The founders of UNDERWEARNESS are young professionals who regularly count their many blessings in life. When it came to their attention that some children do not have underwear – clean or otherwise – it was decided that that wasn’t acceptable. Using each of the founder’s talents, the organization was formed to “Help children one pair at a time.”
Koree Khongphand-Buckman, Co-Founder and President
Koree is the Regional Marketing Director of the Western Region for Hogan Lovells. She is involved in the Denver community and started this organization because no child should be deprived of such a simple necessity like new underwear! Koree believes that the simple mission behind UNDERWEARNESS is making a difference for children across the country and she will continue to spread the word in hopes of helping more and more children each year.
Kelly Ahrendt, Vice President
Kelly has been a supporter of UNDERWEARNESS since its inception, latching on to the idea that even small gestures, like a package of new underwear, can make an impact on someone’s life. She has enthusiastically lead efforts for Drop Your Drawers and Run Wild, our signature event each year. A marketer by trait, she enjoys spreading the word about UNDERWEARNESS to anyone willing to listen to her. She happily lives in Denver.
Dan Buckman, Treasurer
Dan was the inspiration that started it all, rousing his wife, Koree and her friends to start UNDERWEARNESS. Growing up in a family of six children, Dan understands first-hand the difficulty that parent’s face in providing the basic necessities for their children.
Dan is a tax accountant specializing in international tax and also serves on the metro-Denver advisory board for The Salvation Army. He lives in Thornton, Colorado.
Sarah Wells, Secretary
Sarah is a tax manager specializing in international tax and lives in Denver. She got involved with UNDERWEARNESS because so often this basic need is overlooked and forgotten but there are still so many children out there who need our help. Sarah has been involved in the planning and coordination of our annual Drop Your Drawers and Run Wild event each year and recently joined the board to actively support all of the UNDERWEARNESS endeavors.
Leigh Kerwin, Director of Donor Relations and Member-at-large
Leigh is presently a Research and Grants Manager at University of Colorado Denver. She moved to Denver in 2010 and has been involved with Underwearness since their first event in 2009. Leigh is a compassionate person who cares about the needs of others and is excited to be part of an organization that is helping children at a very important level.