0:00

Welcome

0:09

to Talk Wealth to Me, a safe

0:12

space podcast where we chat about anything

0:14

and everything related to personal finance.

0:16

The

0:19

information contained in this podcast is

0:21

for educational and entertainment purposes

0:23

only. It does not constitute as accounting

0:25

, legal, tax or

0:28

other professional advice.

0:29

Hello

0:33

and welcome again to another edition of

0:35

Talk Wealth to Me. Phil

0:37

and Katie had the phenomenal

0:40

opportunity to sit down with

0:42

a family that

0:45

is like none we have ever

0:47

met. They created something, a foundation

0:49

called the Champions of Change, three

0:52

little brothers and sisters, mom

0:55

and a dad. And

0:58

just to give you an idea of something, the kind of

1:00

impact that they have, they on

1:02

their own working

1:04

to shed light on the

1:06

water disaster in Flint, Michigan had

1:08

over 67,000 pounds

1:11

of water delivered

1:13

to the Flint, Michigan area to help

1:15

those people who had that very terribly

1:17

tainted water. This

1:20

was just the beginning. You

1:22

are not gonna wanna miss this

1:25

podcast.

1:28

And you guys

1:30

are very impressive young people

1:33

and I don't even want to just call you

1:35

young. You're just very impressive people.

1:37

So before we maybe start off,

1:40

can I have the three of you? Go ahead

1:42

and introduce yourselves and share how

1:44

old you are.

1:48

Um , I'm Jordan West and I am 10 years

1:50

old.

1:51

I am Joshua West and I am 12 years

1:53

old.

1:54

Hi, I'm Jeremiah West and I'm 14 years old.

1:57

and I'm the mom on duty and you don't want to know

1:59

my age.

2:02

We're okay with that. We don't

2:05

want to share our age either.

2:06

No. Um,

2:10

so you guys, could you walk me through

2:12

, um , if , and tell me if I got

2:14

any of this wrong, but it sounds like

2:16

in 2013, Jeremiah

2:18

and Joshua, you guys founded an organization

2:22

called Champions of Change and you guys

2:24

are trying to encourage other kids like

2:26

you two, to give back. So

2:28

I want to know where did this idea come

2:30

from to start Champions

2:33

of change.

2:35

Hi. So this is Joshua. So

2:37

in 2013 , um

2:39

, the original purpose of us , uh,

2:42

was doing this. So we went to , uh

2:44

, New York city on a business trip

2:46

with my dad. And , um,

2:48

one day we decided that we were going to go shopping

2:51

and as we were walking down the streets of New

2:53

York, we had an encounter with a homeless man. And

2:56

so we want , we really wanted to help him. So

2:58

we bought him dinner. And so from that

3:00

one moment, it turned into an entire movement.

3:04

Wow.

3:05

So you guys bought a homeless man dinner.

3:07

And was that your idea?

3:10

Was that your parents' idea? Where'd that come

3:12

from?

3:14

It was both of our idea.

3:17

That sounds really nice .

3:19

It was our last day in New York city as I recall.

3:21

And um , we were going , um , down

3:23

to Times Square to get some souvenirs before we

3:25

had to leave. And , um,

3:27

we saw a homeless man sleeping on a bench as

3:29

we were walking. And so we

3:31

had some money with us. And so that,

3:34

that was the time where my mom taught

3:36

us the 10/10/80 rule because we asked

3:38

if you can give him money. But she said that it was a better

3:40

idea to give him some food. And so she

3:42

taught us the 10, 1 0 80 rule, which is if you have

3:44

$10, you give $1, you

3:46

save a dollar, and then you have $8 left over to

3:48

spend on w hatever you want. So our giving

3:51

dollar that day was towards that homeless m an's dinner.

3:54

Oh, I love that. I've never heard that. I love that.

3:56

Yeah. You guys are like

3:58

the second straight guest whose

4:01

parents , uh, taught them a very

4:03

similar idea. So it's really

4:06

cool that there's that philanthropy

4:08

that starts so young.

4:10

Yeah. So when you guys

4:12

started , um , champions of change. So

4:14

after you bought the homeless man dinner and

4:16

you wanted to give back, was the first

4:18

thing that you did was to write a

4:20

book, sharing your experience

4:23

and trying to give back and help the homeless

4:25

man that you had met in New York.

4:28

Yes. So what , as soon as we got home, we wanted

4:30

it. We told our mom that we wanted to write a book because

4:33

we wanted to share our experience with other kids

4:35

to inspire them so that they can go out and

4:37

do something similar. Um , and our

4:40

motto for our whole organization

4:42

is little, these huge impact. And so

4:44

all started with one little deed and we were hoping

4:46

that would make a huge impact in that homeless man's life

4:49

So when you guys were writing that

4:52

first book, talk to me a little bit

4:54

about that. Did you have this big vision

4:56

that all the money that you earned was going to

4:58

go toward helping other people?

5:01

Did you think about ever using the money to buy

5:03

something that you wanted? I mean, what were

5:05

you guys, what was your plan?

