In this episode, we talk with Danielle Judd. Danielle is the Founder of FarmHouse Rescue, a virtual farm and workable farm for adults with special needs and children in hospitals. Danielle shares that she had a near-death experience that landed her in the hospital for three months, which she survived from and then swore to God to dedicate her life to others. Today, she works around the clock to build a community for rescued animals and adults and children who need the hope and love that farm animals can provide. Tune-in to hear about how you can get involved or be inspired to make a change in your own community.

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Guest Bio

Danielle started FarmHouse Rescue 501(c)(3) a non-profit organization in 2018 after surviving a life-threatening illness that left her with many lasting effects, such as memory loss and depression. She saved a horse, but she realized it had saved her right back and she wanted to help others experience that too. FarmHouse Rescue is a non-profit organization that saves animals and then utilizes the healing powers of animals to help adults with disabilities, depression and anxiety, children in cancer wards via a live feed from the farm and fulfilling end of life wishes.

Show Notes

For more information, visit the Farmhouse Rescue website here.

Transcript

Jenn Klein (JK): Welcome to the You Are A Philanthropist podcast. Today we’re talking with Danielle Judd. Danielle is Founder of Farmhouse Rescue, which is a virtual farm and workable farm for adults with special needs and children in hospitals.

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Intro: Welcome to the You Are A Philanthropist podcast with Jenn Klein, a Certified Fundraising Executive and philanthropic entrepreneur. This show is dedicated to empowering and inspiring you to make a difference in your community and our world. Jenn believes all acts of kindness matter. And this show is designed to help you take pride in your everyday actions of improving the lives of others and making a change in the world. Now, here’s Jenn.

JK: Danielle, welcome to the show.

Danielle Judd (DJ): Thank you so much for having me. This is so exciting.

JK: Danielle, I’m thrilled to have you. You’re a real inspiration. I read about your nonprofit. And I was wondering if you could tell my listeners how you got started and what exactly you do.

DJ: Oh, wow. Okay. I’m so excited. Hopefully, you all will like this. So around six years ago, I was really sick. I was pregnant with
our third child. I got this thing called bacterial meningitis and sepsis and severe pneumonia. I had organ failure. And I was in the hospital in and out I mean for almost three months. And I was given these things called five wishes so you can get your affairs in order. I was not given a good prognosis during this all. And through it all, I just kind of reevaluated my life. I thought about things that really mattered to me. What have I done in this world? I’m going to die. What am I giving back to this world? How am I leaving this? There was no amount of good that I could have done in that bed, that I just felt like I wasted my life. Not wasted, but I guess felt so selfish is the word. And I just kind of felt like the most selfish person in the world. And I wasn’t. I wasn’t a bad person. I brought meals to people, and I’m like, “Oh my goodness, I brought meals to people that were sick. I was a room mom. I did all these things.” And then I realized that was all self-serving. That it all served myself. I was a room mom because my child went to school there, and I was making it better for them. Oh, I cleaned my church building. Well, guess what? “Danielle, you go to church there. Don’t you want to clean? Obviously.” So I mean, that was self-serving in a way. I mean, so many things that I did that I thought was philanthropic was not at all. It was selfish to me, and that feeling, it was awful. It was the worst feeling you could ever feel, when you know that you’re going to die and your organs are failing. And I swore to God in that moment. I said, “If you let me live, I promise I will change my life for good. I will dedicate my life to doing good things. And I know a lot of people make this promise, but I’m stubborn, and I feel like I just knew. I’m like, “I will do anything I can. I will focus on being good, in giving back to the world and making an impact that truly changes the world and lives on after I’m gone. What did I leave? I’m going to leave, and nothing’s going to be left here. This stinks. Did I leave the world better or the same? Or just what was this gift that I was given, and how did I squander it by focusing purely on myself? And it was hard. It was very hard.

