Do Something More-Nonprofit Spotlights & Ways to Serve Your Community

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‘Joyful Welcome’ started after the founder saw a father leaving the hospital with his new baby wrapped in his coat. She decided to start making welcome kits with essential baby items for newborns and their families and distributing them to her local hospital. 

My guest, Brenda Sanford, is now the chair of ‘Joyful Welcome’. She learned about what they do at a local church meeting, and felt inspired to start volunteering. It was a short time later when the founder thought she might have to shut down her nonprofit, and Brenda courageously stepped into the role of leading ‘Joyful Welcome’ and keeping it going.

One of the theme’s of this episode is finding joy in quiet service, and that is most definitely what Brenda and her fellow volunteers do. They’re a small but mighty group of beautiful grandma’s who meet weekly to assemble these gifts that they now distribute to 14 different hospitals. I also loved learning from Brenda many different ideas for how smaller groups and nonprofits like hers can raise money or get donations for their cause.

Listen to be inspired and truly see that even a small group of people can help others in beautiful ways.

Links mentioned in the episode:

Joyful Welcome Website

Joyful Welcome Instagram

Joyful Welcome Facebook

Joyful Welcome Amazon Registry for Donations

Joyful Welcome Target Registry for Donations

Smith's Inspiring Donations Program

JustServe.org

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One of Amy Chandler’s missions with her nonprofit is to be a catapult for lasting transformation. She is the Founder and Executive Director of 'My Story Matters' and they’ve developed courses to help people take ownership of their story and have the tools they need to live with intention and create real change in their lives.

Amy emphasizes that their curriculum is really for anyone, but she’s had the opportunity to lead these courses in many places, including the prison system. Amy currently visits the prison three days a week, and some of the stories she shares about her experiences there are beautiful and touching.

Listen to this episode to learn more about 'My Story Matters' and why they truly believe everyone deserves a path to second chances.

Links mentioned in the episode:

My Story Matters Website

My Story Matters Instagram

My Story Matters Facebook

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Service is a great tool for building a sense of community…and we can also use our communities to serve in big ways. In this episode I’m sharing some ideas I’ve seen from different organizations and people and how they use the power of gathering people together to serve and lift  in many beautiful ways. I also give my thoughts on why using this power of community to serve with our families is a good idea too. Listen and you might hear an idea that could help you, your family, or your own nonprofit.

Links mentioned in the episode:
News article about 'tip a server' group
Episode 26: 100 Women Who Care
Episode 60: Midwest You Can Foundation
Episode 9: Ironman Q Foundation
JustServe.org

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She’s been in media outlets all over the U.S. championing the ‘free range kids’ movement, and I feel honored to have the opportunity to feature Lenore Skenazy on this episode of the podcast.

Lenore shares how she became the standard bearer for this idea of helping parents foster growth in their kids by allowing them to have independent experiences. We also talk about the nonprofit she co-founded called ‘Let Grow.’ Its goal is to make it easy, normal and legal to give kids the independence they need to grow into capable, confident and happy adults. 

Lenore obviously feels so passionate about this cause and I love how it comes through in this conversation. I was enlightened and felt empowered after our interview, and I know anyone who listens will be too.

Links mentioned in the episode:
Let Grow Website
Let Grow Instagram
Let Grow Facebook
The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
Free to Learn by Peter Gray

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As a culinary student at a school in downtown Salt Lake City, Jessica Lowe realized that instead of throwing out the food they prepared each week, she and her classmates could share it with the homeless people they often saw on their way to and from class. And that’s exactly what she started to do and continued to do for several weeks. After the class was finished, Jessica realized she wanted to keep serving food and meals, and her nonprofit 'A Little Too Kind' was born.

Now each Thursday, she serves 130 hot meals, hands out 100-120 sack lunches, and also delivers other necessities to her ‘homies’ as she calls them. She prepares the hot meals herself, and invites others to help with the sack lunches and other items. 

I originally found Jessica on her Instagram account. The experiences she relates and her desire  to share the love of God with all those she meets is so inspiring. Listen to this episode to hear more of her story and how she uses her experiences to share goodness in many ways.