5:09

So , um, it's , uh, this

5:12

is mom and , um, when

5:14

they, after they wrote their book , um,

5:16

we received a call from , um,

5:19

one of the gentlemen that worked

5:21

at one of the local libraries and he said,

5:23

the head of libraries would like to meet with you because

5:26

, um , they want to put the

5:28

boy's book in all the libraries

5:30

in um, Monroe County, which

5:32

is the County that we lived in. And

5:34

so , um , upon going to that

5:36

meeting with the head of libraries

5:38

, um, uh, when I got

5:41

there , um, and she was talking about

5:43

the book and I said, excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt

5:45

you, Patty. I said, but there's a smoky

5:47

smell. And I was like, do you guys

5:49

have a fireplace here in the library or is some

5:52

, is there a fire? I

5:54

was just a little bit concerned. And she

5:56

said, no, homeless people

5:58

that lives underneath this building. And

6:01

so when I told the kids that , um,

6:04

they wanted to do more

6:06

, um, for just more than just the

6:08

homeless guy that they had encountered in New

6:10

York city , um, earlier

6:14

that year , um, they wanted to do something

6:16

for the local homeless population there. And

6:18

so they had it came up with the idea to

6:20

hand out hats and gloves to the people that lived

6:22

underneath the building. And , um,

6:25

that turned into a full

6:27

fledge homeless Christmas party , um,

6:30

that we ran for six consecutively years.

6:33

Wow, that's really cool. And when we were going

6:36

to do the interview, I remember I went on Amazon.

6:38

I was looking at the book, which I am going to purchase

6:40

by the way, don't tell, don't tell anyone yet.

6:43

And of course,

6:46

and, and I was like, my kid

6:48

needs to read this kind of, this is the kind of stuff he needs to read.

6:51

Um, I didn't realize it was based on a true story.

6:53

So that's pretty cool. It makes it even a cooler

6:56

book.

6:58

Yeah. So talk to me too . Why

7:00

is it so important in your family to give back?

7:02

Cause you mentioned it's not just you had

7:04

one experience in New

7:07

York, you wanted to help people in your community too

7:09

. Um, so why do you feel

7:11

this need to give back and help other people?

7:16

Um , because we are so blessed in God

7:18

pour so much into us and we just want to pour

7:20

out to others and give

7:23

those and try to give them some of

7:25

what we have.

7:27

I love that. And Jordan,

7:30

I want to talk to you too because you wrote a book

7:33

called Princess for a Day and

7:36

we talked in person, I don't know

7:38

if you remember, but I met you at a

7:40

Fin Con in Washington DC and

7:42

you were telling me that you thought it was really important

7:44

for every little girl to feel like a princess

7:47

for at least one day. So can

7:49

you talk to me , um,

7:51

about some other, I

7:53

guess why did you want to write this book and

7:56

, um, what were you hoping that

7:58

other girls would feel when they read this?

8:01

Um , so , uh , I wrote

8:03

this book because , um, uh

8:06

, I wrote this book because , um,

8:09

I was very inspired

8:12

and not inspired, I'm sorry. Um, when

8:14

I took foster kids to

8:16

the salon, I thought I

8:19

should write a book for other girls can

8:21

be inspired to , um,

8:24

to take them

8:26

to the,

8:30

you're doing fine. Keep going, honey.

8:31

You're doing great.

8:33

You're doing fine. Why don't you tell her how you

8:35

came up with the idea about princess for

8:37

a day. Tell him why you even wanted to take

8:39

little girls to the, to the salon. How about

8:41

that?

8:43

Okay. So one day I went to my

8:45

friend's birthday party, she was turning seven

8:48

and so she took us

8:50

to this very fancy salon. And

8:53

I thought in my head, every

8:55

girl deserves to be a princess for a day. So

8:58

I went home to my mom and I told her the story

9:00

and I said , um, do you think

9:02

we can take homeless girls. She said,

9:05

I don't know about homeless girls cause they

9:07

keep on moving back and forth. So

9:10

as you said, maybe foster kids. And

9:12

so we took foster kids and

9:14

we asked the salon owner as she

9:16

can donate , um, uh,

9:18

her salon and she said, I can't

9:21

, um , donate a full party but I

9:23

can donate my space. And

9:25

so we made it happen anyway.

9:28

Wow.

9:29

That's really cool.

9:32

And when Jordan originally set

9:34

out to, when she asked to help the homeless

9:37

girls, you know , um, people

9:39

who are living in homeless shelters, even though we do

9:41

that was at the time majority of our work, that's

9:44

what we, who we served was homeless people.

9:47

Um, but they'll be in the shelter today

9:49

and gone tomorrow. So it's a hard population

9:51

to keep up with. It's a very transient

9:53

population. And so I wasn't trying

9:55

to be a dream crusher as my kids a lot

9:58

of times tell me, cause they call it these crazy ideas

10:00

and I'm like, I don't know if we can make that happen. Um,

10:03

and so just recently , um

10:05

, it's as life would have it . When Jordan

10:07

turned 10 a couple months ago , um,

10:10

Jordan , uh, had the opportunity to

10:12

actually help homeless girls. We partner

10:14

with the girls Scouts of America. They

10:16

actually have , uh , is called troop 6,000.

10:20

Um , and they're starting to spread all over the country.

