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Charity Matters Inspiration

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Finding Joy

This past week has been incredible and I’m still trying to get my head around all that has happened in just a few short days. Sometimes life can be overwhelming and we get caught up in how much we have going on.  We can focus on the to dos rather than on the joy that each experience brings. I have had to remind myself of this more than a few times.

Last weekend we celebrated my Dad’s 85th birthday which was the beginning of my gratitude. As most of you know, my dad has died more than a few times. He has seen the light and yet he was still here to celebrate a milestone birthday. As usual, my dad puts everything in perspective reminding us that each day is a gift. He is right! There is no joy without gratitude. I am so thankful to have my dad here for all of this.

We had an election and then the next day my dear friends hosted a beautiful book launch party for Change for Good. Living in LA my friends came from all parts of town, dealt with insane traffic to celebrate this milestone. It was such a special night having my family there and so many of the amazing people who have walked this journey with me. The joy was palpable. The excitement and feedback from the book has been overwhelming. People are buying six to ten copies at a time, giving them to friends. All of it has been surreal to say the least.

As if that wasn’t enough for the week, I was chosen to present the book to my publishing group the next morning. An incredible group of female authors that She Rises Studios brings together via zoom each week. That was a privilege and really fun. Later that evening we had our TACSC benefit to raise funds for the youth leadership nonprofit that is my day job. Another incredible night supporting people who serve and lead.

All of that brings me to my husband’s birthday, another opportunity for joy. His birthday is also the day before the anniversary of my parent’s car accident. Twenty-two years ago this week. I’ve been talking a lot about the book this week and as a result a lot about my mom. I have felt her guide me and her presence in all of this. My mom is the person who knew what joy was. She created it, she laughed all the time and she embraced life fully. Her voice and legacy is on these pages and everywhere in the book. I came across this picture of her recently and it is exactly who she was.

My mom knew life was precious and life is short. Hers was. She knew what mattered. I shared this the other night at the book launch and thought I would share it again here.

At the end of our one precious beautiful life people are not going to talk about how rich or how thin you were. They are going to talk about how you made people feel, who you helped, how you lived and how you made the world better through your kindness and love. I am not a perfect example of this but the hundreds of nonprofit founders who I have interviewed are. Their stories and lives are in this book and their examples of how to live and give. This is what we should all be focusing on because this is what really matters. There is no silver bullet for life. If there was a silver bullet it would be helping another person. It is the one and only thing we can all do to affect change for good.

Twenty-two years ago this week my life changed forever. So much good has come from that loss. When an earthquake happens, a city is reborn. When a forest fire creates a new forest those trees become a book to inspire others. There is no loss without rebirth. Twenty two years ago, Saturday I lost my mom. Twenty-one years ago this week we launched a nonprofit. One year ago this week I met my publishers and today I am here at this moment talking about my bestselling book with each of you. Life is precious, life is short. Use it well and use your beautiful life to change someone else’s. It is the best thing you can ever do to Change for Good.

My mom taught me so much about how to live and how to find joy. Her legacy lives on in so many ways. My hope is that her legacy can continue to inspire others to go in search of finding joy.

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

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Mom to More

I have to admit that God blessed me with amazing friends, truly incredible people that lift me up and have helped me in the darkest of times. There is really no greater gift besides good health than good friends. Especially my girlfriends, they are fun, kind, strong and many of them are wonderful connectors. Always saying, “Do you know so and so? You need to know them!” Through my friends, I am constantly meeting and making more friends. That is exactly how I met Sharon Macey. One girlfriend connecting another.

 

Sharon stayed home and raised her three fantastic now grown children. She realized that we all have second chapters after motherhood but there wasn’t a place to tell those second half stories. So Sharon decided to do it herself and in the process created her own second half and the very successful and popular podcast Mom to More.  It is a place where we can tell our stories of being home with our children and how we ended up where we are now.  I’m really loving being the guest these days and not the host.  Please take a listen below to a great and fun conversation.

Most of you began following Charity Matters when I was a stay at home mom who had just co-founded a nonprofit with a group of friends. When I began Charity Matters, I simply wanted to find out why other people started nonprofits. It was curiosity more than anything. I really wanted to learn other people’s stories. Today, thirteen years later I am just as fascinated with people’s journeys to serve.

Sharon is telling a similar story of mothers who put their careers on the back burner for their children. For many that isn’t an option and no matter where you sit in motherhood, the grass is always greener. Trust me. I have sat in both sections. When I stayed at home, I dreamed of the career I had left behind. When I went back to work, I longed to be home with my boys. There is never an easy path. Regardless of where life takes us, it is important to know there is always something ahead for each of us. We never know what that is.

Thirteen years ago, I would sit home and write this blog before I picked up my boys from school. This is how little our youngest son was then. Never, ever did I dream when I was home with my boys what amazing young men they would become. Nor did I realize then how many incredible humans I would meet and interview. Never did I imagine how many thousands of people would become a part of this community of helpers.

I could barely copy and paste a link back then, and tech is still my biggest challenge, but a podcast? The thought that Episode 80 and Season 8 is coming soon amazes me.  Being a guest on the Mom to More podcast was really fun. Sharon reminded me of those days when the boys were young. If there is one thing we never regret, it is time with our children and how quickly that time passes.