DJ: And so, plot twist, I lived. And I started having seizures and memory loss. I forgot my husband. I forgot, gosh, a lot of things. I
forgot how to read music. I was a classical pianist, and so many different things that was me, that I thought was me, and I was a designer, and I mean, we all just go, “Who am I now? What can I give back?” And I started down a path of severe depression. I already had depression. I’m an advocate for people with depression, and I have OCD, so that’s kind of fun, and ADHD. So I know it’s kind of a big mixed-up mess here. But I started having other issues and started down this road of severe depression, and I didn’t even want to live anymore. I wanted to kill myself. I mean, I have a wonderful husband. I have three amazing kids. I had everything to live for, but I mean, I just I didn’t even know who I was or what my purpose here on earth even had to be. And I was at a very I mean, people would come up to me, and they’d know me, and I’d have no idea who they are. I mean, sometimes that still happens. And I have to kind of think like, “Okay. They know me, obviously. I don’t really remember them.” I lost hearing in my right ear. I mean, there were so many different things that I was just like, “I can’t do this.” I just felt it was bad. It just kind of turned in a dark way. And my husband said to me, “What can we do that can what brought you happiness? What is it? And I remember when I was a kid, I loved horses. And I’d see horses, and I’d love them. And I had an opportunity to ride horses when I was a kid, and I was the happiest at that time. And he said, “Okay. We’re going to find someone with a horse.” So, found a horse, was happy again. And then I said, “I know what I’m here for I’m going to rescue a horse. And he’s like, “Oh. Okay. We’re getting a horse. Okay. So great.” So I’m like, “Yeah. So I’m going to rescue this off-the-track racehorse.” And I rescued this horse. And really, the horse was rescuing me. And this feeling of fulfillment that I had to give back to this horse and this horse helping me. And it was so beautiful. But, I mean, it was just so incredible to have that feeling with an animal that didn’t judge you and didn’t know you before and just built this trust. It was so magical, incredible that it honestly saved me. She saved me.

DJ: And I was like, “Okay. God, this is my purpose. I did it. I rescued a horse. I’m a good person.” And then I’m like, “No. If I did
this for me, imagine how many other people I could do this for. And imagine the people that don’t have this opportunity, that I
could do this for, that they need this.” So, I started rescuing animals. And then we were living in an HOA. And I was just
rescuing these animals. And my husband was like, “Oh, my gosh. This is getting out of hand,” to the point where I had
chickens in my backyard. And the HOA didn’t like that. And I was like, “No. Those aren’t chickens. They’re parrots that were
raised on a chicken farm.” It got intense. And I was rescuing this abused birthday party pony. I mean, when you get into
animal rescue, you have such a heart for animals. There’s so many animals, especially farm animals. They’re the most
abused animals in the world. And it’s just this thing that you just want to help in so many ways because there’s so many
animals. And quickly enough, I acquired a large amount of rescue animals that were being boarded in different areas. Then we moved to a farm. And I brought them all here. And I thought, “Okay. God, look I started this farm. This is great. I did such a good job here. I rescued all these animals.” And then I realized, “Wait. Now, I need to bring people in.” So I started with adults with
special needs because when I went to, let’s say, the mall or things like that, I would see adults with special needs there. And I
mean, it’s wonderful the activities that they have for them. But I thought, “Gosh. There’s nothing really like a farm for them.”
And, I mean, they’re so capable. And they have so much to give and so much to do. And they need purpose in some ways, a
feeling, a job. And so I started opening up the farm for that. And they loved it. And it really brought some sense of purpose to
them. And, I mean, it was just beautiful. I loved it. And then I opened it up to people with depression, veterans with PTSD. And
I’m like, “This is incredible. Look at this. We’re all doing this farm. It’s so wonderful.

DJ: I’m not saying everything was rosy. Definitely, not. Having a farm is a lot, okay? But it was saving a lot of people that were
either depressed and wanted to commit suicide, or all their family died and they had nothing to live for or just different
things that the farm they said saved them. And, I mean, then I started thinking, “Well, this is great. But how do I?” Because
when I was in the hospital when I was sitting there, I actually would watch TV and start crying at Sandals commercials.
Those cheesy Sandals commercials with the couples walking on the beach. I was so upset. I’m like, “Why are they healthy?
I go to church every Sunday. I am doing all these things. Why are they healthy?” And the only thing that got me through was
this show called Naked and Afraid. Have you seen that?

JK: I know the premise.