10:23

Um, and these particular girl Scouts live in

10:25

homeless shelters, so they're part of

10:27

a organization. So it's a way for us to keep up with

10:29

girls. And so we hosted

10:31

a princess for a day for Jordan's 10th

10:33

birthday. Um , she wanted to do

10:35

that for the little girls in New York city. And

10:37

, um , they went shopping, they got their

10:39

hair and nails and makeup done. Um,

10:43

and they also had lunch at a fancy

10:45

restaurant , um , rode

10:47

in a Mercedes and they had an

10:49

entire experience of being princess

10:51

for a day. So , um, even

10:53

though sometimes I tell people, even sometimes

10:56

like if your dream or your goal doesn't come

10:58

to fruition right away, just be patient. Because

11:00

now we have a way. And so this year we're

11:02

actually growing. Um, we're going to be

11:04

helping even more girls through the girl Scouts

11:06

of America program and troop 6,000

11:09

, um , helping even more girls in

11:11

those troops and different places of the country

11:14

to become princess for a day and duplicate

11:16

that day. So

11:17

yeah. Well,

11:20

I mean , you guys are just so impressive. I

11:22

think we're having a hard time keeping up with all of the

11:24

good deeds.

11:26

They're all over the country and everything. It's awesome.

11:29

Yeah. So, in addition to the

11:31

shopping, hair, nails, makeup, birthday

11:33

party, which Jordan, that sounds amazing.

11:36

I want to do that for my next birthday. Um,

11:39

you guys have also taken foster

11:41

girls to Disney world, right?

11:44

Like you've helped. Um, and

11:47

you've taken girls to the bippity boppity boutique

11:49

too , right? Where they got to have their hair done and

11:52

they got a new princess dress?

11:56

That sounds like an adventure in itself.

11:59

Yeah. So Jordan, do you have

12:01

a favorite Disney princess?

12:04

Um , I like Ariel.

12:07

Ariel. Why

12:10

do you like Ariel ?

12:12

We just got back from the Disney

12:14

trip in 2019 we

12:16

just got back from it for a , um,

12:19

we take foster kids to Disney , um,

12:22

this year for Christmas, so, Oh

12:24

wow. We took 30 foster kids to

12:26

Disney this year for last

12:28

year for Christmas. And we just got back.

12:31

You guys took 30 foster

12:33

kids to Disney?

12:35

Yes.

12:36

Oh wow.

12:38

And their parents.

12:38

Wow. And

12:41

are you guys paying for the

12:43

whole trip for these girls in their parents?

12:46

Yes.

12:47

Oh wow.

12:48

That's amazing. I feel like all I

12:50

keep saying is, that's amazing. But you guys are doing

12:53

some really amazing stuff

12:57

a little bit, I'm not on

13:00

the the show, but um, you

13:02

guys do a lot more than just this too

13:04

with the, you guys have helped out with the Flint

13:06

water crisis too, right?

13:10

Yes. So , um, so we were

13:13

, um, were home-schooled in um,

13:15

in 2016 , um , our mom

13:17

was giving us a current events lesson and

13:19

, um , she was letting us know about the situation

13:22

in Flint, Michigan. And she showed us a picture

13:24

of the water and Joshua said, is this the one

13:26

in Africa, mom? And it turns

13:28

out , um, Flint Michigan is , uh , only

13:30

six hours from where we used to live in Rochester.

13:33

And we were really shocked to know that that kind

13:35

of thing could happen in America. And

13:37

so what we decided to do was rally our community

13:39

together and we were able to send

13:42

over 27,000 pounds of water to

13:44

aid in the Flint, Michigan water crisis.

13:46

I think it was 67.

13:49

Where'd you get 27? It

13:51

was 67 , honey. 67,000

13:55

pounds. It was two tractor trailer

13:57

full of water

13:59

that we sent to Flint, Michigan and

14:02

um, United , um, which is a

14:04

trucking company that a lot of people are familiar

14:06

with , um, donated

14:08

their time and their , um, resources

14:11

and they took all of the water

14:13

to Flint, Michigan for us free

14:15

of charge as their donation

14:18

to the cause.

14:21

That's really cool. So you guys

14:24

are not just putting in your effort,

14:26

which is phenomenal, but you guys are rallying

14:28

others to do the same,

14:30

which is great.

14:33

Yeah, let's talk

14:36

about that too. Cause you guys have gotten some national

14:38

attention. I've, I've seen Ellen

14:40

DeGeneres talk to you guys.

14:43

Um, what is that like to be

14:45

recognized nationally on TV

14:48

for the work that you're doing?

14:53

Um, it was like, it felt like it was like basically

14:55

like a glory moment. Like if we did not

14:57

expect it and when she just

14:59

showed up, it made us so happy and,

15:02

but this is not our first , um , encounter.

15:05

Um, we also met President Obama

15:07

in 2016 I believe,

15:09

and we're invited to a black

15:11

history event and we got

15:13

to meet him. And , um,

15:15

we, it was just a cool experience and

15:18

him and Michelle were able to sign

15:20

one of our books.

15:22

Oh my gosh. I

15:26

, wow. How

15:28

was that you guys, how was that meeting

15:30

the president and the first lady and having

15:32

them autograph or sign your book?

15:36

it was a , I know, I can't

15:39

r eally r emember. It

15:41

was so nice.

15:42

Yeah . We really look up to um , president

15:44

Barack and um, first lady Michelle. And so

15:47

just to meet them, someone that we had idolized

15:49

for so long, it was truly amazing.

15:52

Yeah. I mean, that sounds like an

15:54

amazing opportunity. So

15:56

you guys talk to me too, for people

15:58

who like Felipe, he Felipe is gonna go

16:01

out and buy your book. He's

16:03

already bought the book. It's in my cart.

16:06

But for everyone else who's

16:08

listening, where can people go buy your

16:10

books you guys?

16:12

Okay , so there's two places. So

16:14

you can go to www.championsofchangeusa.org or you can go to amazon.com and

16:22

you can find her book on those websites.

