It Could Be Anyone, Even You

Take a moment to think about a time you had difficulties paying for something that was either a necessity or maybe something you just really liked. Can you remember how you felt when you knew you could not afford it but still needed it? The fear of the credit card not going through or being declined. The embarrassment of being told your card was not approved. OH my gosh it is the worst feeling ever.

I can admit I have felt that way and it is humbling. I have lived paycheck to paycheck and remember hoping to not have my account be in the red. Thankfully I did not have any one else I was responsible for and could live off of soup for a few days.

But imagine having a child. Now imagine that child being sick. Not only sick but with a life threatening illness. Your child is so sick you have to stay at a hospital a few times a month.

Now what do you do?

Life throws us curves balls all the time and a lot of the families we help were not ready or prepared to have to dedicate their paycheck to a hospital or doctor visit. It was not in their budget to pay for their child to have surgery.

I was determined to be able to eliminate that fear and stress a family has when they cannot pay for their rent or utility bill.

Recently we had a mom (Ruth) apply for our grant who was 4 months late on her rent. Her bill was over $5,000! I spoke to her landlord and she confirmed to me that Ruth had never been late in the past and that her and her daughter have been living in her apartment for a few years now. I was able to work out a deal with the landlord and the foundation sent her a $2700 check to help. I know that was not the total amount but that is the most we have EVER helped one family.

Every family leaves an imprint on my heart but for some reason this one hit me differently. I spoke to her on the phone and she was walking me down the path her and her daughter have been on the last few years. She first told me that her daughter was not properly diagnosed and her doctors thought she had a urinary tract infection. They sent her home, and a few days later she went into a seizure. Her daughter has chronic kidney disease. She has been on the verge of death a few times and is fighting for her life. If it wasn’t for the persistence of her mother to fight for her she might not be alive.

So do you leave your child who is in the hospital to go to work? I wouldn’t think so.

I am not a mother yet but I am a “bonus mom” and I believe that when your child is this sick it is a moment of fight or flight. You fight for your family and continue until there is no fight left.

The impression I received from Ruth is that she will do anything for her daughter and will continue to fight for her and her health until she cannot anymore.

I wanted to write this post because it is important to focus on why The Pearce Family Foundation exists. Sure, we love throwing events and fun parties but at the end of the day it is for the families who have nowhere else to turn. We are trying to keep them from living in a shelter or on the streets.

With the money we bring in from events and individual supporters we can make these exceptions sometimes.

Do you think you could spare $5 or $10 a month to be a part of our Angel Club? It is one or two cups of coffee a month, that you won’t miss as much knowing you are helping a mom like Ruth.

If you are ever in this situation or know someone who is, wouldn’t you want to know that there is a place like PFF who can help them? 

Think about it, be an angel.

Angels Around Us Committee

Want to Help Families in AZ?

People always ask how they can help the Pearce Family Foundation, and my typical response is that we need help at events-so to volunteer would help. Today though, we have a new request, we need more people to sit on our Angels Around Us committee.

What is the Angels Around Us Committee?

Well, this is a group of a variety of people who look over the applications we receive from Phoenix Children's Hospital, Banner Cardon Children's Hospital and word of mouth of people needing help.

What does it mean to be on this Committee?

Honestly, not a lot. Whenever the foundation receives an application we send it to the committee and between those people they decide who will contact the family to find out what is going on. The Pearce Family Foundation receives on average about 8 applications a month, so it will take an hour out of your day maybe a week.

Is it Hard?

No, but it can be emotional hearing what these families are going through and that PFF cannot always help every time. You will read about families like yours and mine who have no where else to turn and if we don't help or another nonprofit assist they might be on the streets. BUT don't worry we always figure out a way to get them back on track. 

Qualifications

• Have a computer and an email

• Work in a field that you understand medical conditions or in finance

• Believe in PFF

• Want to be a part of the decision making on who we assist

• Can call families and ask questions on how they are in a hard financial state

• Be available to the Pearce Family Foundation if we have questions

 If you are interested and want to help us continue to make a difference please email Meghan at meghan@pfffarizona.com xo

A Note from the Roberts

The other day the foundation had sent out an email. We emailed a few of our families who are a part of our Angels Around Us and Angel Pups program. We asked them to be a part of our blog and to help share their experience with PFF.