DJ: Yeah so I thought, “You’re miserable. I’m miserable. This is great.” It really got me through it. But I realized that children had
no idea why they’re there, and if I was not given that opportunity to be in the hospital, to cry at that Sandals commercial, to
see that, to feel that, I wouldn’t have known. And I’m like, “How do I bring the farm to hospitals?” So I started thinking of, “Oh, I
could do therapy animals, bring the farm, bring the horse in,” but the logistics of it was creepy and with COVID because all of
this came to bloom in 2020. And I just thought, “There’s no way. I got to get around this. I have to figure out a quick way to get
in for these kids because they need it.” And I decided, “What if I just made this whole farm virtual? What if I put cameras all
over the farm and I had them at levels of the animals and the kids can interact with the animals? I could do story time with
them, do dress-up time, do all these things.” And they get 24-hour surveillance of the animals. I’d wake up at 2:00 in the
morning and obviously didn’t call anyone. But these kids can check on the pigs. They could see if Lovey’s sleeping. They
could see like, “Oh, I wonder what the goats are up to right now. I wonder what this one’s doing,” and just have that friend to
know. And they just feel like they’re in this area of the farm.

DJ: And then I took it one step further where I wanted them to actually feel a connection and to make a connection. There’s that virtual aspect, which is great, but there needs to be that emotional connection. And that’s when I realized I went back to
my roots with pen pals. When I was a kid, I loved pen pals. And it’s lost to email now, but I figured the farm animals could be pen
pals with these kids. That’d be so fun. I make voices. I mean, I don’t know. I’m a crazy animal person. I make voices for all
the animals here on the farm. And so they all have their own personality, especially George Hamilton, III, the great pig.
He’s a little stuck up. And so they all have these amazing personalities, and I just thought, “Gosh, these kids need to see that.
They need to feel that. They need to have a friend with them.” So we started these mailboxes where we give them to
hospitals. And if they’re receiving inpatient care, let’s say chemo, they get it right there. And they open it up, and inside their
box is a Farmhouse Rescue hat, a plushie of a farm animal, a whole system to log on to our Smile Cams. We have a fidget
toy in there. So that way, while they’re going through something, they could actually everything in that box is really thought
out for that exact purpose and that moment. A fidget toy in there, an art project, and then three letters self-addressed to
Farmhouse Rescue with stamps on it that they can write to us and a letter from one of the animals, an initial start letter from
Lovey. She’s actually the start of it. And she basically says, “My name is Lovey. I like to eat alfalfa. I’m sure you don’t. I have a best friend named Avalanche.” And it goes into the whole thing like, “What do you like?” So open questions that they can write
back. And we’ve got letters, and I tell them, “I will read the letters to the animals. I will frame them and put them in the stalls
for them.” I can’t even explain to see when I get a letter in the mail at first we didn’t get any letters, and I’m like, “Oh, that
sucks.” I’m like, “All right, all right. I guess they don’t want it. That’s okay.” But that first time I got that letter, I can’t even tell
you how happy I was and how much it made me smile. And I just knew that they it was magical all over again. I mean, it’s
just been incredible. It’s been an incredible journey. And, yeah, that’s Farmhouse Rescue.

JK: Wow. I just love what an out-of-the-box thinker you are and how gifted you are to be creative because when children are in
the hospital, they need that hope, they need that connection, they need that love. And, animals are so giving of themselves to
have them be that source of strength and hope and connection. Is really touching and empowering, so I think it’s just
wonderful what you started.

DJ: Oh, thank you so much. It’s been quite a journey and I have never been in the nonprofit sector ever in my life. And this is all
news to me. I mean, people make careers out of it. And it’s insane. I have no idea. There’s a whole world out there that this
is so…I’m the founder of this, but the part that I realized is it’s such a learning curve. And Farmhouse Rescue, when I’ve met
with other people that are founders of a nonprofit. I’ve met a couple of them where it was a little ego driven. And it was
difficult for me to understand that because all I wanted to do was help others and to give back and to just make this true
nonprofit be something that gives back to the world. And in a way that doesn’t give back to me. So I don’t take a profit from
Farmhouse Rescue. I don’t make a salary, and I chose as a founder to be the founder that does not take a salary from
Farmhouse Rescue because this is me giving to the world. This is what I want to volunteer and give back. And I will tell you
I’ve had 24 hour days and I’ve read books nonstop. And I mean, it’s been such a crazy learning curve for me to understand
the world that is a nonprofit. And I mean, we didn’t come from money. I mean, no one told me when you start a nonprofit, you have to have a lot of money. That would have been helpful. That was very difficult. We kind of invested everything in this. And we’ve given all of everything to build what we have and I just I’ve committed my life and my children have helped and my husband has helped and just people that are along the way that are so giving and so caring to volunteer to help in so many ways. It’s magical. It really is. There’s nothing more than just it’s beautiful. But there are days, I mean, every day, I’m just like, “Gosh, this is a lot. This is a lot right now.” And financially, it’s a lot. But you got to keep going because when you see those letters that you get in the mail and you know that kid needs to see that or this adult special needs is coming or this person, that’s what they’re living for is to see these animals. I’m responsible for that. I have to keep that going. And it is definitely a learning curve.

