Meet Jared Still

We recently connected with Jared Still and have shared our conversation below.

Jared , 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.

Growing up in a household that we did not have much. My parents always would give back to others. They would always say we have what we need God would provide and if someone needed our help we would do what we could. My father was a big part of this as well. He was a master plumber by trade and worked at the local hospital in his field. He would always do side jobs and help others even if he did not get paid, but would always share that he is helping others keep there house in working order and was fortunate that he was able to do this. Also having an upbringing in pathfinders and helping in the church for a can food drive or other things where it leaned heavily on giving back to others in need. This has always stuck with me and has always been something that I live by is how can I help others or how can I make my community a better place and leave it better than it started.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

A big part of my life has been trying to make a difference. After losing my brother in 2005, which was one of the hardest things for myself and family to go through. Having a deep passion on helping others started to reach out and see what I could do. My background has been Human Resources and Philanthropy. One of the first ways I could make a difference was to start a coat drive in my community and in two years was able to raise over 2000 coats to keep my community warm and gave those coats to local charities to give to the homeless and individuals in need. This made a big difference for others and helped our community. After this I started to think deeper on what I could do for my community and that is when I thought about starting a foundation. Seeing what my family went through financially after my brother passed away and wanted to help other families if I could in the same way. This is when I started the Unforgettable Foundation of Southern Ohio in 2016. We help families in need who do not even know they need our help yet. Help these families who are going through one of the most tragic experiences they will ever come across trying to get them through the financial Burdan that come with a funeral expense. We help families who have lost a child between the ages of 0 to 18 years old. We have helped over 155 families and this year we have helped 32 families to date.
Ways that we raise money is we have a golf event once a year that helps bring awareness and raise dollars for the families and at the end of the year we do what is call a Light for Little Lives event. This is where we invite the families that we have helped and give them a celebration for the loved one that they have lost that this child will forever be Unforgettable.
Also in the works is going to be a healing box that we are looking to mentally help the families if they would like with counseling sessions and other items to support them.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Compassion
Willing to give back in time, talent, or treasure
Hearing Others – Openness

Compassion is a big part that can start this journey and have a heart and mindset that is looking to give back and not earn or gain anything in return. This has been a big help in the outlook that I have always had. Hearing others and taking time to listen to what others have done, ideas that other have good bad or indifferent always being willing to listen and learn has been big as well. Not all ideas will work for what you are doing, but what is one thing they are doing that is successful that I might be able to implement on what I am doing that will make a difference. Also always thinking about how I can make my community better. The willingness to give back of myself to others. If you are starting out you might not have the financial opportunity to do so. What talent do I have that I can serve others and what time can I afford to put in. This is very big on how I started because financially did not have a lot growing up so for myself it was my time and talent to get things done.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

A big part of what we do for families is helping those families with a loss. This is one of the biggest overlooked part of our communities that we see today. The families that we work with are in the top 5% of families in need on many different scales and so when probably the worst day of their life takes place they have no where to turn to and have no funds available to give their child a dignified funeral and we are fortunate and blessed that we can step in and help. This is where we are looking for folks who are wanting to make a difference on this level can relate and want to see this grow. In our communities we have a lot of dollars that go towards prevention, helping those who are hungry, who want to be involved in afterschool care programs, educational programs. But what is not out there is helping families whose child just passed away. It is one of the biggest gaps and one of the biggest needs. Have always prided ourselves on we have never had to tell a child no and our foundation is also run by volunteers which means most all of the dollars goes back to helping families in need.
We are looking for collaboration and ideas around helping these families.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://unforgettablesofso.wixsite.com/ohio
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnforgettablesOH
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-unforgettables-foundation-of-southern-ohio
• Other: https://dayton247now.com/news/local/ohios-unforgettables-foundation-helps-low-income-families-with-childrens-funeral-costs

Image Credits

David and Judy Fulcher
Marc Collins
David Coleman
Brian Miller
Springboro Eagles