Time slips through our hands like sand. We each have different seasons in our lives. Somedays it feels as if the season is never going to change, like its Ground Hog’s Day, again and again. Then, something happens and things begin to move and shift. The change and evolution begins. You have been here for all of it, when my boys graduated from high school, then college, well you know the journey. Sometimes looking back makes you smile. This conversation reminded me how far Charity Matters and I have come and that is a good thing. Because we are all here to Change for Good.

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

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Change for Good is here!

There is a lot of noise in our world. Lately, with the election our world has gotten a lot louder and somedays its as if there is a tension knob and someone is turning it tighter and tighter. I don’t know about you but I want to jump off the merry go round after too much noise and just turn it off. I have found myself unplugging more and being more mindful of what media I am consuming because it is just too much.

Too be honest, most of this year I have spent my spare time writing. There was very little time for extra noise. Every moment I could find was spent creating Change for Good: The Transformative Power of Service as the Ultimate Cure. I am so proud to say that the paperback was released yesterday on Amazon and is now available wherever you buy books and your book store. Believe it or not it is distributed in 13 countries, who knew?  This  has been a remarkable process of taking the squares of each nonprofit founder’s story and creating a quilt of life lessons learned these past twelve years.  To kick off the launch the publishers at She Rises created this launch on livestream this morning and you can listen or view it on youtube in the play the episode link below.

There are  so many reasons why I am grateful to SheRises publishing this book. First, they have created an incredible community of women authors who they inspire and life up. So much of what I write about is exactly that, creating social infrastructure and community. When we come together in any way we are stronger, better, happier, connected and we can make anything happen. Just like a nonprofit that creates change through community, She Rises also creates change through community. 
It makes sense because SheRises founder, Hanna Olivas is also a nonprofit founder. She is a living example of what and who we talk about every week on Charity Matters. Someone who was dealt a really crappy hand and used it to help others.  I will let Hanna tell her story herself in a hopefully upcoming episode of the podcast, so I won’t spoil it here. To say that she gets it and that She Rises gets it would be an understatement. As you know, I don’t belive in coincidences and I do not think it was one that I ended up with this amazing group of women. I am truly grateful!
So thank you to all of you who pre-ordered. The physical books come to me Novemeber 1st and I will sign and send them to you asap. If you want signed copies please order them through here and send me an email or reply to this post with who to address them to after you place the order, especially if you are buying for Christmas. For all our international audience here are the lnks for you to order as well. 

 

Lastly, thank you again for being a part of this movement to make our world a better place one small act of kindness at a time. Thank you for being part of that kindness and this journey. We are better together, always.

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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Praying for Florida and North Carolina

Once again, I had planned on writing an entirely different post but as I write this Milton is quickly approaching Florida. By the time you read this it will have hit Tampa and the surrounding communities devastating so many who were already trying to recover from Hurricane Helene just thirteen days ago. It is unfathomable to imagine having to flee your home twice in two weeks time and not knowing what you will return to.

It is in times like these that we see who we really are. We see neighbors helping neighbors, we see the power of community, of connection and kindness. We see the best in humanity and who we should strive to be. All of that gives me hope in a nation so divided right now. We can put all of that division aside and simply reach out a hand to help someone in need. The time is now.

Speaking of need, I have read a few notes from nonprofits who are doing rescue work, Team Rubicon and Samartian’s Purse who said that what they need more than anything is funding. While donations of water and food and clothing are wonderful, those donations mean that people have to sort and organize. That process takes aways from the man hours that could be used ordering and distributing vital resources that are needed. I sent a little something and hope I can do more.

As we pray for Florida, last week I was interviewed by an amazing  Floridian named Naz Rose, for her podcast, Third Eye Talks. Naz and I had a conversation about what we do with all that grief and loss? How can we turn pain into purpose? Naz, not only works for a nonprofit but she coaches others on finding their way. She is amazing and you should definitely check out her website here. The episode is below and seems timely with all of the loss that so many are experiencing right now. You can listen here.

As we send prayers to Florida, I am choosing to focus on the power of community. Knowing what we can do when we come together for something bigger than ourselves. I know how amazing people are.

This past week I felt the love like never before with the kindle version of Change for Good out on Amazon. It is a little like art imitates life. Each week I write to you about the kindness of people, the power of community and giving. Last week so many of you purchased the book and left beautiful reviews. Thank you! At last check the book was ranked #5 in Spirituality, #13 in Spiritual Biography and #36 in Biographies of Religious leaders…not exactly sure how that happened? But I’ll take it!

Once again, thank you for all the love, reviews, emails it has been an incredible week. Next week the book is officially released in paperback. So much gratitude to all of you who continue to believe in good, do good and make the world a better place.

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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Strong Inside and Out

Thank you all for your amazing support with the new book, Change for Good: The Transformative Power of Service as the Ultimate Cure.  Writing the book was an isolating and often lonely process. There has been so much joy in connecting with like minded people to talk about the book and it’s mission.  Last weekend I was in Omaha, NE speaking at the National Christ Child Society was fantastic. Connecting with amazing women who work hard every day from across the country to make their communities stronger through service.

One of the other amazing women I have met on this journey is the remarkable Cheri Dixon. Cheri and I met through our publisher and immediately connected.  She has spent a lifetime in education as a principal and leadership consultant. As you know, my day job working with hundreds of schools and running a youth leadership organization, makes me a principal super fan. I love great educators and leaders and Cheri is definitely that! We more than hit it off.