JK: Danielle, I’d love to talk with you about how you finance your wonderful organization. That’s not an easy thing to do. And as a
fundraiser, I understand the ins and outs and the difficulties and the strategies and the support you get from people. So I’d
love to hear more about how you’ve made it work financially for your organization.

DJ: Okay. Well, that is a fun one. So no one told me that it would have been super helpful in somebody said, “Hey, before you
decide to found a nonprofit, it’d be amazing if you were super rich.” That would have been really helpful information. I just
went in naively thinking, I’m going to do this great thing. And I’m going to change the world. Wow, wow. That’s all I have to say
is, wow, there is such a learning curve to this. And one of my biggest struggles is I thought, “Gosh, okay, I’m building this
incredible thing.” And when you start it, you’re starting this. So people don’t really know what it is. You’re telling people, I’ve
started this nonprofit, I’m doing this and blah, blah, blah. And you really need support from everybody. You need
donations. You need all of that. And it didn’t come in. I’m not saying people didn’t care, but they kind of didn’t care. They were
just kind of like, “Oh, that’s nice, cool. All right.” And I don’t have a background in fundraising. So I mean, there’s jobs out
there. There is classes, college classes, and I had no idea. I’ve never worked in the nonprofit sector before my entire life. And
it is just a whole new world. And I realized very quickly that you have to have a great website. But guess what? I don’t have the money to hire a website designer. So guess who’s an incredible website designer? It’s me with the help of YouTube. I had to learn how to do graphics and digital art and all that stuff. But guess what? Can’t afford that. So Danielle, digital artist over here. And then I also needed a farm hand and that’s Danielle too. I mean, I wish I had a business card with the beginning of Farmhouse Rescue and all the time you can’t hire that. And you really have to when you start something when you want to do it, you have to have so much passion to see it through to make it work, or it’s not going to work. And if that passion that drives you, it’s that passion that makes you stay up 24 hours just to finish a website, to finish this, to learn how to do something, to learn how to send out a newsletter. And then finally, after a while, people start to see what you’re doing. They start to see the impact that it has.

DJ: And slowly, but surely you start to find volunteers that come in. And you’re doing all this work, you’re helping the world, you’re giving so much. I mean, financially, we’ve given everything because this is my purpose. This was what I was meant to do
and why I’m here. And we have given everything to this nonprofit. We were the biggest donors of everything. I mean, we just
put it all to help others. And this is our life’s mission is to change the world in a better way. But in order to do that, you need
stories. You need to show that it’s working and you need to show people what you’re doing for them to donate or to feel a
need. And in 2020, when we really started the nonprofit to get it, got the farm, everything was together 2020 is when the farm
was actually done. And it was COVID. And that sucked. I mean, everyone’s losing their job and nobody’s really caring about
nonprofits here and we can’t throw fundraisers because we’d love to do goat yoga with so many people at so many farm tour
and you realize, okay, that’ll bring in dollars, but we need more than that because to feed these animals, I mean, to run this
farm, it’s around 10 grand a month. And that means that I have to figure out how to fundraise 10 grand a month for this. And you know that’s 120 grand a year that you have to fundraise, bare minimum just to keep this operation going. And it’s such a big number to me, but I mean, when I realized that people don’t really like giving money sometimes because they don’t really know where it goes. I understand that because when I started researching nonprofits, I realized people get a salary and I don’t make a salary from this. I decided that that was going to be something that I chose not to do as a founder. I do not make a salary from
Farmhouse Rescue. This is my giving back. So any donation is given to the farm, is given to others. It’s a true nonprofit in
that sense. And in every sense, basically. I wanted it just to be so raw nonprofit that people can see where it’s going and see
how we’re helping. But I mean, some people just don’t want to give and they need a push, which is why a lot of times we
have silent auctions, right, at events because people want to buy something in return for something that they’re giving.

