Making Art To Benefit Animal Shelters
Madeline Phuong
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Vehicle: 2020 Legacy Limited
Founder of: A Second Chance, a nonprofit that sells art to raise money for animal shelters
“My family and I adopted our first dog, Roxie, who’s a poodle, in 2012. That was about the same time that I started painting. But at first, A Second Chance didn’t have anything to do with my art.
“I started it as a way to collect used items that were going to end up in landfills, like drapes, sponges, gloves and towels, and donate them to local animal shelters. Shelters would use the drapes as kennel liners, for example.
“From there, I started to ask, ‘How can I use what I’m more interested in to continue this path towards helping local animal clinics and shelters?’ And I came up with selling the artwork that I’ve been painting and donating the profits.
“I often paint in watercolors but also love creating pieces in acrylic paints, oil paints, pastels and other media. I initially depicted animals and the natural world, but now I have expanded into portraits, still lifes and abstract landscapes.
“I just paint what inspires me in the moment. I then make prints on notecards or high-quality paper and sell the prints on my Etsy shop, at local artist fairs and farmers markets, and in the gift shop at Dupont Hospital in Fort Wayne.
“I have raised over $7,600 for local pets from the sale of my artwork. That translates to over 2,200 cards!
“One thing that strikes me about running A Second Chance is the willingness of people to take the time to listen to what I have to say. They look at my art and share their own experiences with their pets. Especially because I am more of an introvert, A Second Chance helps me get out there, talk to people and get to know my community a lot better.
“People seem to think that when you’re young you can’t really make as much of an impact. I’m a junior in high school, and I think that’s completely false. I think you can make an impact in whatever you’re passionate about.”
Caring for the Elderly and Disabled
Henry Homeyer
Cornish Flat, New Hampshire
Vehicle: 2019 Crosstrek
Volunteering: Lending neighbors a hand
“I help others whenever I can to lead happy, productive lives. The Senior Lunch is a monthly lunch held at the town hall for any and all seniors who wish to attend. I help set up and wait on tables. I also cook shepherd’s pie for 60 once a year.
“I have been doing this for nearly 20 years and was instrumental in keeping the lunch going when the founder moved away.
“I also helped found Neighbor to Neighbor, a group of people who provide assistance to the elderly or disabled. Anything from stacking a cord of firewood to changing a lightbulb using a stepladder for a senior who has bad balance.
“I came up with the idea for the group and helped get it going. I no longer have a leadership role but still help out when I can.
“Gardening is my other passion that I love to share. When I was just 3 or 4 years old, I was already in the garden with my grandfather. He would tell stories and jokes. I would look for bugs and dig around. I learned a lot about life and about gardening from Grampy.
“Today, I help others garden by writing about my experience – it goes online on my website each week. I see that people are hungry for simple information that’s not out of a textbook. I tell stories about what I’ve done, what I’m currently doing, who I’ve visited and what I’ve seen.
“I’ve never had a car that had better traction than my Crosstrek. To me, it’s like a miniature pickup truck. I carry trees and shrubs, and I carry potted plants. It’s an ecologically sensitive vehicle that gets me where I want to go.
“I think beauty is an essential human need. Just like food, air and water, we need beauty as well. So, by growing flowers – and plants overall – we’re creating beauty.”
Fundraising for Local Hospitals
Quincy Harenda and Jon Garland
Madison, Wisconsin
Vehicles: 2013 Impreza WRX STI and 2010 Outback
Volunteering: Organizing events to benefit local hospitals, humane societies and other community groups
Harenda: “I became a Subaru Ambassador in 2018. Being an Ambassador allows for a ton of versatility in volunteering. I have the opportunity to organize food and toy drives, car shows and Subaru festivals, all for the benefit of my community.”
Garland: “Quincy and I help organize FL4TFEST, an annual event in Madison, Wisconsin. FL4TFEST is a charity event, but at the same time, it’s also a rallycross event and a huge car show.
“It started as a car meet in the parking lot of Don Miller Subaru East, a retailer in Madison, in 2006. Then, a local charity called Cheese Wheel Inc., a group of car enthusiasts, took over to make the event into something that also raises money for a good cause.
“The philosophy is that if you have even $1 to spend on fun aftermarket parts for your car, you probably have $1 you can give to a charity or do something good with. Since 2015, when the event moved to the Madison Int’l Speedway, we’ve raised over $27,000.
