The Secret to Living is Giving | Kasey Scott from Salt & Freckles on Creating a City-Wide Charity Event

On Friday, January 20th, 2023 over 40 local SCV businesses will be participating in a city-wide charity event, Fields the Love Friday. This is a day to collectively give back as a community and support the Fields Family during an unexpected medical emergency.

Participating businesses will donate 20% of total sales to the Fields Family GoFundMe Page. All proceeds that are donated will support Jason’s medical expenses and living expenses for Jason’s wife, son, and baby on the way.

Support the show

Hit follow on your favorite podcast app.   SCV Connected is on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

If you like what you hear, consider buying me a cup of coffee, here.

Until next time. I'm Kelly. O'Keefe.   

Event Organizer https://saltandfreckles.com/
Instagram links for the following participating local (and very generous) businesses:
@shopsaltandfreckles, @whitefigdesigns, @cavetraining, @blyssphotography, @movenourishbreathe, @gritandgratitudestudios, @neighbaristascv, @truebarre_sc, @miss_jessip, @echelonsalon, @unbeweaveable10, @thehousewarmingproject, @combastipeppers, @hausofskinalchemy, @thehappyhoneybox, @packageandpress
@kookydoughco, @bashevents.la, @chasebeautyscv, @fresh.xro.bar, @lash_spell, @ttp_pilates, @bennylubaby, @refinedvintageboutique, @scvbirth, @hautecontourz, @maisononmainst, @eatrealcafe, @terifox7, @goldenspoonnorthpark
@localkidzcrew, @threesixtydentistry, @_craftedcollective_, @sweetpbakeshoppe, @eighthandmainhair, @stacked.bylish, @casuallylittle

Transcript

So if you're out there and you want to make a difference, do it. sometimes just taking those steps, like you can be blown away by the.  of people, and you can make a big difference. 

  You're listening to the SUV Connected podcast with my mom, Kelly.  

Kasey, thank you so much for joining. Yes, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. We'll start from the very beginning, just how I found you. Okay, awesome. So I saw  post about the Fields family. This was about small businesses getting involved this Friday, January 20th, and I didn't know what was really going on.

I had seen posts and I'm like, gosh, I wish I knew who this family was. There's so many people rallying behind them, so they, they've gotta be phenomenal. And then I look at the post a little further and I'm like, who coordinated this? And then I saw that it was Salt and Freckles. , which is your business that you own with your sisters.

Yeah. I'm just grateful to, to spread the word as much as we can, so I appreciate you reaching out and doing this. And  hopefully it can just bring a little bit more awareness  to the, cause it's, and it's so much different when you.

From someone's mouth versus just reading. It's easy to scroll by and say like, oh, I don't know them. That's really sad. And then keep going. Go ahead and tell me a little bit about like, how do you know the Fields family? Well both Vanessa and Jason are Canyon High School graduates, as are myself and my sisters. We all graduated high school right around the same time. We're, I'm a 2003 graduate. My sister Kristen is a 2004 graduate.

So we all went to high school together and we've known each other for a long time. Vanessa has been sort of a part of our family. For as long as I can remember really growing up together. She's been with us on family vacations and for, Don't know. My sisters and I, there's three of us all together.

We're 15 months apart, so we're super close and always have been. So she would come along and be a part of our family on so many things. And then, you know, life happens and you, you grow and you kind of go your separate ways. But I think something that's beautiful about this community is, It always comes back even friends that we've had, you know, if, if somebody's hosting something or needs support or needs help, it's always like the people that you were born and raised with that come back, I think, to, to show that love. So, When we heard about what was happening my sisters and I all, you know, donated to their GoFundMe page.

Mm-hmm.  individually, but in my head I was like, I know that there's something we can do more. Right. So we brainstormed and then kind of came up with this idea. So yeah, that's sort of  our story.  So close friends, you guys grew up together. You heard about this. Did you hear about it in the news?

Did someone reach out to you? No, I heard about it through friends, you know first and my group of friends specifically. We wanted to pull together some money and, and get them whatever they needed during. We found out before the GoFundMe page was, was up and running, but it was, it was a shock to us all.