16:26

And if, do you guys have

16:28

ever have community events too where people

16:30

like Felipe and I can work with you

16:33

, um , on whatever, I

16:35

guess great cause that you're working on

16:37

next. If any of our listeners

16:39

want to work with you, do you have a place

16:41

where they can go?

16:43

Yes. So you can like us on Facebook.

16:46

Um, and on Instagram their

16:48

Instagram handle is kids live

16:50

to give. Um, and this

16:53

year we are starting to um, enroll

16:55

ambassadors in our program. Um,

16:58

change agents is what we're called. We call them

17:00

, um, because we realize we're just

17:02

one family. Um, and

17:05

we have seen the effects that little

17:07

deeds can have on the community. And

17:09

so we want other communities around the country

17:12

to be empower , um, by families,

17:14

by kids, by organizations,

17:16

partnering with , um , companies , um,

17:19

to do community service. So , um

17:21

, you can like us on Facebook , um, or

17:24

you can go to our website , um,

17:26

and um, sign up for

17:28

our , um, change agent

17:30

impact letter. Excuse me.

17:33

And again, that Instagram account is @KidsLiveToGive

17:36

Oh wow. I

17:39

don't think we can call these little deeds.

17:41

You guys, these are huge.

17:44

You've gone past the, you've come

17:46

a long way from the great thing

17:48

of buying someone dinner,

17:50

which to that person is a , it

17:53

was probably a , a huge

17:56

deed , but you guys have taken

17:58

that and grown it exponentially since

18:01

then.

18:02

And we are so grateful

18:04

we could not do the work that we do

18:07

without , um, volunteers

18:09

, um, who rally , uh , alongside

18:12

of us. Um, and we

18:14

are in 2020.

18:16

We are starting to look for , um, corporate

18:19

corporations who would like to partner

18:21

with us because we realize that we can

18:23

have even larger impact if we

18:25

, um, this year we were able to take 30

18:27

foster kids to Disney, but if

18:30

we had corporate sponsors, we

18:32

could take 60 or a hundred,

18:35

you know? And so we realized that we're just one

18:37

family and there's only so many garage

18:39

sales and car wash tickets that these kids

18:42

could sell and Krispy Kreme doughnut tickets

18:44

that they sell to fundraise and coin

18:46

drives and things of that nature. But , um,

18:49

we realize that , um, when

18:51

people rally alongside of us , um

18:54

, we can have our bigger impact together as

18:56

a community.

18:58

That's beautifully said. I don't

19:00

think I can add anything on to that.

19:03

Um , Felipe?

19:05

no, I mean I'm just in awe

19:07

of what you guys have

19:09

accomplished and then, you know,

19:11

you continue to strive to make that

19:13

even bigger impact, which is , uh,

19:17

you know, kudos to you guys, you know,

19:19

keep up the good work. Whatever you guys

19:21

are doing, you're doing

19:23

a great job.

19:24

Thanks so much . Thank you so much.

19:26

You're very welcome. See, that's why I want to buy the book. I

19:28

got to get my kid reading it and he's got, he's

19:30

a little younger than you guys. He's six, so he's got

19:33

some catch up to do.

19:35

And tell him

19:37

it , you know, rather it is, you

19:40

know, him , um , packing

19:42

a lunch , um, and taking it with

19:44

you when you drive somewhere where you may

19:46

encounter a homeless person or

19:48

making a blessing bag that is filled with toiletries

19:51

for homeless people. Um, every little

19:53

thing counts. And so never

19:55

underestimate the power that your child

19:57

can have. Um, when we first started

20:00

this journey, our kids used to call us

20:02

dream crushers when they did their Ted

20:04

talk. Um, my

20:06

husband and I, we were going in

20:09

there talk, but , um, we

20:13

realized that kids do have a voice and they too

20:16

, um, you know, can have an impact

20:18

just that their young age, whether it's six, eight or 10.

20:22

Yeah. And then I've watched your Ted

20:24

talk. That was very impressive. Um,

20:27

so I just, let's end it this way

20:29

then. Do you guys have any advice

20:31

or anything that you'd want to share with

20:33

the world if this, this is your mic,

20:36

your open mic.

20:41

Um, well, it was just like to let kids know that

20:44

, um, they can do anything no matter what

20:46

people tell them, no matter what background they come from

20:48

no matter what their current situation is. And

20:51

that even if people tell them that they can't do

20:53

something, that , um , they can do it

20:55

with hard work. And , um,

20:58

if you have someone supporting you, like we have our wonderful

21:00

mom here who's helped us a lot

21:02

during this journey and my dad , um,

21:05

if you have someone like that behind

21:07

you and even if you don't, you can still accomplish your

21:09

goals.

21:11

The kids have the power to be great

21:13

no matter what happens, they can always

21:15

be great.

21:19

I love it.

21:20

Perfect.

21:22

Well thank you guys so much for your time.

21:25

We really appreciate it. Um,

21:28

this is all that we had thought to ask you guys,

21:30

but um, we love to have you back on

21:32

our show maybe next season.

21:35

Um , see what you guys have been able

21:37

to accomplish in the meantime.

21:39

That would be awesome. Yeah, we can continue

21:41

to hear what you guys are doing.

21:43

and inspiration.

21:45

come back to your show.

21:46

Yeah. Perfect. Well we're

21:48

going to let you guys go. Thank you so much for

21:50

your time and uh , we'll make

21:53

sure that when this episode publishes

21:55

we'll share it with you guys.