There are some families we can just count on and one of those are the Roberts family. Paige (mom) is always willing to send me pictures of her son Devin and their service dog Teddy. Last year (2017) we helped pay for the remaining balance needed for their son to receive a service dog. Teddy helps with day to day tasks for Devin and is not only his service dog, but his best friend.

Here is the mom's answers to our questions:

Name: Devin Roberts (Paige and Patrick  Roberts- Mom and Dad)

How you know of PFF:  Elizabeth Ayers- Cluff told me about PFF almost 2 yrs ago, their family was a friend of Meghan who she met while working at Phoenix Children's Hospital.

What makes PFF special:  PFF is an amazing organization that has many different facets.  It is so special for families and their kiddos in need.  The foundation makes dreams come true for special need children with their Angel Pups program. PFF grants a portion of the money needed to attain a service dog, and that is life changing for these kids.   They provide assistance for many families in times of crisis, when chronic medical issues plague their family and weigh them down financially and emotionally.

The founder, Meghan, is so invested in this organization and is constantly spreading the word and raising money and generating resources to help families in need.  This is an outstanding organization that Phoenix, Az should be proud to have as part of their city. 

#aboveandbeyondforthekiddos

-Paige 

Interns & Assistants

When I started the Pearce Family Foundation it did not occur to me that I (Meghan) would need to hire anyone. Why would I need an assistant? I can handle everything...UMM NOT (lol) since starting the foundation I have been fortunate to have now had 5 1/2 interns.First I had my sister Jessica Pearce help me with some of the first events (the Zebulon Pearce monument and Brew Something that Matters). I was so thankful Jess wanted to help since I was taking on a huge new business venture.  Then the beautiful and smart Kylie Ray came to our PFF family after one of my good friends introduced us and it was a true blessing. Kylie ended up working with me for over 18 months and is one of the hardest working women I know.The next wonderful assistant/intern was Kylie Mudd who I met through Kylie 1 and I was again so thankful for her to step in when I needed her help the most. She was there during my wedding months and was my voice of reason when I thought I was going to loose it. (oh and I promise I do not hire just girls named Kylie).Then after I saw how fast we were growing and that I needed help at all times I found two amazing girls. Lindsay Cardoza and Kourtnie Martin became new team members of PFF and worked with me every week on every upcoming event. Neither of these girls were receiving class credit-they just did it out of the goodness of their heart. Kourtnie is studying entrepreneurial courses at GCU and now wants to work for PFF after college (YIPPIE). Lindsay in addition to all of her time working without credit hours is now receieving 12 credit hours to help her graduate in May.The moral of this story is that us #girlbosses need help and we need to ask for it. I wish I could handle every email, every family application, and every event but I can't. I am fortunate to have met like minded women who believe in our mission and want to learn from ME.So ladies- let others help you and don't forget that we are teachers in a way and should share our knowledge! xoxoMeghan     

It is 2018, but lets go Back

   Wow can you believe it is already 2018?! The Pearce Family Foundation will be coming up to our 5th birthday (of being founded in July 2013). What was an idea of sorts to "create a foundation" actually became a reality. In conclusion to the people who believed in our cause.A few name changes of the grant programs and figuring out what works regarding bill payments we are finally at a point where it just, works. I remember having a lot of gut feelings where I wasn't sure if something was going to happen and miraculously it just did. I wanted to do a little #tbt of where we first started to where we are now.... 

2013-2014

• Zebulon Pearce Monument- never having built a statue before or knowing where to begin this was for sure a challenge. The City of Mesa gave me the go ahead and then it was on to find an artist who wasn't going to charge a nonprofit hundreds and thousands of dollars. Thankfully Jeff Carol Davenport came into my life and after receiving permission from Pete Coors himself that we could use their trademarked logo we were ready to build. Raising almost $40,000, we now have a statue of a legend. Zebulon Pearce the founder of our family's success and why Coors beer came to the Southwest.