Mm-hmm. , and I think everybody's gut reaction was sort of the same. How can we help? And yeah, he looks young. How could this be even happening? Right? Yeah. . As far as like the details of his, of his medical journey, the family has done such a beautiful job on the GoFundMe to list exactly what's happened and you know, everything has transpired.

But as far as I know, he was having stomach pains. He went to an urgent care and they said, oh, it must be. , just like a flu or something like that. And he went home and then later on that night he was feeling ill and started to vomit. And it sounds like it just progressively got worse and worse and then he's in the hospital.

Yeah. And I think that is kind of the beautiful part about not needing to know every single detail. It's almost like, here's this family, a young family. It could be any one of us. And the community is just rallying in ways that I've never seen. The GoFundMe is up to. An enormous amount. And I'm like, that's beyond the asking price.

And that's, I think that's just a testament, like you said, to the community. They must have touched people's lives. Were they the type of people that would just like give their shirt  off their back kind of thing? Did you know her husband?

Yeah, we went to high school together, but I was much closer always with Vanessa, but just kind, loving, fun, happy people. And I think it's sort of what you touched on earlier, it's a young family. Mm-hmm. . And as a mother, myself, as a wife, myself, I think we're reading this post and hearing about these details and, and putting ourselves in their shoes.

Right. And everybody's reaction is exactly the same. What can I do? Right.  I think that's the beautiful part, again, of community and it's also just humanity. You know, I think everybody feels the human element right to it and it, it touches us all on a, in a big way. And it's evident obviously, because people that don't even know this family have reached out.

I mean, I was blown away.  by the amount of people still, I'm checking my inbox, you know, and I have five new businesses literally every day that are like, how can I help? I don't know them. I saw this somewhere and I wanna donate on Friday as well. So it's just sort of steamrolled in the best possible ways.

I can feel your love for Vanessa and her husband. It's just so evident. You're just like, I can't just sit there and not do something. So I love that you're putting together this event on Friday. Go ahead and tell us a little bit about. . Yeah. So my sisters and I, again you know, we've, we've done things in the past for other families or friends that have been going through the ringer with something or a medical emergency, and we've done fundraisers in the past.

And every time I'm like just blown away by the support. I think that people want to give. Right? Or then you realize it feels good to give, it really does, and they want to help. So sometimes letting people help is part of. . That's exactly right. And I feel like I've realized in times past that, you know, we don't have the biggest following on Instagram, but it's a good, good chunk of folks.

And if I just use my own voice to, to say, Hey, this is what's going on. We know these folks and is there anybody else that wants to help out that? Sometimes just doing that and taking those steps, like you can be blown away by the.  of people, right? And the part of people, and you can make a big difference.

And again, when I put myself in Vanessa's shoes, I think, you know, here's.  people that are gonna be out of work. She has a baby on the way, she has a son at home and they're in the hospital every day. She has not left his side. Oh. So when you think about expenses, like money isn't everything. We all know that, right?

But  can help in situations like this for sure. So I knew that I wanted to be able to donate from my business and I thought, you know what? I bet there's other businesses locally that hear this story and wanna help too. And they wanna use their voice, right? And. I know in my heart that small businesses are the backbone to community.

I've seen it time and time again. Small businesses are the people that show up when you, you know, want a donation for your kids, high school, whatever. Yeah. Especially in Santa Clarita, even though this town has grown, there's still this like hometown roots that keeps it feeling very small and very intimate.

And I knew that if I put this out there, people would respond, but I never knew that it would. To this level, within two days we had, you know, over 25 businesses willing to participate. Wow. Will say that they're gonna donate, you know, insane amounts of money that, that don't even know this family. So it just goes to show that, that if you use your voice, you never know the impact that can have.