21:57

Okay. Thank you so much ms Katie. We really appreciate

21:59

the opportunity.

22:00

Thank you ms Katie.

22:01

Thank you guys.

22:03

And now for a little follow up with myself, Phil

22:05

and Katie.

22:08

After they said that, I was like, Oh, we don't intimidate

22:09

them in the least.

22:12

Have you bought the book?

22:13

I haven't, but it is in my Amazon cart. Okay.

22:16

Yeah. I'm waiting

22:18

to get, I try not to have that parade of

22:20

Amazon boxes. So some when it's not

22:22

urgent, I just put it in the cart and then when I get

22:24

a few things in the cart, then I,

22:27

that's a good step for the environment. Yeah.

22:29

And you were saying though that your plan is to read this

22:31

with Barrington, right ?

22:33

Yeah. Oh , well we'll make him read it to me.

22:35

His teacher said it's time for him to read to me. Uh

22:38

, but yeah. You know, just

22:40

to kind of expose them to

22:42

the idea of philanthropy

22:44

more and, and the idea of,

22:47

look at these little kids are not that much older

22:49

than you and look

22:52

at the difference that they're making. And look how it started.

22:54

It really started with buying

22:57

a homeless man, man. A

23:00

meal. Yeah. And

23:02

how that little act has now, and

23:05

they've, through their efforts, has grown

23:07

to such a awesome

23:09

accomplishments that they've done for so

23:11

many people throughout the country.

23:13

I would love to know the science behind it, but

23:15

I would imagine being

23:18

a parent and watching how kids react to certain

23:20

things, that the pure joy

23:22

that they felt about helping

23:24

another person who

23:28

they don't know whether they're less fortunate or not,

23:30

but they've, they can probably take

23:32

a look and go, that's probably

23:34

not the best situation or the situation

23:36

we'd want to be in. But the whole,

23:39

the idea of just feeling so good

23:41

would be overwhelming to them and they

23:43

want that feeling again. Um, and

23:45

to put that in such a great way

23:48

to look at helping fellow

23:50

man, you know, as the Bible

23:52

says, you know, love thy neighbor

23:55

, um, reach out and help

23:57

and your society, that's an

23:59

important concept,

24:01

I think for kids to learn. And it's inspirational.

24:04

I wish, you know, my kids have

24:06

that. But then you got to think that most

24:10

think about how big the world is to

24:12

kids. And I know

24:14

me growing up, we

24:16

were in our little bubble. We only know what we

24:18

know. You know, we just

24:20

see what we see. We go to school every day , we come

24:22

home. Our whole life is our mom and our dad

24:25

and we only know it from the perspective of where

24:27

we are. And I guess

24:29

technology helps a bit these

24:31

days because we do know so much more or have

24:33

so much, so much more access

24:36

to that information, but

24:39

for them to act

24:41

on it at such a young

24:43

age and want to, I mean that's, that's

24:47

something, I mean that that says something about their

24:49

parents.

24:50

Oh yeah. I mean these parents are,

24:53

I'm learning from them. I

24:55

think that's a great way. I mean they were talking about if

24:57

you get a $10 bill, you should look at

24:59

$1 should be given to somebody else,

25:02

$1 should go toward savings and then eight

25:05

is for you to use however you want. But

25:07

just looking at money from such a young

25:09

age where not all of it is

25:11

spend money like just

25:14

from a young age to know that some of it has to

25:16

go away to savings and that some of it should

25:18

go to help other people I think is an incredible

25:20

lesson right there.

25:22

And to get to understand money

25:24

doesn't just go buy things that we want and enjoy.

25:27

Right. They get the understanding that that money that they

25:29

give, that person could

25:31

be a meal. Oh yeah, literally food. They

25:33

literally, cause a lot of kids just take for granted,

25:35

it shows up because, you

25:38

know, we wake up in the morning and mom and dad

25:40

after the fridge for most of them. Um,

25:43

you know, there's a lot of kids that don't, but I mean in

25:46

this situation that's not what we're talking about.

25:48

But for them to be able to help those kids

25:50

that don't get to wake up in the morning and have a meal every

25:53

day and have that understanding

25:55

that the money that we give or the things

25:57

that we give, it takes

25:59

money to give things. If it's blankets, if

26:02

it's fresh water , if it's

26:04

whatever it might be a

26:06

that's, they

26:08

get the idea of the value and

26:11

the power that the Oh mighty

26:13

dollar dollar dollar has.

26:15

Well I think even beyond that too

26:17

, they're giving people experiences

26:20

and that memory lasts so much longer

26:22

than any sort of material item.

26:24

Yeah. Oh, that's for sure.

26:26

Yeah. The thing with, with Jordan

26:28

and experiences over things, yeah. That's

26:30

your guys motto, right? Yeah. The

26:32

like the thing with Jordan where she went to a

26:34

friend's birthday

26:38

party and they did like a princess

26:40

thing and just to

26:42

have the thought, Oh wow, I

26:44

should do this for other people because

26:47

you know, there's some people who don't get to experience

26:49

this and they're going to the extent of, you know, bringing

26:52

30 , uh, foster

26:54

youth was a foster youth. Yeah. 30 foster

26:56

girls and their parents to Disneyworld

26:59

so that they could go to the, I'm

27:01

gonna mess this up. Bippity boppity boutique.

27:04

Yup . And be a Princess for the

27:06

day.

27:08

That is.

27:09

Disney plus. I watch a lot of Disney.

