As some of you may know, I had recently started a GoFundMe to help pay for some the the vet bills for my current dog, Brody. The response was overwhelming. In just under four days, I had unofficially reached my goal of raising $1,000. I was blown away by the love and support that I had received from friends, family, and even complete strangers that read Brody's story.
That led to some thinking in my family. The other day, my mom drove all the way up from New Jersey to visit me at Mass, all because she had an idea.
"Jessie's Giving Tree"
With the support and success of my GoFundMe, it hit her that maybe I would be interested in trying to form a not-for-profit organization to help people in similar situations as myself. How the hell did I not think of that myself! The entire time I was raising money for Brody, I had glimmers of doing the same for others, but I did not think of it as a career.
After my mom brought it up, it coincides with my passion of starting my own business, and being one to give back to the community and help as many people as possible. Perfect! And with that, I have started doing my research and figuring out how to approach this. Even though this idea was brought to me literally 24 hours ago, I have never felt more passionate and driven to make an idea into a reality. "It'll happen," is something that my sister and I always tell my parents, and so far, whenever we say it, it does in fact happen (whether they like the outcome or not).
A little backstory to help get the idea of this entrepreneurial venture. Before Brody, my family had the sweetest, most loving dog ever, named Jessie. We had her for only three years before she tragically passed away. We were all distraught from this and it took over a year for me personally to be ready to move on and rescue another dog. During that year, I had struggled with sleep and just being happy in general. Without Jessie by my side, I felt incomplete nearly 24/7.
Thankfully, I finally pulled myself out of that and rescued my new pal Brody back at the end of August. Here I thought I was saving him, but low and behold, he saved me more than I ever could for him. Sadly, just a few weeks into having him, we discovered that he had an autoimmune disease that led to rashes covering the majority of his body. Due to the insane vet bills, I started a GoFundMe and received more support than I could have imagined.
Now that Brody is on the road to recovery, it is my turn to give back to those who helped me, and those who need help as well. That is where "Jessie's Giving Tree" will come into play.
The journey will be long and strenuous, but I will not stop until I have helped as many pet owners as possible with vet bills to keep their animals healthy. I know this is a common problem that is overlooked by many, so I need to make an impact. A few years ago, my neighbors had to put down their longtime family dog due to a broken leg. This is not a life threatening injury, but because surgery was so expensive, they sadly could not afford it. This led to the tough decision to put him down or else he would live in excruciating pain for the rest of his life.
Stories like that go unheard all the time. I want to make a change in that terrible cycle that happens without us even knowing. So, that is now what I am planning to do with my life. Thankfully, I go to Isenberg School of Management, so all of the resources I need are right at my fingertips. Now all I have to do is reach out and make the most of them.
Stay on the lookout for "Jessie's Giving Tree" to startup and make an impact in the short few year to come, and hopefully we can make enough of a difference to stick around and help the lives of thousands of pets.
