We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bear Slaven a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Bear, thank you so much for joining us and offering your lessons and wisdom for our readers. One of the things we most admire about you is your generosity and so we’d love if you could talk to us about where you think your generosity comes from.
We know firsthand what it is like to lose a child. Our Granddaughter, Bethany, asked again and again with eager anticipation when she could go hunting with her Papa Bear. She was robbed of her chance at normal! “Princess Buttercup” had NF and two brain tumors. After losing her sight, she had four strokes. Then, after a year in a vegetative state, she passed away at 4 ½ years old. Hence, Brave Young Hearts knows that just one chance at normal may be the only or the last for some children.
Have you ever dreamed of taking a trip to somewhere really special?
You plan and dream, and dream and plan…and as the day draws near for your vacation, your excitement and anticipation makes you feel like you’re going to burst!!!
Then…it happens…it’s everything you ever hoped it would be!!!
The roller coaster effect…once you start the ride, you anticipate that first really big hill…and then…You’re off in a swoosh!!!! Excitement abounds!!!!
So it is with children that are enduring the fight against terminal or life-threatening diseases!!!!!!
Maybe, just maybe…they dream and plan and plan and dream of doing something special!!!!!! The roller coaster effect for these kiddos!!!! Thus the need to grant an adventure…..a chance at normal!!!!!!!!
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
Brave Young Hearts – Focusing on outdoor experiences, Brave Young Hearts provides Adventures to children with terminal or life-threatening diseases….for a “chance at normal”
Brave Young Hearts offers a caring, fun, and positive environment for children fighting their battle
with a terminal or life-threatening disease, away from the medical facilities, which fosters a sense
of accomplishment and hope, gratification, builds memories, thankfulness, and promotes/reinforces
self-respect and self-esteem.
Children with terminal or life-threatening diseases, spend so much time in hospitals and clinics. As
a general rule, they miss out on what other children get to do as “normal”. For instance,
wheelchairs, feeding tubes, suctioning machines, dialysis, and ventilators are these kiddos’ normal.
It is so exciting and rewarding to see the smile on these kiddos faces!!
Our one fundraising event is held in August. A sporting clays shoot & silent auction.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
We learned the skill of coming alongside other families, having been through the trauma of watching Bethany suffer and ultimately lose her battle.
The skills of logistics in putting adventures together.
The knowledge that the whole family is going through the experience, and they need to be included in the Adventure child’s outing.
Our advice is for the families to get their Make A Wish trip in, because we don’t turn families down that have participated in those.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Brave Young Hearts is looking to collaborate with other organizations that help children with terminal or life-threatening diseases. This isn’t a competition, but we are all striving for the same end, and everyone else has stories, wins and losses, that we can share. How can we help each other?
We can be contacted through email: braveyounghearts@gmail.com
Or call: 303-518-6420
Contact Info:
- Website: https://braveyounghearts.net/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BraveYoungHearts
- Youtube: https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UC4mOCgJSRdUiIK07Vg_e_pA/videos/upload?filter=%5B%5D&sort=%7B%22columnType%22%3A%22date%22%2C%22sortOrder%22%3A%22DESCENDING%22%7D
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
