we're starting a non-profit!

"you are good. but it is not enough 
just to be good. you must be 
good for something. you must 
contribute good to the world. the 
world must be a better place 
for your presence. and the 
good that is in you must
be spread to others."
-gordon b. hinckley



this summer when i had a break between jobs

and chase turned 26, we both had a mini quarter

life crisis...but not the normal kind. we were

happy with where we were in life, but we both

had the nagging feeling something was missing.

we were feeling like we had accomplished a lot of 

our goals and started to build the life we want, but 

with the opportunities & experiences we've had, we

felt like we weren't giving enough back. very cliché,

and if you think this is cheesy you don't have to

keep reading :) but it is very genuine for us! one

sunday we went on a walk and talked about how

so far in our lives we had been able to focus on

ourselves -- our education, jobs, experiences, etc.

setting up a life for ourselves and being responsible.

chase talked about how the one thing he's learned

in his first 25 years is that he wants to spend the next

25 years focusing on others. we obviously want

to have fun and keep living the life we love, but find

ways to make things more meaningful and not all 

about us. we tossed ideas back and forth...i said that

along with working with hotels/ restaurants/ tourism

companies when we travel, we should also work with

great non-profits and organizations that are helping

the communities we travel in. we built on this idea,

and by the end of the walk we were dreaming BIG.

(lots of late nights have gone into working on this, and
turns out those big dreams are becoming a reality!

we're actually starting a non-profit spin off of the

 blog called wellcared.org where we can highlight the

efforts going on around the world in areas we visit.

basically, it's a non-profit to help other organizations

raise awareness by donating time & talent to help them

with marketing, websites, social media, etc. it's been

months of preparation and work with lots more to do,

but as of now we're actually an official 501c3

organization. filed, signed, sealed, delivered! we've

invested our money in this with the hope that it helps

us focus outward on the great people and orgs that

make this world we love even more beautiful. plus, all
of the money this blog makes will go straight to wellcared.

we chose WellCared because we want these non-profits 

that care for the world to be well taken care of as well. 

now that it's formed, we're recruiting different 

professionals and people to donate their time to 

non-profits that we've partnered with. just like we

love to share an amazing travel experience or meal,

we are excited to share organizations that are changing

the world, making a difference, and contributing to

their communities. this way we can touch many 

different organizations and have exposure to a lot of 

diverse causes rather than just one. we hope this can 

be an avenue to bettering the world through partnering 

with other non-profits and helping them better achieve 

their missions. we're excited to set up service trips in

the future, feature great events and causes, and work

on this as a team. i love being in a partnership with

my favorite person! he's a good co-founder :)

the excerpt below from thrive, one of my favorite books 

of the year, said it perfectly and woke me up to this 

desire. we pride ourselves on being go-getters 

which is good, but being go-givers is better.

we hope that if you know of any great non-profit 

organizations who could use help with their marketing/

websites/ outreach, you'll send them our way! 

we're just getting started but excited to build this together.

"though we travel the world over to 
find the beautiful, we must carry it 
with us or we find it not."
ralph waldo emerson

^^ here's hoping this will help us carry more beauty with us
on our travels and leave places better than we find them!

xo