In addition, to helping schools and business in leadership Cheri hosts an incredible podcast called Strong Inside and Out where she inspires women to lead. Cheri is an author and a true ray of sunshine. So if you get a minute to listen to our conversation, you can below.  Definitely  take a minute to follow Cheri for incredible inspiration and insight.

As I told the amazing women at the convention this weekend:

We decide how we use our time and choose to live our lives. People like to talk about balance. I truly do not care for that word at all. Life is not about balance. It is about choices. It is that simple. Yet, somehow after we get our work done, our laundry, make dinner, flip through our social media and realize that we put aside all of the things that really matter. It’s time that we change that script. It is time that we make choices that give us more joy, more gratitude, purpose, connection and physical and mental health benefits that we receive when we give. We are privileged to serve.

We know we can not lead unless we serve. Everyone in this room is a leader and serving your community. You are all bright lights in your communities who have been chosen and called to serve. Part of being that light is igniting it in others. Spreading the word of helping another.  It is easy to make this about us but it really about continuing to spread the light in an often dark world. 

It will take all of us to shine as bright as we can. I know we can.

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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Looking at the numbers….

I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend and are enjoying this short week! Speaking of labor,  I work hard and want my work to matter, to make a difference. I admit, I am a little competitive too. However, I’m not always good at metrics and score keeping. People ask me about stats and numbers for our subscribers, listeners and all of that and to be honest, I am so busy creating that I rarely look. Should I be looking more often? Yes, I know. I’m more competitive  with myself than with others.

If I look and see that we are not doing as great as another podcast that can sometimes stop me from moving forward. I understand that analytics are important but somehow that isn’t the measuring stick that I usually use. My measuring stick is your comments, your emails, when you tell me something you did because of what you read here. That is what fuels me forward.

Last week I was the guest on a terrific new podcast called Mom to More. The format is interviewing women who have been at home with their children for at least ten years and telling their journey back to work. It was a great conversation. During our talk,  Sharon Macey, the host, mentioned her new podcast ranking. I asked her where she found her data. Because getting insights from Apple isn’t the easiest in my experience. She told me she uses ListenNotes

Naturally, I pulled up Listen Notes and discovered that we are ranked in the top 5% of podcasts in our catagory out of over three million podcasts in the world. WhooHoo! I was over the moon to see those numbers and that is because of you! All of you listen and share these episodes, spreading the word of people doing good. Since today is the International Day of Charity, I can not think of a better way to celebrate. I am so grateful to this beautiful tribe. You are the people changing the world each day by investing in kindness. You make choices what to listen to and you choose good. I am beyond grateful to you, thank you.

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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Back to school is a time to Change for Good

As summer comes to an end, back to school brings us another chance to start anew, especially for our children. Fall is a time for everyone to shed the old and begin again. It isn’t just for students. When we are looking at ways to improve ourselves we don’t always think about helping others. We usually think about losing weight or making more money. If we really want to change, wouldn’t changing for good be a great starting point? 

Let’s take a moment to think about what gifts we have that could help someone else? What I am asking you is what is in your tool box? Maybe you have a passion for gardening and you could work with schools to develop their gardens or work on an inner city garden?  The options for your gifts and matching the needs of others is endless.

The challenge is that we do not think about our gifts as things to give away. It doesn’t just have to be money that we give. The greatest gift we have is our time and our talent so why don’t we start with giving those first? Think about your gifts. You are an accountant, an attorney, an artist, a baker, in marketing, an organizer, whatever it is you do for a living there is a gift in that skill. It is a gift that someone can use. There is a match for a nonprofit that needs just the gift you have. Giving doesn’t need to be menial, it needs to be joyful.

Once you have figured out what you are good at and you know your gifts, now the fun part is to begin to think about where to give them away. You don’t want to give your gifts to just anyone, hopefully there is a cause you care about. What makes you so fired up thinking about it that you need to do something? Let’s start with that. 

Then it’s time to ask yourself a few questions. What change do you want to see? Do you care about the rainforest or are you worried about the literacy rate in America? Starting to understand the problem you want to address will let you know if this is what you want to get more involved with. We need to understand the problems before we can begin to identify solutions and how we can be a part of them.

The bigger the problem, the slower the change and the longer it can take to see an impact. Solving a problem like breast cancer research can be slow. Ask yourself where you will see change and who will benefit from this change?  Then ask yourself what the timeline is that you are looking for. There are no wrong answers but asking yourself these questions will help set you up for success with whichever path you pursue.

There are 1.6 million nonprofits with a need for people to help and share their gifts. Today, there are dating apps for singles but in the nonprofit space there are a number of great sites to match people and skills. One of the best is called catchafire.org Think of it as Linkedin or Bumble for nonprofits. 

You can go onto their site and list your skills as an attorney, graphic artist, accountant, marketing and then list what causes you care about. For example, say that you love animals and are a graphic designer. CatchAFire will match you with a project from a nonprofit such as creating graphics for a new fundraising campaign. It is an incredible way to try on a cause, meet new people and build your resume while making a difference.

 There are other sites that have more traditional volunteer work like VolunteerMatch.com You can put in your zip code and be given a wide range of opportunities in your area which is a terrific way to meet people in your community and make a difference. This is another great place to begin to dip your toe into the giving back pool of joy. Let’s make sure this fall we are all changing for good!

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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Causes

One For All

“Believe with all your heart that how you live your life makes a difference.”

Colin Brown

I have always believed in angels among us and looking back at the conversation I had with nonprofit founder, Mari Rodriguez was proof to me that angels are here on earth. My dear friends have been involved with supporting Mari and her work to provide the most underserved children and families in her neighborhood of Inglewood.

