Celebrating Brian Kopperud: A legacy of generosity and creativity
/
The Kopperud Family
Everything COMPAS does to bring creativity into the lives of Minnesotans is powered by our donors, and the stories we hear about what inspires their generosity are profoundly moving. One such story was shared with us recently by the Kopperud family, who raised funds for COMPAS in honor of their late father, Brian Kopperud. In a letter, his son Ryan (who serves on the COMPAS board of directors) explained:
“When my father, Brian Kopperud, passed away unexpectedly in 2020, my sister decided to use the week of his birthday and the anniversary of his passing the following year to do something good. She raised money and collected canned goods for a local food drive in North Minneapolis, and it helped her feel better. It was a way to refocus grief and pain into generosity and positivity. That year, we unofficially coined it ‘The Unstoppable Good Drive’ to honor my father being a force of unstoppable good in the world.”
In this year’s Unstoppable Good Drive, Ryan and his family raised $6,000 from their community of family, friends, and supporters and donated it to COMPAS in their father’s name. Thanks to them, COMPAS will be able to provide creative experiences to thousands of people - of all ages and backgrounds - across Minnesota. People from marginalized and under-served communities will have the chance to make art, which research says provides the kind of comfort, healing, and joy so desperately needed right now.
Ryan said it best: “Art can soften hurt, it can grow joy, it can give language to difficult experiences, it can give voice to historically underrepresented populations, it can connect people in communities across space, time, culture, and language, and it can decorate life with more beauty than any of us might otherwise experience.”
Ryan and Brian Kopperud
We are deeply grateful for Brian Kopperud’s legacy of kindness, compassion, and generosity. It is truly unstoppable.
If you’d like hear about future Unstoppable Good Drive activities, please sign up for their mailing list.