27:10

who comes up with that idea.

27:12

Jordan.

27:14

A 10 year old.

27:14

that's what I'm saying.

27:16

I know exactly.

27:16

Maybe that's,

27:17

and she was younger. She

27:19

was younger than 10 when she came up with this idea. That

27:21

book has been out for a little bit.

27:24

That is, it's

27:26

inspiring as

27:28

all get out. And I, I am going

27:30

to get this book for my kids

27:32

and they're going to read it. And

27:36

the idea - my wife and I talk about this all

27:38

the time. We'll drive them down to different parts of

27:41

our city. Just

27:43

show them areas that, look,

27:46

it , not everybody has this

27:48

life that you do. Not

27:50

everybody is as lucky to

27:52

have been born to the

27:54

parents that you were , um,

27:57

and , and in the be in the situation that you're in and

27:59

that, but yet they're no less

28:01

human than we are than

28:03

you are. They're just not as fortunate.

28:06

And that doesn't mean that they're going to be there forever,

28:08

but it takes a helping hand

28:12

to help motivate, lift , give

28:14

people a chance to live

28:18

to the degree that, to fulfill

28:21

what they can do.

28:22

Oh yeah.

28:23

I think, and we talked about that with, with Howard

28:26

just the other day. He runs into that same thing.

28:28

Yeah.

28:28

But from a perspective of a child,

28:32

they must, let me ask you guys, do you

28:34

feel like that they get excitement of trying

28:36

to one up everything they do,

28:39

definitely.

28:39

Yeah.

28:40

Like, okay, we did this idea. Where can we do

28:42

now what? Yeah. Great . Thanks. So really

28:45

cool though.

28:46

We briefly talked about this, but Jeremiah

28:48

and Joshua, they even had a Ted talk.

28:52

They have a . Yeah. They've done a Ted talk on

28:55

the champions of change and being change

28:57

agents and the importance of

28:59

giving back and they're just

29:01

very impressive people. And

29:03

so I do think they are trying to

29:06

one up themselves and see like, okay,

29:08

we did this, now what can we do?

29:11

And their , I think their mom even mentioned that too. She's

29:13

like, they used to call us dream crushers.

29:16

Yeah.

29:17

Dream crushers.

29:19

The parents,

29:20

they would call them.

29:21

sometimes their idea, which is way too

29:23

grand where the parents would have to say like, Whoa , Whoa,

29:25

let's do something a little baby

29:27

steps right. And in their

29:30

head they, you know, like, Whoa, we're going to do this, this and

29:32

this. And like, well let's start with just one.

29:35

So that's what they used to call it . I thought it was funny, but,

29:37

and so do they, and they , they raised money, they

29:39

raise the funds to this. This isn't

29:41

all coming out of the pockets of the parents. Right?

29:43

Right. They work their heinies off and

29:45

she, they were briefly telling us during the interview,

29:48

you know, everything that they do to try to raise

29:50

money from like

29:53

they have a bunch of different fundraisers , fundraisers

29:56

to actually doing work. It

29:58

sounds like. It almost sounds like they have car washes. Um

30:02

, so they are, it's

30:04

not like they are just trying to use their passive

30:06

income to give back. This is not coming

30:08

out of excess. They are working really

30:10

hard, hustling really hard.

30:13

Um, and it's not to benefit themselves.

30:15

It's to benefit the world, to give back

30:18

and inspire other kids to join

30:20

them too, to become a change agent.

30:23

It seems like they're focusing in

30:25

on lots of different areas too . Right . It's not

30:27

just kind of one specific area

30:30

that they're championing.

30:32

No. Yeah.

30:33

To help someone out

30:36

whenever they see a need for it.

30:38

Like the Flint water

30:40

crisis, they learned about it and they said, Oh, let's

30:42

do something about it. They

30:45

gathered a bunch of water and got it. You

30:47

know, partnered up with someone, had it shipped , shipped, trucked

30:50

over to Michigan.

30:52

One of the biggest takeaways I took from talking

30:55

to them is that if

30:57

you're passionate about something, it's

30:59

just going to make it so much easier

31:01

to persevere and push through all

31:04

of that hard work. And these kids

31:06

genuinely care about other people,

31:08

which is why it seems like they have no

31:10

issue working so hard

31:12

on all these fundraising efforts because it

31:14

means the world to them.

31:15

and that's gonna benefit them in their life going

31:17

forward is the , I'm guessing

31:20

that there's a pretty good chance that they're

31:22

going to do something in their lives career wise

31:24

that help other people. Maybe philanthropy

31:26

will be something that they will start their

31:29

own foundation, whatever it might be , uh,

31:31

to do something and have

31:33

a family and raise their money. And

31:36

raised, you know, their children and

31:38

all that stuff. I

31:40

would imagine too that

31:44

the idea of being able

31:46

to do something for

31:48

a living that also gives back to

31:50

your fellow man to society will

31:53

just drive them going

31:55

forward it gives them something to look forward to, to do. Where

31:58

so many kids are just aimless. They don't,

32:00

I don't want to say aimless, they just, it's one

32:02

thing to another. It's I go to high school,

32:05

I try to figure out what I want, where I want to go to college

32:07

or I want it , you know what I want to study and then I go to college

32:09

and then I, I graduate and I try to figure out

32:11

what I'm going to do, where these

32:13

kids are going to be driven

32:16

to do all of this during that entire

32:19

path.

