AZ Giving
AZ Giving: Make March Meaningful
With a whole month that is dedicated to helping the lives of those who need it most, The Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation (PCHF) is rolling out its Make March Meaningful (MMM) campaign. Through all of March, you can visit local businesses that will donate proceeds to The Hope Fund (THF). THF was created to benefit the Phoenix...
A New Leaf: Telling Untold Stories, Jason's Story
by Candy Thompson
Jason worked as a professional plumber for more than 20 years but found himself unemployed when Arizona’s housing market collapsed. He had never competed for employment before and wasn’t sure where to start. Jason’s meager savings dwindled over the next four years while he worked odd jobs and without adequate health insurance. He struggled to find the necessary care his wife Shawna’s multiplying health needs required. When he did, it wasn’t affordable.
Although Jason had decades of professional work experience behind him, he had absolutely no experience in navigating a competitive...
AZ Giving: Community Music @ the Center
Remember creating meaningful art and music projects in school? Those exciting moments during our childhood helped make us who we are today; creative, bold and expressive adults. Now, kids face looming budget cuts, tuition increases and teacher shortages that threaten their very development. Art and music are not only important to children — our entire community benefits everyday from talented people who enjoy playing an instrument or painting a picture. And of course, most of us enjoy simply, “turning on and...
Valley Philanthropist Debbie Gaby Releases New Book
A bouquet starts with seeds of hope and inspiration and is exactly what I have given in my book, In My Wildest Dreams. . .I Never Imagined This Inspirational Bouquet of Gifts. With humor, compassion, love and healthy doses of Southern charm, I share the stories of my life which shaped, challenged, and inspired me to become the woman I am today. Readers will find that In My Wildest Dreams. . . is joyful, uplifting, and inspiring – and a testimony that the gifts in our lives come to us in interesting and often awe-inspiring ways. . .in different shapes and colors and scents, one more beautiful than the next.
My choices led me down an...
A New Leaf: Telling Untold Stories, Mila's Story
by Candy Thompson
Sometimes a family follows from a well-set plan. Find your soulmate, get married, decide together on the number of kids you will have, plan your expenses, pick out all your children’s names in advance, and, perhaps even buy a home to raise them.
Trouble is most of us don’t work that way. Mila Carrancho and her husband, Christopher, were just like the majority of Valley residents: their imagination of a family was quite different from the reality of their lives and circumstances. But what they substituted for a spreadsheet of milestones was total love...