DJ: And so I created a line, product for Farmhouse Rescue, and that’s our soaps. And, I created soaps that are named after the
animals on the farm and the scents are inspired by the animal. We have Rebel, who’s a rooster, and he’s super feisty. He’s a
fighting rooster. So he’s a cedarwood with sandalwood. Lovey is a male horse and only his nice two days out of the month. So
she’s bittersweet, lemongrass basil. And so they’re named after animals on the farm in all proceeds are donated. So I would
do farmers’ markets. And then getting the word out there just in building your team. I mean, that is something that this is not
me. I could not do Farmhouse Rescue without all these amazing people that have come in and helped. I mean, this is just
it’s so incredible. And I never want Farmhouse Rescue to ever just be Farmhouse Rescue, Danielle Judd. I mean, I
understand I founded it, and people like to hear from the founder. But I want them to know that this is an organization that I
didn’t just do this all on my own. This wasn’t me.

DJ: This is people like yes, in the beginning, it was all me. But I have people that have stepped in and have helped me and
interns that have just picked me up and just returned to these emails and I mean, even reached out to you. I would be
nowhere without the wonderful, incredible people around me that just see the beautifulness that we’re doing. I don’t even
know if that’s a word, beautifulness. I’m going to go with it. And they just see what good we’re doing. And the good that we
give back. And they go, “Yeah, I want to be a part of that.” And then they start to talk to their friends and they say, “Well, I
know that you donate to other places. But Farmhouse Rescue, would you be interested in donating?” And people have
donated. And it’s been so helpful. And we want an open-to-the-public location. We’re not done. And we have so much to build
on, so much to give back that this isn’t the end. And we can build so much more and do so much more. And this is just the
beginning.

JK: Awesome. Yeah. As a fundraiser, I understand the challenges of raising money and the ins and outs of it. And I commend
you on learning it on the fly, right? Because you had already started a nonprofit. And it’s something you just have to learn as
you go.

DJ: I mean, lucky for me, my husband, he went to BYU School of Accounting which is a really good school for accounting. And
he had helped a lot with that. But honestly, at first, I would just, and it sounds so bad, “Okay, people have” I would
totally take his credit card. And I’m like, “Just give that to the feed store.” Like, “Oh, sure.” And then he started finding out,
which was super upsetting for me. And he was like, “You’ve got to do this on your own, you have to.” But I’m like, “Okay.” And
that was a big push that took we can’t support Farmhouse Rescue going forward. And I’m so grateful for that. But that was
really hard. I mean, you get desperate.

JK: Absolutely. Blood, sweat, and tears.

JK: We’ve actually had another founder on the show that I know in my town because I helped her start a nonprofit and it’s called
Littleton Community Farm. So it’s another farm. This is a vegetable farm for locals. So, I’m curious how you got the
name Farmhouse Rescue because it seems like you were rescuing people, but people are rescuing you. And there’s just
this wonderful community aspect. How did you come up with the name?

DJ: The branding, of course, I had to hire an incredible branding person, myself. We have this barn, and it’s actually the barn on
the logo. And I just thought, “Okay, these were the initial animals that we had.” I put it over it. And I couldn’t think of I’m just
like, “Okay. Well, what is this? It’s a farmhouse. I mean, it’s a farm, but it’s a house.” And farmhouse makes you think you’re
restoring, but no, we’re a house. We’re a community. We’re a family here. So that’s what I mean by Farmhouse Rescue. It’s
a full family. And we’re the farm. And people will say, “Oh, well, I’m going to the farm today,” or, “am I meeting you at
Farmhouse it’s just known for something more than just the definition of farmhouse, that it’s an actual home. And it is our home. So that’s also fun.

JK: So you live on the farm, right?

DJ: Yes. Yeah. Which is insane. Yeah.

JK: And I saw from a wonderful video that you have community meals together.