And Very good in their heart and they wanna give when they can. so my sisters and I came up with this idea of, of doing a day where any business that wanted to participate could give 20% of their sales or that day directly to the Fields GoFundMe page. And my initial thought was, it would be great.

financially, obviously to give that money, but also I believe in the power of prayer. I believe in, oh my gosh, power of positivity. Yep. So if, and collectively doing something together, like yes, there's energy behind that.  it. Totally. And I knew that that would feel good for them too. So I just felt like a day to just for us all to give positive energy to his fight and her fight and, and let them know that we're behind them.

Right.  then any other financial, you know, gain for themselves would, would be beneficial too, because they have a long road ahead of them right, right. And then, tons of businesses have rallied behind us. I think we're up to like 40 businesses that will be contributing that day.

People obviously can still donate to their GoFundMe page privately, but I love a good twofer and it feels like a two for one, you know? Yeah. Local business. If you were gonna buy a shirt from my shop anyway, why not do it on Friday? Right. And give a percentage of that well to a family in need. So hopefully, where can we find the list of participating businesses?

That's been a little tricky because it keeps growing. The actual flyer, which is on my page it's at Shop Salt and Freckles. Mm-hmm. , you can find it there. It has a list of the original businesses that signed on when we created the flyer. Okay.

But since then, it's continued to grow. So I'm gonna do my best to do like an updated list of all of those businesses. Okay. But what I've been telling businesses is to reach out to their individual communities of customers, right? Post it on all of their social media accounts. So if you follow a business and you see that flyer.

on their pages. Then do your best to kind of show them a little love this Friday and it'll go back to the family. Okay. So if I can't make it out this Friday for any reason before or after Friday, you can always donate the GoFundMe pages there. But I, I love this list of businesses that have rallied to all support collectively one day.

And this is, is there any specific time on Friday or it's any time Friday. It's all day Friday. I know for each business is a little bit different. I mean, we've had such a wide range of businesses reach out. Some are gyms. Boutiques. Salons. That's awesome. A yogurt shop. Bake shop. So depending on each specific business, the offering is gonna be a little bit different.

Okay. Based on what they provide. Some of them are service based, some are products, but basically anything that that business sells that day we'll 20% will, will go to the family. So again, I have an online shop as well, so all of my online. Can go directly to that family on Friday as well. Nice. You know, a lot of other businesses have similar setups

I think. Again, the, the cool thing is we're located in Old Town New Hall, even directly in us, like make a day of it. I know. Okay. Which is a really awesome restaurant in town. Right. And they opened up their new location. They're gonna be contributing. So that's it. It, you know, go around cruise your local businesses. And, and I just think it's so awesome that all of these people have agreed to participate. So if we can kind of show them a little love, definitely. And show some love to the Fields family.

It's just a twofold For sure. Thank you so much for joining. Like I said, this was totally last minute, less than 12 hours ago. I was DMing you. How can we make this happen? But I just appreciate getting a little peek into exactly who the Fields family is and just hearing your relationship with them.

You can tell that ] they're phenomenal individuals, and collectively they're I'm sure an amazing family. So, Yeah, just, I, I thank you for putting this together, for finding ways that we can give and support. That's awesome. Thank you. And then we'll shop Salt. Salt and freckles. Of course.

Well, anyone, and, and, and I mean, I guess the, just the end thing is like never for anybody listening. Never feel like your voice is too small. You know, like I had no clue that by putting this on Instagram that people would. Okay. Vanessa has reached out to me so many times saying that they are just as overwhelmed as we are by the amount of support they've received, that it's been lightness during a dark time, and that they feel so loved.

They feel, they feel really supported and really held. So if you're out there and you want to make a difference, do it. You know, what do you have to lose? And that's just all I wanna end on because, you know, I sell clothes, but if I can do. That's a lot better. So yeah, no, you definitely are doing so much, this is so important. It doesn't matter if it looks perfect or not,  📍 but like you said, using your voice, helping others, that's what it's all about at the end of the day.

It means a lot to them and we're just all very grateful, so thank you.

 📍 Thanks for listening to the SCV connected podcast with my mom, Kelly. O'Keeffe. Don't forget to click on all five stars. Make sure you just share this with friends and family. And stay connected.