Throughout the 50 years that Rip and Julie Van Camp have been married, their core values have always encompassed three things: family, travel, and helping others.

The Van Camps are being honored for their service to the Lopez community with the 2008 Dolly and Andy Holland Spirit Award.

The award is named for the Hollands, now both deceased, for their outstanding commitment to Lopez.

Everyone is invited to a community potluck and celebration of the tremendous spirit of Lopez Islanders on Sunday, Nov. 30, 5 p.m. at Lopez Center. The crowd will toast the Van Camps for their many years of volunteer work on the island.

Rip and Julie met in Russia as part of a foreign exchange program through their colleges. They’ve traveled the world together, lived in a handful of major U.S. cities, raised three children, and been active with many non-profits.

After finishing his master’s degree in Business Administration at Cornell, Rip entered the corporate world, first at Colgate-Palmolive as a marketing director and then at American Home Products. For a while he purchased small businesses, but then began work at Gillette and later R.J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. Since Rip was not a fan of cigarettes, he managed the non-tobacco division of the business. Before retiring, he was a consultant for major companies.

Julie earned an undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Iowa and wrote for newspapers in California and New York.

Once she had children, she left the working world. “It was the era where mothers didn’t work,” she said.

In Boston, when her kids were in their teens, Julie went back to school for her master’s degree in criminal justice. She later ran the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court student law program for k-12 kids and then the National Center for Research and Development in Law-Related Education at Wake Forest University.

While managing careers and a family, the Van Camps always stayed involved with non-profits, whether it was serving on the YMCA board or helping raise funds for a specific project.

Although Rip at one time owned a business in La Conner, and the couple vacationed for years near the San Juans with their kids, they didn’t explore the islands until Julie’s 50th birthday in 1986.

“I became a little rebellious, and I decided to learn to mountain climb at the Jim Whittaker School on Mt. Rainier,” said Julie.

Rip and their daughter flew up to visit her, but Julie’s feet were so swollen from climbing that they had to reschedule their original plan of more hiking. So they went to the Wooden Boat Festival in Victoria, BC instead, traveling through the San Juans.

They enjoyed all the islands, but Lopez reminded Julie of the farmland in Iowa where she grew up. They bought a parcel of undeveloped land before they flew back home.

Lopez architect Pete Petersen designed their exquisite log cabin house and guest cabin. They moved to Lopez permanently in 1992.

Rip and Julie almost immediately began lending their expertise to island projects. “Whatever skills we developed we like to impart to others. It’s about sharing what you’ve learned,” commented Rip.

Both Julie and Rip were instrumental is getting Lopez Center built and functional. Rip has helped strategize planning for Lopez Hospice and has been a driving force behind the $5 million Lopez Housing Options (LOHO) project. Julie is a hospice volunteer, helps with the Lopez Family Resource Center Sailing Program, and has been a mentor for Lopez kids for 10 years. “It’s the best thing I’ve done. To just have that personal, one-on-one touch,” she said.

Most recently, Julie was elected by the County Council to the Lodging Tax Advisory Council, which provides money to island organizations through the hotel/motel tax.

Rip and Julie believe strongly in education. They have presented programs at Lopez School and been involved with school activities.

In addition, they pay for the schooling of a girl in St. Lucia, and just last week they “adopted” a young woman Julie met in Kenya whose parents died from AIDS. The Van Camps will pay for all of her education and visit her the next time they travel to Africa.

The Van Camps have also opened up their home to many non-profit groups. The Lopez Community Land Trust, the Children’s Center, Sally’s Garden, Lopez Hospice, and LOHO have all held strategic planning sessions in the conference room of the Van Camps’ house.

This award is particularly special to Rip and Julie because they were very close friends with Andy and Dolly Holland. “It’s a little embarrassing to be receiving this, since Rip and I helped start this annual award. But we are also honored. We adored Andy. So to be compared to his spirit is a humbling experience.”