DJ: Oh, yeah. Well, my table is very open to my dining table. I love to cook. It’s one of my favorite things. And obviously, I don’t
have a lot of time to ever do it. So when I do it, it’s kind of magical. It kind of puts things I stop things when I realize people
are hungry, the Italian in me that just wants to feed people. I’m like, “Eat, eat, please. Eat more.” And it’s just something about
being together in a dinner table that really brings people together. But everyone that’s on the farm or anyone that’s there at
that time, I’m just like, “Are you hungry? Do you want to come eat?” Because we’re a family because we all help each other.
Our volunteers are \…I know everything. We’re very, very close. Anybody that helps, we’re very close. They’re all there for
I’m there for them and they’re there for me and I know that I want to help the world in any way I can.

JK: Well, you’re doing a wonderful job. And I’m just curious, where do you get this inspiration to give back to the world? Is it in
that moment when you were having difficulty in the hospital? Is there something in your past that also inspired you? What’s
your greatest source of inspiration?

DJ: I think it was honestly it’s the people that I see every day, the good people because there’s a lot of bad people out there. But
it’s the little good moments that you see and the little things that people do. I’m inspired every day by the goodness of people,
and the amount of good that they want to give back and to see their heart. And it fuels me. I know people want to do good.
They want to be a good person. They do. And I could see it. And I feed off of it because I love it. I do. And it charges me. It
does. It charges my battery. I’m just like, “Yes. Yes, you want to do good. Me too. I want to do good. Let’s do good together.”
And I’m inspired every day. I’m inspired by volunteers that come here. I have a wonderful intern that’s Helen comes in and she is on her computer and just working hard. And I’m inspired by her love to help others. And it’s beautiful. It really is. And just like you, I’m inspired by you just to see that you’re doing this podcast and I heard that you’re writing a book. I mean, that is inspirational in itself to just know the good that you’re doing and the good that you’re giving back. There’s somuch good in this world. There really is.

JK: Thank you so much for your kind words. And thank you again for being on my show. It’s a pleasure. And now I’d like to speak
directly to our listeners that you would share what your advice is for our listeners who maybe don’t know how to get started,
maybe are thinking about founding a nonprofit or thinking about their local community who they might be able to help. What’s
your advice for what they can start to do today, tomorrow, and as they process changing the world one step at a time?

DJ: I love this question. I really do. And I want everyone to know that you don’t I get a lot of people that call me and say, “Gosh,
when I retire, I really want to do what you’re doing.” And this is not a sport you do when you retire, starting a nonprofit. This is
not easy work, people. Especially a farm and animal nonprofit. This is hard work, okay? This is not a retirement job unless
you’re crazy like me. And I will tell you, you don’t have to found something to give back. You don’t. You don’t have to be the
person that founded it, that started it. Put that ego aside for a minute because a lot of it is ego. And you don’t have to do that.
Help others. There’s so many people like me. I want your help. If you’re thinking, “I want to help, but I don’t really like animals,”
I guarantee there’s so many things that you can do that is so if you have time to answer emails, if you have time to do
things like that, that frees up so many people’s time that they can work in giving back. Don’t think that you have to start
something to give back to the world. Help someone else. Don’t think that, “Oh, I’m going to go to them because the other
small ones don’t” No, these small ones need your help too a lot. And take a minute. Take a minute and look at who they
employ. Find out about them. If there’s a number, call them. Ask them. Say, “Hey, I’m a donor and give me a call. You can call
me.” Call the number stated on the website. Say, “I’m a donor, and I would love to donate. And I’m interested in knowing what you would do with this donation.” Find out because if they’re not going to tell you what they’re going to do with your donation and they’re not going to talk to you I mean, I’ll tell you straight out. I’ll thank you on the phone. I’ll tell you what we need. And just really just give yourself and just take a minute. And I think everyone needs to volunteer somewhere. They do. It’s just part of life. And my one advice to parents is stop lying about your kid’s high school volunteering hours, okay? It’s not fun. Don’t call nonprofits for your high school kid. Have your kid call. Whenever I get a parent call me and say, “Hi, my son needs hours for high school and to volunteer in this.” I always say, “Really? Okay. Have your son call me because I want to talk to him or I want to talk to her.” So do your investigation, but let your kids see let your kids see you volunteering, you giving your time. And when you
volunteer somewhere, you need to realize this is for an organization that is giving back to the community. When you
volunteer, this shouldn’t give you anything back. You’re giving your time. It’s all about giving. You shouldn’t get things back.
Yes, you should feel good about giving, but this isn’t about you. This is about the organization that you’re helping. So really
understand what it means to volunteer and what it means to give because that’s giving of yourself and that has nothing to do
with any needs that you have besides wanting to just give.

