babies would be brought to me,” she recalls. “But it didn’t from a business standpoint.”
occur to me until that moment that no one knew where I was In his native city, politics is consid-
or that I wanted to rescue their newborn.” ered a contact sport, vigorously dis-
The insight led her to create a 24/7 crisis hotline in her cussed around dinner tables. “We play
Orange County living room in 1996. Within 12 hours, she for keeps,” explains Von Otnott, “and
received her first call, from a frantic, frightened woman who unlike other larger regional cities, the
had hidden her pregnancy from everyone she knew. To date, business community doesn’t run this city,
Project Cuddle has helped rescue 663 unwanted babies. “No the politicians do. If you want to get any-
baby deserves to die before having a chance to live,” says thing done, you have to understand how
Magnusen, who to function inside the political system.”
understands the A self-described “half capitalist,
desperation of girls half environmentalist,” Von Otnott sells
Troy Von Otnott
and women who solar products and avidly promotes the
can be in labor renewable energy business via his New Orleans-based South
while still deny- Coast Solar Company. A longtime political activist for clean
ing that they are energy, he has been actively involved with his state’s devel-
pregnant. opment of its renewable energy industry.
This tireless activist Von Otnott speaks monthly to groups around the state,
imagines herself in encouraging his audiences to engage in the political process
the place of every by demanding that sustainable business practices become
abandoned child the cornerstone of Louisiana public policy. “Citizens must
Debbe Magnusen
and is inspiration- learn to hold their political candidates accountable and let
ally refueled each them know that renewable energy is an important industry
time she sees a newborn baby crying safely in a hospital. “For that can generate the kind of jobs that can’t be exported,” he
me, God is in every person,” says Magnusen, whose biggest advises. In the end, he reflects, support for renewable ener-
lesson from Project Cuddle, now operating nationally, is the gies supports the betterment of mankind.
grace to be nonjudgmental. “I’m alive,” she maintains, “so that
I can unconditionally love every scared girl or woman [who Troy Von Otnott, South Coast Solar, LLC, 733 St. Joseph St.,
comes to me] through her ordeal.” New Orleans, LA; 504-529-7869; SouthCoastSolar.com.
Contact Debbe Magnusen, Project Cuddle, non-crisis 714-432-
As we begin a new decade, let us see new opportunities
9681 or info@ProductCuddle.org; crisis hotline 888-628-3353.
to take fresh action on the issues we are most passionate
about. With our collective vision and potential, we can go
far in meeting today’s challenges and making the type of
Troy Von Otnott, Political Activist for
impact that Robert Kennedy envisioned in 1996: “Each time
Sustainable Business
a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of
others, or strikes out against injustice, he or she sends forth
As a child growing up in New Orleans, Troy Von Otnott
a tiny ripple of hope. And crossing each other from a million
recalls members of his family embracing politics, interfac-
different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a
ing with politicians and working on public policy issues. The
current that can sweep down the mightiest of walls of op-
lively discussions and debates sparked his curiosity about
pression and resistance.”
the political process and eventually led him to visit the halls
of power in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C.,
Linda Sechrist is a freelance writer and the editor of Natural
for a firsthand understanding of how a democracy works.
Awakenings’ flagship magazine in Southwest Florida. Con-
He remarks: “Although we live in a free enterprise society,
nect via 239-434-9392.
government still controls how we function in life, particularly
Website: LogicalTherapyCenter.com
555 W. Granada Blvd, Ste D-0 • Ormond Beach, FL 32174
March 2010 21
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