Our founder, Heather Locke, has been nominated for the 2020 Arizona’s Finest for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! Arizona’s Finest honors the most accomplished, innovative, and emerging leaders and business professionals. The honorees are given the chance to highlight their commitment and professional achievements in the community while raising awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

About Arizona’s Finest and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Founded in 1955, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s mission is “to cure cystic fibrosis and to provide all people with the disease the opportunity to lead full, productive lives by funding research and drug development, promoting individualized treatment, and ensuring access to high-quality, specialized care.” Arizona’s Finest fundraisers are held over the course of two months and in each state. The goal is to bring together a community through the tapping of individual fundraisers.

Heather’s Involvement

First introduced to the Arizona’s Finest fundraiser through Casey and Teresa Strunk, Heather was intrigued by the style of fundraising.

“Giving back to our community is so important to me. So much so, it’s at the foundation of Hammersmith Support. Being honored as one of Arizona’s Finest to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is such an honor – and I’m excited to continue to give back in a new way.”

How You Can Help

Each honoree is asked to raise $2,500 with a group goal of raising a minimum of $25,000 during their two-month campaign! Heather would be honored if you would consider making a donation to her page for this amazing cause!

For more information about cystic fibrosis and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, visit their website at www.ccf.org.

This week we’re excited to showcase a Hammersmith Support client, Rancho Feliz, and the amazing work they are doing in our community and across the Mexican border. Rancho Feliz is a nonprofit organization that provides the much-needed services of basic necessities and education for children and families in Agua Prieta, just a four-hour drive from Phoenix. Their philosophy is unique in that their work is thought to change the lives of volunteers at least as much as it does those of the recipients of the services.

Rancho Feliz has been hit hard by the pandemic. The inability to hold in-person fundraisers has lessened the amount of funding available. At the same time, the pandemic has negatively impacted the border towns they serve. Even through adversity, Rancho Feliz is committed to providing for the less fortunate.

Enlightened Self-Interest

Put simply, enlightened self-interest means improving the quality of your own life by serving those not born into the same circumstances. Rancho Feliz’s volunteers travel to Agua Prieta to assist in building and renovating homes for families in need. The process yields a life-changing event in providing reliable and consistent shelter for a family, as well as a life-changing event for the volunteer to fully experience what some live with on a daily basis, simply because they were born into different circumstances.

“We don’t believe in welfare. We believe in the dynamic principle of keeping the integrity of the human spirit foremost – and our maverick approach is unlike any other.“

Education

Rancho Feliz formed an educational alliance with two fully accredited, private bi-lingual schools in Agua Prieta: Colegio Americano Anais for kindergarten, elementary, and junior high and Colegio Benemerito de Las Americas for high school. Rancho Feliz also provides opportunities to sponsor University students. The schools rely on donations and the funds are meticulously monitored in order to maximize their impact.

Reciprocal Giving

We love this infographic that Rancho Feliz uses to visually explain how their programs work.

Want to Help?

Website: https://ranchofeliz.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RanchoFelizCharitableFoundation

Contact:
7109 E. 2nd Street, #100
Scottsdale, AZ 85251

(602) 538-9192

Hammersmith Support Can Help Your Business or Nonprofit

We helped develop the current Rancho Feliz website and we still maintain it several years later! Thinking it might be time for a website upgrade for your business or organization? Schedule a free consultation to get your questions answered and let us tell you how we can support you.

At Hammersmith Support, one of our core values is to give back. Every year, we choose a local charity to assist through website support services, pro bono. Our goal is to further their mission by enabling their online presence to be everything it can be.

#LoveUp Foundation

Our current pro bono client is the #LoveUp Foundation. This Phoenix-based charity is a “jack of all trades” when it comes to assisting children in the foster care system. We use that phrase because of all the amazing services #LoveUp Foundation offers to children in foster care. Their services range from entertainment at a Diamondbacks game, to holiday parties complete with an overwhelming amount of gifts for deserving kids, to supporting teenagers as they “age out” of the foster care system. These teenagers are thrust into the real world with little support and the #LoveUp Foundation is happy to help them get the supplies they need for a new home, job opportunities, and more.

Why They’re Needed

The #LoveUp Foundation has an ever-growing population of kids who need help. Why’s that? Because the stats on children in the foster care system are staggering:

  • Over 438,000 children are in the foster care system across the United States
  • 20,000 children annually “age out” of the system at 18 years old
  • 1 in 5 of those children will experience homelessness after the age of 18
  • Fewer than 3% of foster children earn a college degree
  • 1 in 4 children in foster care will experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

How You Can Help

It’s hard to read those stats and not wonder how to get involved! #LoveUp Foundation has several ways for us to do so. They’re always in need of monetary donations, but you can also volunteer at an event for the kids. Your business can participate in the Arizona State Corporate Tax Credit, which is a dollar for dollar credit to the donor. And maybe the easiest way to help is to purchase a #LoveUp Foundation t-shirt, the proceeds of which go towards funding the various projects that #LoveUp Foundation is working on. Not only does this help underwrite the costs of the foundation, but it also helps to spread awareness about #LoveUp Foundation, which is critical in supporting this valuable charity.

Want to learn more about our commitment to service in our community? Click on over to our Giving Back page to find out our “why.”