Links mentioned in the episode:
Be A Little Too Kind Website
Be A Little Too Kind Instagram
Be A Little Too Kind Facebook

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Cindy Trussel describes herself as a ‘doer’ and a hard worker. She likes to solve problems and has used that tenacity in many ways to serve and lift those around her. She came to the United States from Australia with her family as a young girl and knows what it’s like to navigate a new country and culture. After raising five biological children and then adopting three more, she felt pulled to the nonprofit world. She was involved in different ways and eventually found her life’s calling working with refugee and immigrant families. Now with the nonprofit she founded, Lighthouse Charities, their ultimate mission is to help the vulnerable and displaced be self-sufficient and empower them to achieve their own goals and dreams and be integral members of society.

Cindy talks about the workplace programs she initiated with her nonprofit that now function as full businesses to help refugees gain reading, writing, and job skills. She also shares some tender stories of women who have been displaced by war and, after coming to the U.S., found their way to Lighthouse Charities and were able to gain work and language skills through their programs.

As you can imagine, Cindy is an inspiring woman to talk to. You can feel the heart and passion for what she does. Listen to this episode to not only learn more about Lighthouse Charities, but to hear her own story and journey toward helping the thousands of people that have come her way.

Links mentioned in the episode:
Lighthouse Charities Website
Lighthouse Charities Instagram
Lighthouse Charities Facebook

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It's the Christmas season and many of us are busy with to do lists and hoping to make this time a fun and magical one for our families and those around us. But today I am going to be sharing simple ideas on how you can 'Light the World' with simple acts of kindness and service.

This isn't meant to be another burden or thing to add to your to do list. This is meant to be a resource and a source of inspiration and joy as we all do our best to lift those around us this Christmas season.

Links mentioned in the show:
Light the World Website

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Chauncy and Kelli Johnson experienced tragedy on Christmas Eve in 2010 after a snowboarder collided with Kelli and their five-year-old daughter, Elise, while they were skiing. Elise and the snowboarder both ended up passing away, and Kelli spent several months recovering from a traumatic brain injury. It was because of these experiences and the passion they have had for skiing their whole lives that they decided to start their 'Snow Angel Foundation'. With this foundation they began the campaign ‘Ride Another Day’ to encourage safety and awareness for skiers and snowboarders and others recreating in the outdoors. They’ve taken their story and message around the country to ski resorts and classrooms to help educate others on the importance of being aware of personal behavior while recreating and being a good influence on those around you.

We’re starting ski and snowboard season and I thought this message was an important one to help share, but I also wanted to share Chauncy and Kelli’s story of resilience through tragedy and how they’ve decided to use their hard experiences to help teach and educate others.

Listen to this episode to learn more about them and the ‘Snow Angel Foundation.’

Links mentioned in the episode:
Snow Angel Foundation Website
Snow Angel Foundation Instagram
Snow Angel Foundation Facebook
Chauncy and Kelli's YouTube video


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Everyone needs to feel at times like they matter or that what they do matters. Expressing gratitude to those around us for the ways they have helped us and inspired us can be a beautiful way of helping others feel seen and loved…but it can also be a simple and profound way to serve. 

Listen to this episode to hear my thoughts on how you can craft a sincere ‘thank you’ that can truly make a difference in someone else’s life.

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This week is unique for the podcast because I’m featuring a museum for the first time…the Springville Museum of Art. My guests Jacquelynn Sokol and Emily Larsen both work for the museum and they share some great thoughts about the power of art and the museum’s mission to make art accessible to everyone in their community. They share about the many programs the museum does, and also about some of the unique and long-running exhibits they do each year. I especially loved the message shared at the end of this episode. This museum was started as an act of generosity to the community by two artists, and over a hundred years later it has truly served thousands, and even millions, of people in multiple ways. You never really know where one simple act of kindness and generosity can lead.

Listen to the podcast to learn more and be inspired to visit an art museum in your own community.

Links mentioned in the episode:
Springville Museum of Art Website
Springville Museum of Art Instagram
Springville Museum of Art Facebook

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