Mari came to the United States at age 19 and taught herself English. She became a citizen and a nurse. She raised a family and people in the neighborhood were coming to her for help with their children. First, it was a few and then a few more and then a hundred and now hundreds. Mari is living proof that one person can change the world and one of the most amazing humans I have had the privilege of talking to.

Charity Matters: Tell us a little about what One For All does?

Mari Rodriguez: One For All encourages students to stay in school, graduate from high school and we give these students and families the supplies and guidance they need to accomplish that.  Our mission is to help build the character of our children through social programs that emphasize the importance of personal growth as well as develop the community as a whole.

We do back to school backpacks and supply drives, toy drives for winter, we have students bring their report cards and if they are getting a 3.0 GPA or higher they are rewarded for good grades and if not we get them tutoring, we do prom dress giveaways and whatever students need, sometimes its as basic as a pair of shoes for school, we find it and help. The biggest thing we do is give $500 scholarships for those students with good grades who are going to college.

We currently serve over 500 students a year between the ages of 5 and 18.

Charity Matters: What was the moment you knew you needed to act and start One For All?

Mari Rodriguez: I lived in Inglewood and saw that the children in my neighborhood didn’t have guidance. So, in 2001 I talked to the pastor at our church on the corner and asked if we could use the church parking lot to help children and families. Then we started an event on our street to gather everyone together but our neighbors were so impacted and the neighborhood couldn’t accommodate everyone. I wasn’t sure what to do because I was still working full time as a nurse during the day and raising my children and helping all the neighborhood children at night and after work.

In 2007, I had a patient that kept telling me I needed my 501c3 and I had no idea what these numbers meant or what that was. While I was working in the doctor’s office a patient asked me about what I do in my free time and I told him. He said I needed my 501c3 and his wife would help me. She did and in 2007  One For All became an official nonprofit organization. 

Charity Matters: What are your biggest challenges?

Mari Rodriguez: Donors. The hardest part is raising funds.

Charity Matters: What fuels you to keep doing this work?

Mari Rodriguez: (Tears) The love of people. The love of people fuels me. Sometimes I want to quit and think I cannot go on and then people hug me and thank me for helping them. When families need me. This is my purpose in life to help others.

Charity Matters: When do you know you have made a difference?

Mari Rodriguez: I think of all the people whose lives I have touched. From a five year old girl who died of cancer and whose funeral I did because her mother just couldn’t, to the young boys who were becoming gang members and we were able to get them to change direction, to the young man who was gay and thinking about suicide for fear his parents wouldn’t accept him.   I got involved and this boy is now a wonderful and happy young man in college with his family’s support.

When I close my eyes I see myself on a journey helping, going forward, helping, helping and not looking back just keep going and helping. I see the hugs, the smiles of all these people and that is my reward. I love this country with all my heart. I came to this country at 19 with nothing but dreams. I dreamed I was going to do something big.

I taught myself English and with the help of two angels went to nursing school. It was such hard work and my life has been so good. I have to give everything I have received. I am so grateful.

Charity Matters: Tell us what success you have had?

Mari Rodriguez:We started with 25 kids in 2001 from my home. Then we had 100 and then 200 kids and we would close down our street to do our events. Our neighbors asked us to take our events off of our street and we moved our programs to the church in Inglewood. Today we help more than 500 children and families. This year we will distribute over thirty $500 scholarships for our students who are going to college.

Charity Matters: If you could dream any dream for One For All, what would that be?

Mari Rodriguez: The dream I have is to find more supporters. We need more school supplies. I dream of finding someone who can donate backpacks. To me, the most important thing is to keep giving more scholarships to motivate these kids to stay in school and to help us really help them.

Charity Matters: How has this journey changed you?

Mari Rodriguez: It hasn’t changed me, I continue being humble and treat everyone equally. I really do not like to talk about me. I would rather just help others. 

Charity Matters: What life lessons have you learned from this experience?

Mari Rodriguez: I have learned that anybody can help somebody. Nothing is too little to help another. Each individual can help somebody. If you can not give money you can give love or conversation to someone who is lonely. Anybody can make a difference in the world. To start a nonprofit with an intention to help others is enough. I am just happy to help these families.

 

Charity Matters.

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She Said Yes!

Thirteen years ago when I started Charity Matters when our sons were sixteen, fourteen and ten. Today, they are 29, 27 and 23 so time has flown by.  Each of you has walked this journey of service and parenting with me for all these years. I am beyond grateful to each of you. It feels like yesterday that I shared the story of our middle son, Henry’s, last football game, called The Last Pass.  Followed by the story of the The Last Lunch . There were so many last before Henry left for college. Again, you followed  along on my love letter called , A Mother’s Sendoff .

It has been such a priviledge to share our son’s journeys with you. I am thrilled to share that Henry got engaged this past weekend to his amazing fiance Shelby. We are on cloud nine seeing two people we love so dearly are so incredibly happy. These are the moments we live for, remember and cherish.

This week we are celebrating with Shelby’s family and enjoying summer and our precious time together. Thank you for walking this journey with our family and for understanding that our Season Eight is going to be a little late. We will be busy smiling and celebrating just a little bit longer.