“That money is split between the Dane County Humane Society and the American Family Children’s Hospital, both in Madison.”
Harenda: “In 2018, I called Don Miller and asked if they wanted to get together and do a toy drive. We ran it for the Children’s Hospital and for another group called Santas Without Chimneys that works with schools and social workers to provide gifts to kids who don’t have homes.
“By the second year, we were able to fill the Ascent – which is the largest vehicle Subaru makes – with toys, which was awesome! I think Jon and I took three or four trips to deliver them all. Everyone’s eyes just lit up.
“I love spearheading the toy drive: determining dates for collection, doing the social media ‘advertising,’ figuring out logistics and working with these amazing organizations. It’s something I’ve done for a few years now, and it’s still so exciting.”
Garland: “Don Miller has been extraordinarily supportive. And FL4TFEST this year, after coming off a year like 2020, got a lot of buzz. It’s family-friendly and everybody has such a good time.
“It’s just nice that it’s a lot of real people donating – people who don’t necessarily have tremendous amounts of disposable income. That’s the most moving part. We get so many small donations from young people. It’s a sort of grassroots gateway into charitable giving for a lot of folks.”
Fostering Inclusion in Schools
Margaret Behrns
Herndon, Virginia
Vehicle: 2021 Crosstrek
Founder of: Walk In My Shoes, a program designed to shift attitudes and foster inclusion in schools regarding students with medical conditions, learning differences and developmental delays
“I was a special education parent liaison for a local elementary school for seven years, from 2012 to 2019.
“In my work, you get to meet parents going through all sorts of challenges. But one thing that unites us all is the hope that all children will be accepted, that they won’t be bullied, and that they will feel respected and safe. That’s where we come in at Walk In My Shoes.
“Walk In My Shoes is an assembly-type program that takes place once a year. Kids come to the cafeteria and go from station to station learning about the differences between abilities. They take the perspective of kids who have a particular challenge.
“For example, we’ll have a table with coloring materials and a student will color with a sash tied to their arm. Another student will tug the sash from the other side of the table to show what it feels like to have varying motor skill functions.
“Ultimately, it’s the way our environments are set up that causes the conflict, not the disability itself. Then, the kids will have a guided brainstorming session to talk about what they can do to be a valuable friend.
“I created a guide on how to re-create the program at different schools, and now it’s in 15 schools in my county. As we grew, I got the attention of advocates – people with disabilities – coming to me to be more comprehensive. Listening to them, I knew we needed to do more.
“I partnered with a Ph.D. in curriculum writing in education. She is taking my assembly program and turning it into a yearlong curriculum that schools can use as they wish for free.”
Supporting People of Color in the Climbing Community
Indira Orozco
Los Angeles, California
Vehicle: 2016 Forester
Volunteering: Local leader for Brown Girls Climb and organizer for Sending in Color, organizations that work to bring justice, equity, diversity and inclusion into the rock climbing community
“I started rock climbing about five years ago. My friend dragged me to the gym one day to try it, and I was hooked instantly. I definitely met great people there, but it was a homogeneous space, and I wasn’t used to that.
“I wanted to see a climbing community that reflected what the world looks like outside the gym and what my world looks like.
“I went to a Sending in Color meetup with a friend, and it was the best day I ever had climbing. That was a little over three years ago. Shortly after that, I committed to organizing monthly Sending in Color meetups to bring more Black, Indigenous and people of color into the climbing community.
“Climbing is super expensive at the gym that I was at: $25 for the day pass, $5 for shoes, $5 for a harness, and so on. We work with gyms to offer reduced rates or free passes. We also teach outdoors skills to help people feel confident with that.
“Brown Girls Climb is more specifically for self-identifying women of color and any nonbinary folks who feel comfortable in women-centered spaces. I’ve been a leader for about two years now. I started off at the Chicago chapter, helping with monthly meetups. When I moved to Los Angeles after grad school, I joined that chapter.
“I use my Forester for all my climbing adventures. I drove it all the way out here to LA from Chicago, and it’s been super clutch. There are times when I’m driving to Bishop to climb, and at a certain point you have to go off-road. I’m like, ‘I’ve got this! Don’t worry – I have a Subaru!’”