 

• Angels Around Us Grant was born- since PFF  has started we have helped 70 families. Assisting with bills ranging from; car transmission payments, mortgage/rent, utilities, new furniture, and even service dogs. Donating out $55,989 since we have started!
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2014-2015

Events We Hosted:

• Brew Something that Matters- beer taping party we hosted at O.H.S.O. Brewery twoyears in a row. Together raised about $15,000

 

• Hula's Modern Tiki Charity of the Month during June 2014, we raised over $3,000 in just 4 days. On every Monday 20% of bill would come back to PFF. In addition to the donation from the restaurant  we hosted a variety of events each week! The image below is of Randall Hedden after he painted a beautiful painting of an angel.
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• National Bikini Day Party at Shop Pepper in Old Town- F0od trucks, bikinis by GreenLee Swim and drinks during a hot summer day!

• Clays for a Cause- First annual sporting clay tournament, raised over $13,000 our first year

2015-2016

• Spring Bark- To kick off this year we decided to host a dog friendly event at Boulder Falls Pet Resort and raised over $5,000.

  

• Runway of Hope- Hosted at the Coors beer warehouse in downtown Phoenix the event proved you can hold a fashion show anywhere. A variety of local boutiques from around the Valley walked the runway and helped raise over $17,000!
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  While, I could keep going on and on about all of the events we have hosted or been beneficiary recipients of I won't.Due to the success we have had by the past events we wanted to host more. We have had three more Clays for a Cause events, two more fashion shows, a yoga event, two Kendra Scott jewelry parties, a barre3 event, a few holiday parties and three toy drives. Dang we are busy ;) Thank you for your endless support and we are excited to see what 2018 holds for usxo,Meghan  

Toys Ahoy with Barre3

Fitness, Food, all for a Great Cause!The holidays are here and what that means for PFF, is that we have our annual Toys Ahoy drive. Instead of boats at OdySea in The Desert this year, we had the community from Barre3 out on the plaza supporting our drive. Owner Karie Johnson is not only beautiful but she is very charitable. We have been wanting to host an event together and the idea of doing a fitness event seemed effortless. When I told her about the toy drive that we host  she immediately wanted to step in. The Barre3 tribe was determined to help us make all of our family wishes come true because they believe in our cause.The barre3 studios (both PV & NS) had Angel Trees in their lobby with over 90 wish lists on them. Our families  hoped that their wishes would be granted by the barre3 angels. And guess what....they were. ALL OF THEM!

On Sunday we were the beneficiary charity of Impact + Giveback with b3 at OdySea. Over 100 people came to the event to deliver toys and to workout in the plaza. The members met a few of the family's they bought toys for. It was a perfect ending to a great year. We are so grateful to everyone who support our families.    see you next year! Happy Holidaysxo Meghan

We Have a BLOG!

 Hello, Hi, Hola, Welcome...PFF has a blog!! After going through a few websites the foundation has finally decided to document all of the fun, different, unique, and special things we do here at the Pearce Family Foundation. Time to time we might have a guest writer- say one of our families we have helped or a special donor but most likely it will be from CEO & Founder Meghan Alfonso. ******************************************************************************************************************     Wow isn't it amazing how fast time goes by. When we were younger we wished time would hurry up and that we would be 16 so we could drive or that we would turn 18 so we could go to college. Then it was I cannot wait until I am 21...and now it is like, "wait it's my birthday again or Christmas is less than a month away". Time... it is something we can never get back but is monumental in decision making. I have been the CEO of the Pearce Family Foundation (PFF) for over 1,600 days and it feels like just yesterday when I got the guts to start a nonprofit. That day in July of 2013 the timing could not have been more perfect. I was jobless, could barely make my $1,000 rent, and was lost. I had worked at other nonprofits and after being beaten down too many times I just up and quit a job I thought I was going to be at until I was old and gray.Thankfully I swallowed my fear and followed my dreams of being my own boss. Living on my own time and not letting others tell me what I had to do and what my weekend plans were is something I hope to never loose. I will tell you that I work harder and longer hours now than I ever did before, but I am the happiest I have ever been.This will be a place to voice my opinion on events throughout Scottsdale and Phoenix as well as to give an inside look on what goes on at PFF. We are a grassroots nonprofit that believes in being the "life savers" behind the curtains. We are not saving cancer or doing any research but we are keeping families at their home and hopefully out of the hospital. The families we help sometimes do not have "time" on their side and needs someone to step in...which is where we come inWelcome and I hope you enjoy, xoMeghan PFF Angel