 

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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Happy 13th Birthday Charity Matters

I’m honestly not sure where the time went? How is it possible that Charity Matters celebrated its 13th birthday just a few days ago? It seems like yesterday that I started writing and now all these years later we have come so far, met so many incredible people and made a difference in our own way. This year we have two birthday gifts in celebration of thirteen years. The first is that we have a book title…..Change For Good and the book is finished! A miracle and huge accomplishment in itself.  We are starting our editing process this week.
The second gift was being featured in the recent issue of Canvas Rebel Magazine. It was a fun treat to share a little about my life before Charity Matters and some of our journey. I’m not sure how this will turn out in your emails so I provided the link above as well. Thank you all for making this journey so incredible by walking alongside through it all. So grateful for each of you and Happy birthday Charity Matters!

Meet Heidi Johnson

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STORIES & INSIGHTS

Meet Heidi Johnson

JULY 15, 2024
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Heidi, appreciate you joining us today.
Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

We never know as parents what seeds, good or bad, that we are planting in our children. We also never know when they are going to germinate, sprout or lay dormant. The seed that my parents planted was one of compassion, kindness and service to others. My mom and dad were fun, had a lot of friends, a house full of noise, guests, people and joy. Our house was the one that everyone wanted to be at. Not because it was fancy but because it was fun. My parents made people feel great about being welcome, they took strangers in every Christmas and Thanksgiving and everyone felt included.

More than being welcoming and kind, my parents gave back. They were super involved in our schools, in their church, in Little League and my mom with a number of charities. They showed us from an early age that we are all here to take care of one another. That seed of compassion was planted in me and my sisters and laid dormant for many years. When it did sprout it took off. Starting a nonprofit, running a nonprofit, interviewing nonprofit founders on my Charity Matters Podcast was all because of them. Today, the one thing that gives me great joy is knowing that I’m living my parents legacy through my nonprofit work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi, I’m Heidi Johnson. I’m a storyteller, nonprofit founder and a believer in good.

When you are little and people ask you what you want to be when you grow up, nonprofit founders usually don’t make the list. Something happens to you and you decide to leave your path to help others. That is my story and that of the 1.6 million other nonprofits in the United States. So far of the few hundred I’ve interviewed our paths to service all seem to take a similar course.

My life changed with a phone call in the middle of the night, you know the ones they warn you about. My parents had been in a horrible car accident while on vacation with 3 other couples in Mexico celebrating 60th birthdays. Their car was hit by a huge tour bus and 3 people were killed and one brain damaged. Every couple lost a spouse. My dad survived and was in a coma for a month and my mom was killed instantly. I sat by my dad’s beside with faith getting us through a very dark time for our family and friends who had all lost so much.

A year later a group of us were invited down to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles where my friend, Father John was the only chaplain for 100,000 children who went through CHLA each year. He asked us to help him create a nonprofit to provide chaplains of all faiths for the hospital. My previous work had been in the software business and none of us had ever started a nonprofit. We became entrepreneurs in those hallways that day and started the Spiritual Care Guild. Today we have chaplains, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and a $10 million dollar inner faith center. Spiritual Care has become a national template for pediatric chaplaincy. That was just the beginning of a series of life changing events .

It was 2003 and there wasn’t CNN Heroes or any information on nonprofit founders. Who were these people and what was their story? So I started a blog and then a podcast called Charity Matters. My mission was to learn their stories and discover why they changed their life to help others? These stories are beyond inspiring and truly are the best of humanity. Think about How I built this podcast but for charity. I just finished my book, Change for Good which comes out in October, sharing some of the life lessons I have learned from interviewing these remarkable humans for the past twelve years. We need to focus on what is good in this world!

I’m incredibly proud of the work we have done for CHLA. More than that, I think Charity Matters reminds us all that it is never to late to give back and to make a difference. It really why we are all here and I love inspiring others to do the same. I hope my new book continues that mission.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

None of us has a straight, clear or easy path. There are always obstacles along the way. In hindsight, those roadblocks appear more like road signs telling us which way to go. There were many obstacles along the way that prepared me for starting a nonprofit and becoming an entrepreneur.

I would say the biggest setback came early in my life and taught me the greatest lessons about hard work and not giving up. I was in college at the University of Arizona, and decided to transfer to USC and come back to LA for my Junior year. My parents had been paying for my college. When I came home and announced that I was coming back to LA to stay and was now going to USC. My parents informed me that they also had an announcement. My father’s paper business was bankrupt. While they wanted me to stay in school they had zero resources to help me. It was a defining moment for me because I was halfway through school and didn’t want to give up and had never had to rely on myself.

I had worked in retail during the summers and went to my old bosses telling them my new concerns. They hired me as a personal shopper, which was a new concept back then. I worked Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. At the time, I was dressing the new female power brokers in dtla. On my days off, I went to school Tuesday and Thursday taking 22 units because it was cheaper. I couldn’t hang with most of my friends because I couldn’t afford too and no longer had the time. I worked so hard to put myself through USC and learned to appreciate hard work, time management and my education. The women I dressed became mentors to me and cheered me on.

At the time it happened, the roadblock felt insurmountable. Putting myself through college gave me resilience, strength, self-confidence and a work ethic that has never wavered in anything I have taken on. Everything I have done since then, whether my career in the software business, my nonprofit work, the podcast, the book and all of it was impacted from that experience.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life is about seeing the obstacles as lessons and learning to pivot. We don’t have a choice because the roadblocks require us to go in a different direction. After graduating college, I worked in the software business where I was in charge of distribution nationwide for their consumer products division while pregnant with our first son. I adored my job and the company and loved that my clients were in Southern California and I would only have to travel occasionaly once our son was born.