JK: I just love what you said. It resonates with me so much. Like you mentioned, I am writing a book. It’s called Giving Is Selfish,
and the reason why I believe it’s selfish is because it feels so good to give.

DJ: It does. It feels incredible. It really does, which is why I tell everyone, I’m like, if you can do one thing in life, I suggest that you volunteer somewhere. Volunteer at a shelter, volunteer at a nonprofit organization, volunteer into anywhere that you can at
least a couple of hours a week. Just once a week. That’s it. Just a couple of hours a week volunteer wherever you can find it.
And that will make a huge difference in your life and it’ll make a big difference in that organization as well.

JK: I totally agree. And I found a statistic that 25% of Americans volunteer. And I thought, what if it was 75 how much more could we get accomplished if it was more than a quarter of us?

DJ: I mean, I feel like giving how I felt before I was sick and before I had I’m actually so grateful that I had oh, sorry, that’s my
phone. Helen said, “How did the podcast go?” “Going great, Helen.”

JK: That’s so sweet.

DJ: I loved it so much. So yeah, I mean, look, it’s late and I am right there that she cares so much. Her day’s over.

JK: Yeah, it’s after hours.

DJ: Yes, I mean, look at this. This is just everyone that’s even listening to this I congratulate you for taking the time to even listen to this to learn to how to give back, to learn about what people are doing out there. You are a good person, you
really are, and you are capable of great things.

JK: Wow, Danielle. Thank you so much for reminding our listeners about the power that they have and just the inspiration that
they are for wanting to make a difference in their communities. Because I know all my listeners are inspired by my guests
and inspired by the volunteerism and the philanthropy. And that in and of itself is motivation and inspiring. So I’m curious what
your vision for FarmHouse Rescue is in the future. As well as how that fits into your overall ideas about making the world a
better place.

DJ: Gosh, I’m so happy. You have the best questions I swear. This is great. My vision for Farmhouse Rescue is our next step.
And that’s to find an open-to-the-public location. We need to start our open-to-the-public location because we have so many
people that are part of school systems and different areas that want to come visit but because we are obviously not open to
the public it’s harder. And that can also fund us as well. And it could just be this great thing that gives back to the community.
And in that, I want to work with after our first one, I’d love to open up more of them around different areas. And I mean,
land donations or anything like that are incredible or just donations for that would be great. But to make this because
farmland and farm community is something of the past in a lot of areas. I’m from Orange County, California. And it’s not here
anymore. And, I mean, the more houses that we build the less it’s going to be here. And, the farm is hard work. Your fingers
are dirty. Your knees are scraped. It’s down to the earth. It’s giving people a community. And, that’s what people need. They
need a community. And if we can open up an open-to-the-public location and we start with our first one I really feel like that
would be life-changing for so many people and just give back so much good. And from there, who knows?

JK: That’s beautiful. Well, I do want to make sure our listeners know how to donate to you if they feel so inclined. So could you just tell them your website?

DJ: Sure, I would love to. So the website is farmhouserescue.org, so just FARMHOUSERESCUE dot org. And you
can go right on there. You can learn about our news. You can see the donate button. You can hit that. And if you’re someone
that has a child that’s in the hospital and going through something we have a login section there for our virtual cams and we
can get you set up with our smile boxes. We’re getting our smile boxes into different hospitals. If you are part of a hospital
and you’d like to have the Farmhouse Rescue Smile Cam be a part of your pediatric oncology department. We’re more than
happy. Just get a hold of us, send us an email, and we’ll get it right over to you. And of course, you can always donate for
smile boxes for kids as well. There are $20 apiece. So every $20, we give another smile box.

JK: Oh, Danielle, thank you, thank you, thank you for what you’re doing, for being on my show. And for our listeners, you can go
to my website to find more information and the episode show notes at youareaphilanthropist.com. Danielle, thank you so
much. Have a great day.

DJ: Thank you. Bye, everyone.

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