32:20

Well, so let me ask you guys this. I was, I was reading

32:22

an article in Forbes and it was saying that

32:24

it's really important to get your kid involved

32:26

in a side hustle so that they can start

32:28

to figure out what they're passionate about, where

32:31

their skill set kind of lies. Is

32:33

that something that you would do with your kids?

32:35

Would you encourage them to follow

32:38

a passion and create a side hustle out of it?

32:40

Absolutely.

32:41

Yeah. I think so.

32:42

100%. You know, it's

32:44

, it's interesting right now between school

32:46

and even all the sports that they play in, you know, their

32:48

time is, it , it's,

32:51

it's this interesting

32:53

dilemma that we as parents run into,

32:56

at least in , in our area, at least in, in

32:58

our life, what our life is. You know , our

33:00

kids go to school, there is an abundant amount

33:02

of homework that needs to be done.

33:05

There's so many hours in the day, Carrie

33:08

and I have to work. So there's, you

33:10

know, we're , we don't get to be with them right after school gets

33:12

out. Um, and

33:15

then when we get home, there's soccer practice

33:17

and there's baseball practice and there's soccer games and there's,

33:19

you know, so on and so forth. And so they're , they're , they've

33:21

got a lot going on. So

33:24

it's that question of, do you want to entertain

33:27

adding something else or do

33:30

we step back for a little while? And then

33:32

when you're not playing baseball for three months,

33:35

four months, whatever it might be, fill that with

33:37

something else. And I think that yes,

33:39

that is the way we should go. I don't

33:42

know if I want my child to just - now

33:44

they're not doing that at night . So they're going to sit and play video games

33:47

every day. And that's how they fill that

33:49

space. I think that the idea of

33:51

giving them something to be passionate about

33:54

and want to work towards, whether

33:56

it's philanthropy, whether it's doing a

33:59

lemonade stand, whatever it might be,

34:01

aim high kiddo. Um, yeah

34:06

.

34:06

Did you guys have lemonade stands growing up ?

34:08

I did.

34:08

I did not. Yeah,

34:12

I did try selling lemons .

34:14

Really?

34:15

Not make lemonade. I just sold lemons.

34:17

Is country

34:23

time lemonade still out there?

34:25

I think. Yeah

34:27

. But at the Costco, the business Costco,

34:29

we would, we would get that and we would just make

34:31

a big jar of it and we would charge

34:33

like a nickel and I think

34:35

we'd make a dollar 50. But that was awesome

34:38

cause that was a two candy bars. So

34:42

my kids are a little bit older than that now, but

34:46

in with my brother-in-law's,

34:48

a very much an entrepreneur and was

34:50

at a very early age too, and

34:53

my son sees that and loves

34:55

to emulate his uncle Mikey. So he would

34:57

get into the world of what can I buy and what can I resell

35:00

on eBay to make money?

35:04

Yeah. He looks at that kind

35:06

of stuff. What can we fix up and resell?

35:08

And , uh, if he's got old

35:10

baseball equipment, can we refurbish it? Can

35:12

we, and he does that same thing

35:15

where we give back baseball equipment

35:17

to kids that can't afford it. Um

35:20

, and we donate that stuff and he's really adamant

35:22

about taking care of his things, even though he doesn't

35:24

have them , uh, use them

35:27

anymore , uh, so that

35:29

they can be given to somebody who can use them. Uh,

35:32

so that, that is a pretty cool

35:34

thing. But yeah, I think that that's,

35:36

well, that's amazing in itself, knowing

35:38

that like, I'm not going to be able

35:40

to use this equipment forever. Yeah.

35:42

And instead of just dropping it in

35:44

the mud or just leaving

35:47

it in the trash, yeah.

35:48

It's a perfectly good baseball helmet that doesn't fit

35:51

him anymore and now that can be passed

35:53

on. He just grown out of so many bats

35:55

that he has , uh, that, that

35:57

can be given to somebody.

35:59

So it goes to good use.

36:00

Well, there's ways he , he, I

36:03

believe he gives back that, you

36:05

know, he loves baseball being an umpire

36:07

. Yeah. Volunteering to be an umpire,

36:09

volunteering around keeps score

36:12

for the younger kids, things like that

36:14

where you know, a kid can

36:16

volunteer and give back doing

36:19

the things that they already liked doing.

36:20

He really likes doing it and yet he, you

36:23

know, they can't play a baseball game without empire. So yeah.

36:26

I mean , he likes it . It's great if you can find something

36:28

that you love to do and you're doing

36:30

a lot of good at the same

36:32

time.

36:33

Well and there doesn't have to be money exchanged either,

36:35

is what it sounded like to me.

36:37

Especially if you're volunteering to be an umpire

36:39

. Yeah. You're giving back that time

36:42

and they don't, it seems like a lot

36:44

of city park and rec kind of sports team

36:46

wouldn't exist without volunteers.

36:49

Absolutely. We are literally could not afford and

36:51

where we're in a relatively affluent area,

36:54

but we could not afford our little league, could not

36:56

afford to have paid

36:59

umpires every because I mean there's so many games, it's

37:01

overwhelming. And not only that, you're

37:04

teaching kids responsibility,

37:06

show up to the game on time. You're going to have to

37:08

pay attention the entire time. You understand the rules,

37:11

know where you gotta be. They get a better understanding

37:13

of how the baseball game, how a game works from

37:16

a different viewpoint than just being a player.