There were a lot of layoffs happening before my maternity leave and we were in escrow for our house. I had asked my boss to put in writing for the bank that I wouldn’t be laid off, which he did more than a few times. True to his word I survived the layoffs, we closed escrow and I began maternity leave. During that time, the founder of our company decided he wanted me working in our Northern California headquarters in Scotts Valley. I explained that we had a baby coming and had just bought this house and all but one of my clients was in LA. I loved this job.

His reply was to write a nice check and show me the door.  I was stunned, sad and had really thought of that job as my identity at the time. The result of this unexpected situation was the ability for me to be home with my newborn son and not worry about anything. It gave me time to think, to work on our fixer upper and then to transition into consulting. This gave me the flexability to be with my now growing family and keep my foot in the door of my career.

When my parent’s accident happened a few years later, I was able to jump into starting a nonprofit and use those skills. Yet, another setback that resulted in changing my life for the better in an entirely new direction.

Contact Info:

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Episode 79: Growing to Give

As most of you know I have spent the past few months wrapping up the book. In the process, the publisher is an amazing connector and loves to bring all of her authors together for weekly coffee connections via zoom. It is so great to meet other female authors and some of the most interesting and inspiring women. A couple months back I was in a zoom chat room when I met Siobhan Shaw, a fellow nonprofit founder.

I’m so excited to share  Siobhan and her husband, John’s, incredible story in the creation of their nonprofit, Growing to Give. Their story is a beautiful full circle reminder of following your heart, your roots and always thinking of ways to serve others.

 

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

 

Charity Matters: Tell us a little about what Growing to Give does?

Siobhan Shaw:  Our mission is to provide sustainable agricultural systems to small scale community farmers in marginalized and climate vulnerable communities. We help them grow more food with less resources, specifically water, fertilizer, space, labor, and increase their production and the quality of the food coming off their farms and gardens. So that when they’re giving the food they grow to food banks, or they’re selling it through farm markets to actually support the operations, their nonprofit operations, they are actually turning a profit in a nonprofit way. 

We want to free people from hunger, we have partners in Africa and 60% of the population of Africa is going hungry. There’s to be no one going to bed hungry at night, by choice.

Charity Matters: Did you grow up in a philanthropic family?

Siobhan Shaw:  I grew up on a farm. I was the lucky one. My mom was the farmer. My dad went to work. They had both served in World War II. Not only had my parents served their country, and sacrificed greatly. They lived through the Depression as young people and then they raised five children.

We took not only care of the environment, and we took care of other people. If you didn’t have something, somebody else had something. There was a lot of trading and there was always people coming to our home. We had this big dining room table, and it was full with family as well as with people that didn’t have a place to go.. Helping people was just in my DNA.

Charity Matters: What was the moment you knew you needed to act and start Growing to Give?

Siobhan Shaw: My husband John grew up on a farm as well. So we had already been together, almost a decade. I was in the film industry in casting and producing. John was in construction and our life was amazing. Then I got a call from John that he’d been rushed to the hospital. He just received a call from the doctor and he was told he had stage four cancer.  It was the moment in my life, where my entire world just collapsed.  This was out of left field and there was so much heartbreak and fear.

So oncome, the surgeries and the chemo rounds and then one day, he went up for a nap. When he  came down a few hours later he said, “I think I died. I saw the white light. There was a big glowing light. And I’m back, because I have something to do.” John didn’t know what it was but he was absolutely changed from that moment on. He had this profound near death experience and with it a renewed purpose in life. So he went traveling because he didn’t know what it was he was supposed to be doing here.

During his travels, he noticed that there was a lot of a lot of mention about farmers committing suicide.  What was happening around then was that the rain belt had shifted from the breadbasket of Australia.  So this was natural rain that farmers used so they didn’t need irrigation. Now their crops were being destroyed and the farmers were giving up. John came back and he just started tinkering and started cutting holes in pots. I had no idea, I thought he’d lost his mind. John learned how to write his own patents and he developed all kinds of different systems: water reduction systems for agriculture. 

We were ready to start manufacturing when John said,”We can get these units on the shelves at the big box stores, but I don’t feel that’s what I was called to do.  I feel like I need to give this away to the world and to people that really need our help. I want to find a way to help them and give it away to them.  If we can give somebody the tools that they need to have a productive farm, then they won’t need help anymore. That is how we started.

Charity Matters: What are your biggest challenges?

Siobhan Shaw: We received our nonprofit status on December 24th, 2019 and just months later the world shut down. So that was a challenge. We were just getting started. Like all nonprofits, funding is always a challenge.

Charity Matters: What fuels you to keep doing this work?

Siobhan Shaw: I think John keeps me going. And then the fact that we both grew up in rural communities, we know what hard work is.

Charity Matters: Tell us what success you have had and what your impact has been? 

Siobhan Shaw: We’ve grown and given away over 100,000 pounds of produce to local food banks.  We will never know the impact from the people who received that food. We do see an impact with the community of volunteers who work on the farm with us.

In addition to our work here in Arizona, we partner with other nonprofits in communities around the United States, in the Caribbean, and Africa. These are three areas that really need our help. So we have about 30 partnerships and we’re working to write grants to help us give these people sustainable systems from The Crop Circle Farm and Garden Systems. 

Charity Matters: If you could dream any dream for your organization, what would that be?

