We Love, Relationships
Know someone we should feature in Men We Love? We’re talking the total package: brains, beauty and a servant’s heart. Yes, believe it or not, there are plenty of good guys out there who are multi-dimensional, and we’re always on the prowl to recognize them. E-mail nominations to speakup@womensmag.com.
The city of Longmont hired Jeff Peterson 28 years ago to fight fires.
At that time, firefighters didn’t receive formal training. Unlike today, where trainees complete a rigorous 14-week academy, then you trained on the job.
“My lieutenant just said, ‘This is where you sit and do what I tell you,’” Peterson remembers.
One of Peterson’s first calls was a medical shooting call. Enthusiastic and with his adrenaline pumping, Peterson grabbed the medical bags and ran on the scene to help a victim who had been shot in the stomach. After a few moments, he realized he was the only one to have left the truck.
His lieutenant waved a finger for Peterson to come back over.
“I forgot to tell you,” the lieutenant told Peterson. “On shootings we wait for the police to come so we don’t get shot.”
Fortunately, the shooter wasn’t around and Peterson wasn’t injured. Ever since that day he’s been hooked. In fact, he still works for the Longmont Fire Department.
Still, nearly three decades of service isn’t enough for his servant’s heart.
In 2007, Peterson traveled with his wife, Katie Peterson, to Ciudad Mante, Mexico, on a mission trip. From the moment they first visited the city’s orphanage, they were touched. Before the two-week trip was over, the Petersons were drafting plans to start a nonprofit. They wanted to continue helping these children.
The result is Orphan’s Bridge. Since 2007, Orphan’s Bridge has traveled to Mexico three times to work with orphans. They have also raised about $5,000, all of which has gone directly to benefiting children in need.
“We saw the need and feel in love with the kids.” Jeff Peterson says. “We do whatever we can to enrich their lives.”
Orphan’s Bridge makes a big impact in small ways. They installed a swamp cooler to battle extreme temperatures in the orphanage. They put a door in the girls’ room so they could have privacy. Orphan’s Bridge also gives scholarships to older children so they can continue school past the 10th grade, when they have to start paying for education. The goal is provide these disadvantaged children with whatever tools necessary so they have an opportunity to succeed.
Women’s Magazine wanted to know more about Jeff Peterson, so we asked him four questions about love, orphans and Español. We then asked the same questions to Katie, his high-school sweetheart, wife of 30 years, and co-founder of Orphan’s Bridge.
1. What would you be doing if you weren’t a firefighter?
Jeff: I’m kind of a closet artist, so something creative. Architecture really interested me early on. But I’m sure there would be a service aspect to it. If I were doing architecture, I would want to be working in developing countries coming up with inexpensive housing or something along those lines.
Katie: He would be some kind of an artist. A graphic artist or something. That was kind of the road he was going on before he became a fire fighter.
2. What is the most rewarding aspect of working with orphans?
Jeff: Probably their need for attention. You can imagine an orphanage with 44 kids and three staff members. They just don’t get enough adult attention. We walk in the door and two or three of the braver ones are wrapped around your leg. Just that raw need for love.
Katie: Just making a difference for kids. It’s just so hard to see these bright kids in these circumstance that they didn’t ask for. If they were raised in a healthy environment where they had opportunities they would have the world by its tail. These kids are stuck in boundaries that hold them down. Having the opportunity to move those kids past that is the most rewarding.
3. How is your Spanish coming along?
Jeff: (Laughs) Horribly. I took German in junior high and high school. Bad choice. I probably should have been taking Spanish. I understand a lot more than I can speak. I can understand what they are saying, and I might be able to answer with one word.
Katie: (Also laughs) About like mine. We work on it, then we don’t and we lose it. It’s a constant struggle. It’s just hard when you’re not in a place where you’re using it all the time.
4. Describe your ideal date.
Jeff: We both have a passion for travel so a perfect date would be in another country. A bottle of wine in the south of France in some little village in the middle of nowhere. But just going out to dinner and spending time together is always great. That’s a little more reachable.
Katie: I guess where we don’t have a lot of distractions, where we’re outdoors and we can just have a nice conservation.
On the Web
To learn more about how you can help Orphan’s Bridge, visit www.theorphansbridge.org.
— By Jessica Warnock
What a wonderful article. I am especially interested because this young man is my son and Katie is my daughter in law. I am so very proud of what they are doing and what they are involved in.
As a parent I recognized early on that these two would do big things to help in the world, mostly because of who they are and their strong faith. The world is a better place because of them and the work they do.