37:19

Uh, and that, you know, I've really seen how much

37:21

my son understands the game so much

37:23

better than he did when

37:25

he was just a player who was catching, cause that was kinda

37:28

his, that was his thing. You know, cause

37:30

I played third base, first base, whatever might

37:32

be , but there's a lot more to the game than just throwing a ball

37:34

and catching a ball and all those

37:36

rules. It's really made him a better all

37:39

around player cause he understands better. Uh,

37:41

and then all along, you know, the young, he gets a

37:43

kick out of watching the little kids try

37:46

to hit a ball and try to catch a

37:48

ball and all those kinds of things. And so,

37:50

yeah, I think it's, it

37:52

brings a smile to my face. I like

37:55

watching it. My wife's like, why would you want to watch

37:57

him umpire? I don't man, you have no

37:59

idea how fun the sport.

38:01

Yeah.

38:01

So it makes it easier to like,

38:03

I can remember doing a, I did a

38:06

couple of seasons when I was younger of the line referees in soccer.

38:09

Oh yeah, yeah . Like offsides and all that.

38:12

And it's kinda cool. You run around and you lift

38:14

your flag up and , um, and

38:16

it's, it's , uh , it doesn't

38:18

even feel like you're,

38:21

you're really giving back your time . It's,

38:24

I mean, if you liked the sport, you're probably, I

38:26

mean, there's a chance you might be at home watching it on TV. Instead

38:28

you get to watch it with little kids and be part of

38:31

it. Um, so, you

38:33

know, it's a way of giving back without

38:36

having to spend funds. You spend your time

38:38

outdoors doing something you already liked

38:40

doing, watching basketball, baseball,

38:42

soccer, whatever it is.

38:43

Yeah. I think that's important. I

38:46

really do. This is just

38:48

seeing what these kids, it just shows you that anybody

38:50

can accomplish anything if you put your

38:52

mind to it. Especially in this day and age.

38:55

I mean when you can have a voice,

38:58

everybody can have a voice, good or bad, but

39:01

the idea that these kids understand

39:03

the idea of money and

39:06

how it can have an effect on others is

39:09

unbelievable to me and

39:14

especially being that their kids, so

39:16

many more people are going to , I would imagine,

39:18

follow them and want to give to them and

39:20

corporate entities and those kinds of

39:22

things are going to want to jump on board because

39:24

look at what these kids are doing.

39:26

Oh yeah. Well and sometimes the most profitable

39:28

idea comes from the simplest idea

39:31

to like Jordan just going

39:33

to a birthday party and thinking, Hey, every girl

39:35

should be able to feel like a princess for a day. It's

39:38

become a huge thing.

39:40

Yeah, that sounds so very Ellen.

39:43

what Jordan?

39:44

Yeah. Like when I watched the

39:46

Ellen show, I mean, she's so inspirational

39:48

and I love , you know, you can cry every time you watch

39:51

that show for what she does for people. And

39:53

then there's this little girl that comes up with that all

39:56

on her own. And yet it

39:58

sounds so very Ellen to me. And

40:00

that's not that I'm saying that's a good thing.

40:02

Oh yeah. I didn't take it as a bad thing.

40:06

I think that's very, very cool. I

40:08

hope we

40:11

can get so entangled us as parents,

40:13

us as humans entangled into

40:15

our daily routines and in

40:17

what we consider

40:20

a good week or a bad week. And

40:24

yet if you take a step back

40:27

and you find yourself complaining that

40:30

God, I'm having a really hard week. I

40:34

guess if you compare it,

40:35

you're, you're probably not.

40:36

You're not. Yeah, you're really not.

40:38

And if , and I've believe that wholeheartedly,

40:41

that if, if you're down

40:43

or if you're, you're having a tough time or life's not going

40:45

the way you want, you can flip the

40:47

mentality of finding

40:50

what is good and then reach

40:52

for that. Good. And I think that these kids getting

40:55

that, because

40:59

for sure these kids are getting a lot

41:01

out of this. If these other people are getting a

41:04

ton, but they themselves as

41:06

human beings are getting a ton out of this. Learning

41:09

selflessness, learning

41:11

to love thy neighbor, learning to help others

41:14

and the feelings of warmth that they get

41:16

from that is, I think that's

41:19

what kids need to experience. And if they can at

41:21

that age, how much better are human

41:23

beings as they grow up? Are they going to be.

41:24

Oh yeah. And they're also learning adversity

41:27

because as much as you know, we're sitting here

41:29

just basking

41:32

and how awesome they are and all of the

41:34

amazing accomplishments that they've had.

41:37

I'm sure that they've had people say no to

41:39

them before when asking for a donation.

41:41

Sure. Which that's a hard skill

41:45

to learn, but.

41:46

Work in nonprofit long enough, you really get used to it.

41:50

or try being a journalist to write.

41:54

Yeah. Um, thick skin.

41:55

Yeah. I mean, but it takes time

41:58

to build that up and you to separate

42:00

it from being a personal thing.

42:02

It takes time. So to learn that skill early on,

42:04

I think is incredible too.

42:06

It really is. I , I, I

42:09

hope there are many people that hear this and

42:12

get inspired by it because the more people that do

42:14

these kinds of acts, the better world

42:16

we're going to be in and we need this

42:18

kind of, we

42:21

need this kind of news. We need these

42:23

kinds of stories. It

42:26

may not sell as much, but sure is way

42:29

more fun. Way more fun cover

42:31

and to just listen 100%

42:34

there's so much good going on in this world and we just

42:36

don't hear about it because it's not as new for .