Siobhan Shaw: I don’t think when we had the idea of Growing to Give that we’d really thought about anything other than we just want to free people from hunger around the world. I guess that was the big idea, right? That was the moonshot.

Charity Matters: What life lessons have you learned from this experience?

Siobhan Shaw:  That you can turn adversity into opportunity. That’s beautiful opportunity for community. Because it’s not about you. There are lots of people who are self-serving. It was all about me and then life changed for me and for John, too.  We went from things being all about us, to what can we do to serve? How can we help? You know, and so we transformed. It’s taking that negative and transmuting it. So even if any negativity comes into your life, look at it as a divine moment. You can transmute that negativity into positive, life affirming opportunities that help everybody.

I just want to leave you with something John told me when he was really close to death. He looked at me and said,” Love is the only thing you take with you and the best thing you leave behind.”

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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Charity Matters Inspiration

Nothing better than the 4th of July

“For you have been called to live in freedom. Use your freedom to serve one another in love.”

Galatians 5:13

The 4th of July is one of my favorite days of the year. Today we will be packing up the car and heading to the lake for fireworks, family, friends, fun, and sun. Nothing better than having the holiday fall on a Thursday so we all get a little extra slice of summer squeezed in.

I hope you this finds you getting ready for some fun and enjoying a much deserved long weekend. So forgive the lack of a larger post this week but I am taking some much-needed R & R for the next few days and it seems that I am already checking out a little early….hope you are too!

Happy 4th of July and God Bless America!

Charity Matters.

 

 

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Causes

Episode 78: Words Matter

Many of us grew up with the childhood slogan of, ” Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me.” Hundreds of years later we now know that they actually can.  Words can cause long lasting scars on our children as nonprofit founder, Jessica Bondy shares with us with today’s inspirational conversation about the power of our words. Join us for an enlightening discussion from across the pond about this amazing new nonprofit, Words Matter.

 

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

 

Charity Matters: Tell us a little about what Words Matter does?

Jessica Bondy: Words Matter is the first organization in the world focused solely on addressing the issue of verbal abuse of children by adults. It is so pervasive, it goes so unnoticed and not properly recognized. Yet it affects two in five children. And of that two in five children over half experienced verbal abuse by adults weekly, and one in turn every single day of their lives. Hearing words to blame, shame, belittle, criticize, and it’s not just shouting and screaming, it can be quite insidious, and subtle.

And I think that the thing that is most concerning about childhood verbal abuse by adults, is the life long damage it can do to children. Because words matter. They stick, they last a lifetime. They shape who we are and who we become. So we are on a mission to end verbal abuse of children by adults.

Charity Matters: What was the moment you knew you needed to act and start Words Matter?

Jessica Bondy: I set it up having spent decades in communication, and working for some of the biggest brands in the world Samsung, British Airways, FedEx, Procter and Gamble, working as director and MD of some big firms and then setting up my own agency.  I also coached and mentored a lot of young people helping them realize their potential.  I did a course all about women finding their voices and speaking up and I had a eureka moment. This eureka moment came on when we were given a topic to talk about with this group of women all on zoom from around the world. The topic was if you are going to die in the next six months, what do you want your legacy to be?

This thing came from me out of nowhere.  And I said, “If I’m going to die in the next six months, I don’t want my legacy to be that I am a good aunt. I don’t want my legacy being that I’m a communication specialist. And I don’t want my legacy being that I coach and mentor young people to help realize their potential.” I don’t want it to be on the good old, I’m a communication specialist, or mentor young people, even though all of those things don’t too many people would be hugely worthwhile and satisfied, right? I looked down the barrel of the camera on my Zoom computer. And I said, “If  I’m going to die in the next six months, I want to end verbal abuse of children by adults, because words matter.”

Wow. And I said this, because of my own lived experience and was getting so locked in my head. So many of the people I coached had been so impacted by what they’d heard when they were growing up.

I think what’s so fascinating with what I’m doing now, and Words Matter, it kind of all makes sense. Because there I was communicating on behalf of businesses and brands, then I was helping young people communicate, and market themselves. Now I feel I’m almost the voice of children say, enough is enough words matter.  I feel it is my purpose, I strongly believe that the only reason I’m on this planet is to do this thing.  I just don’t want it to be that way for the next generations and generations to come.

Charity Matters: What are your biggest challenges?

Jessica Bondy:  I think part of the challenge is when you believe something incredibly passionate yourself, and there are people that don’t necessarily believe in what your cause is.  And I found there’s a real dichotomy of people that get it. I’ve had people who’ve literally burst into tears and said, Oh, gosh, I haven’t spoken to my father since I was 14. It’s so brilliant, you’re doing something about this.

I think the other very challenging thing, given the environment we are in today is fundraising is very, very hard. Because particularly if you’re a new charity, because so many funders want to be reassured that you’re going to succeed. And if you’re new and different,  it’s hard. When I ran my own agency, and people were buying the services they were getting something in return. Philanthropy is very, very different. People are doing it because they believe in your cause. They believe that you’re gonna make a difference in the world.

Charity Matters: What fuels you to keep doing this work?

Jessica Bondy: I think what fuels me is an absolute passion and belief in the need for this to happen in the world.  Actually, knowing  what I’m doing is changing people’s behavior. So that fuels me knowing that we can make a difference.

I think the other thing that fuels me is this incredible network of experts, supporters, and my fellow trustees, who have that belief, that you’ve cracked so many nuts, you’ll be able to crack this.  I feel like I’ve kind of got almost a rocket of support underneath me to try and make it a success.

Charity Matters: Tell us what success you have had and what your impact has been? 

Jessica Bondy: September 2023, our website went live.  We released the findings of our children survey and the most helpful and hurtful words that children said.  We have  three pillars, research and what we see is in terms of delivering outcomes, and outputs with data validation of the scale and impact. Then the next  pillar is about awareness. And that’s trying to change perception and increase understanding and awareness.

Then the other thing we’re developing is training, education and information. We developed some resources on how to talk to children, from adults, for parents, for teachers, those with lived experience.   We had the first international conference on childhood verbal abuse with University College London and the World Health Organization, we had over 1300 people registered to attend and actually 98% said it had made them they’d found it useful, and they would apply the information to their learning to their jobs. Over 90% said it would change their own their own behavior.

It’s called Words Matter, impact and prevention of childhood verbal abuse.  So we’ve developed this program, we’re piloting it.  Hopefully, it’ll be extended through our network of partners. So we’ve got a number of different leading charities supporting our mission, who are service providers, and we’re hoping to do the training through them and their networks.

Charity Matters: If you could dream any dream for your organization, what would that be?

Jessica Bondy:  if I could dream, any dream it would be that in everybody’s public consciousness, they would think about, be aware of, and acknowledge the harm that words adults say to children can have. They don’t understand it. What I think is so interesting is, as soon as you ask adults themselves to think about what they remember, when they were a child, so many, the vast vast majority can remember what was said to them that built them up. And what and who said it to them that knocked them down. But they don’t somehow apply it to their own lives when they are an adult. Right, that kind of disconnect. So I’d like widespread acknowledgement of it.

Charity Matters: What life lessons have you learned from this experience?

Jessica Bondy: So often in life one tries to mold oneself into something to be liked, approved or understood by someone and it just it never feels comfortable. One should  surround oneself with radiators, not drains.

Charity Matters: How has this journey changed you?

Jessica Bondy: I’m somebody that is a survivor.  I think I’m quite a resilient person. And resilience is so important.  I just think it’s about somehow dusting yourself off if you have a knock back. It’s not easy to do. People who experienced verbal abuse or any form of abuse is that you just need one or two people in your life that really build a venue that really believe in you that you can talk to, and get that support for.

We all know it’s so important to have that connection and support from a very, very young age.  I’ve had a few people in my life who I feel have really been there for me and who really believed in me. At the end of the day, we all want to be seen and heard, for who we are and valued for who we are.

CHARITY MATTERS.

 

YOUR REFERRAL IS THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT,  IF YOU ARE SO MOVED OR INSPIRED, WE WOULD LOVE YOU TO SHARE AND INSPIRE ANOTHER. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please connect with us:

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The Barron Prize for Young Heroes

Have you ever picked up an old photo album and come across memories and before you know it you have been transported down memory lane? Last week that happened to me when I went looking for interviews to include in my book. Before I knew it I was years into Charity Matter’s post and it felt like finding old friends.

This post from 2018 struck me because the past few weeks, I have been speaking to hundreds of school principals for TACSC. My message for all of these schools is that when we tie a child’s shoe, we don’t help them, as intended. Instead, we tell the child by our action that they can’t tie their shoe. That they are not capable. Our mission at TACSC is to empower these students and tell them they can be anything and do anything they set their mind to. So when I came across this old post it felt just as relevant and worth a re-share. I did update the numbers served, so those are current.

A few years ago, a young lady that has helped start and run a local nonprofit asked me to write her a recommendation for The Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which I happily did. This high school girl is extraordinary and I was thrilled to help.  More than that, I was  excited to learn about this incredible award and nonprofit that inspires and encourages students between the ages of 8 and 18 to use heroic qualities like courage, compassion and perseverance to make a positive and significant impact on the world.

The prize was started by New York Times best selling Children’s author, T.A. Barron seventeen years ago and named after the author’s mother. His hope was to inspire children that could make a significant difference in the world. The founder’s fear was that  perhaps, they wouldn’t be able to find these children. However,it was just the opposite, hundreds and hundreds of applications would begin to come in.

Twenty-three years later, the Barron Prize for Young Heroes has honored over 575 young heroes who have  all done remarkable things. One prize winner is Alexa, who created a nonprofit called Bags of Books, which she started at age 10. Her organization distributes gently used and new children’s books in free pop-up stores in underserved communities. She has donated more than 120,000 books and inspired hundreds of volunteers to distribute books in homeless shelters, children’s hospitals and after school programs.

One  young prize winner founded NY is a great place to Bee! to educate the public about bees about the importance of healthy bee populations. She built a team of volunteers and they have educated over 14,000 students about ways to protect bees through her advocacy.

Another inspiring change maker,  Jahkil, founded Project I Am to help the homeless in Chicago. In one year Jahkil and his team distributed more than 3,000 Blessing Bags filled with toiletry items, towels, socks and snacks through his drop off sites and bag stuffing parties all at the age of nine!

While I could go on with hundreds more of these incredible young nonprofit founders and budding philanthropists, these 575 Barron Prize for Young Heroes winners have combined raised over 28.5 million dollars for their causes in the past twenty-three years. The real winners of this prestigious award are the incredible communities served by these extraordinary young leaders and their enormous compassion to serve. Each of them give us hope for a brighter future of kindness, caring and service.

 

charity matters.

 

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