0:07

Welcome to Aging with Purpose and

0:09

Passion , the podcast designed

0:11

to inspire your greatness and thrive

0:14

through life . Get ready to

0:16

conquer your fears . Here's

0:18

your host psychotherapist

0:20

, coach and empowerment expert

0:22

, beverly Glaser psychotherapist

0:29

, coach and empowerment expert , Beverley Glazer .

0:34

Are you ready to create deeper meaning and purpose in your life ? Well , welcome to Aging with Purpose

0:36

and Passion . I'm Beverly Glazer and I'm a transformational coach

0:39

, and I help women to have confidence

0:41

to create the life they know that they

0:43

deserve . And you can find

0:45

me on reinventimpossiblecom

0:47

or text me in

0:49

the show notes below . This

0:52

is a very special episode

0:54

. It's a segment of the third

0:56

edition of Podcast Thon

0:58

, where thousands of international

1:01

podcasters are shining a light

1:03

on incredible charities . You

1:06

can find all these charities and the amazing podcasters

1:09

that are out there on podcastonorg

1:12

. There will be a link in

1:16

the show notes for podcastonorg

1:19

. Today I'm

1:21

thrilled to welcome Shelia

1:24

Schneider , the Executive Director

1:26

of the Kaufman Fund , an organization

1:29

that transforms the lives of veterans

1:31

and their families , and a charity

1:33

that's close to my heart . Shelia's

1:36

journey is one of service , service

1:39

, resilience and making a lasting

1:42

impact . Resilience

1:46

and making a lasting impact . Keep listening to discover how you can create more

1:48

meaning in your life and hear how women can lead the way in making

1:50

a difference in the lives of others

1:52

. So let's dive right

1:55

in . Welcome , Shelia . Thank

1:57

you for having me Beverley . It's

1:59

a pleasure and I'd love to talk more

2:02

and more about the Kaufman Fund , because it's wonderful

2:04

work that you do . But

2:06

first just to ask how

2:09

did you even I

2:12

mean manage to not only

2:14

get into the Kauffman Fund but your whole life

2:16

? Your whole life is one of service

2:18

, and you have a

2:20

long , long shared history

2:23

of military service

2:25

in your family , correct ? So tell us

2:27

all about that .

2:29

So first off , it's hold on that

2:32

picture right there . That

2:34

is a picture of my grandparents . My

2:37

grandfather was in the Navy in World War

2:39

II and they

2:41

were from northern Arkansas , southeast

2:44

Missouri , and they raised

2:46

a very large family and they

2:48

had 10 children . All

2:50

five of their sons served in the

2:52

military and then all

2:55

four of their son-in-laws served in the military

2:57

. They did lose one child to scarlet fever

3:00

when she was very young . So of

3:02

the nine remaining children , all of them had

3:04

military service , and so

3:06

I was raised with military

3:09

around me at all times . I've

3:12

had several uncles who retired from

3:14

the military after 20 years of service

3:16

, some who only did three

3:18

, four years of service . But then

3:20

I married a military man , a

3:23

high school sweetheart . I started

3:25

dating when I was in 10th grade and

3:28

he joined the Air Force and

3:31

off we went . We left St

3:33

Louis and started

3:35

our journey of his

3:37

service and me following

3:39

him around .

3:43

How does that work ? Because it's

3:45

so difficult for women who

3:48

marry someone who's in service

3:50

, and you never see this man

3:52

, and perhaps you have to reroute

3:54

to all over the world , all over the country

3:56

. What was your life like ?

3:59

so , um , I

4:01

was aware of what the expense

4:04

was for the family , having

4:06

had so much military service

4:08

in our family and one of

4:10

my uncles who served 27

4:13

years in the Air Force , he

4:15

had lived in Illinois

4:18

, hawaii , turkey

4:20

, florida . I mean he had been everywhere . So

4:22

I would

4:24

hear my cousins talking about moving

4:26

schools every so often

4:29

, how they would just have to start

4:31

all over with their baseball teams and

4:33

all of those type of things . So

4:35

for us , when we started

4:37

off , we moved from St Louis

4:39

to Oklahoma City and

4:42

started having

4:44

our family , and it was wonderful

4:46

. We had a great service community

4:49

there , and so it was

4:51

beautiful and we weren't that far from

4:53

home . It was about 10 hour drive , so

4:56

not too bad . But then

4:58

my husband got sent to Korea for a year and

5:01

because he was security forces , they really

5:03

did not want the family to join

5:05

him because his attention needed

5:07

to be on the security part of it . So

5:09

we stayed in Oklahoma for a year without

5:11

him and that's

5:14

where I learned I had some strength

5:16

that I did not know Before

5:19

he left . I needed

5:21

him , I relied on

5:23

him , and then when he left

5:26

, when he returned from Korea , he said you

5:28

no longer need me and I said

5:30

you're right . I said but I want you , which

5:32

is totally different . And

5:34

I witnessed a lot

5:36

of families break up because

5:38

of military service . They

5:41

couldn't handle the separations . Some

5:44

of the families , if the military

5:46

member was deployed , the family would

5:48

move back home . And I

5:51

wasn't going to do that . There

5:53

really wasn't anywhere to come

5:55

back home that had enough room for me and

5:58

the children . So I just

6:00

stayed in Oklahoma and had

6:03

a great job and my boss at the time

6:05

he said if you'll stay with me for another year , I'll

6:07

make it worth your while . And he did . And

6:10

then we were off to California and

6:12

in California we

6:14

were told that it was a closure base and

6:16

we were told that we would be the last ones out . Instead

6:19

, we were the first ones out and so we were only

6:21

there about 18 months , first

6:27

ones out . And so we were only there about 18 months . And it was a challenge because

6:29

we relied on me working as well , because most people don't know that military

6:32

members , especially the younger ranks

6:34

, most of them would qualify

6:36

for food stamps . They've

6:38

kind of improved that since then , but

6:40

we had to rely on two paychecks

6:43

and , being at a place

6:45

where the base was about to close . Nobody

6:47

wanted to hire military spouses because

6:49

they knew we weren't staying . So then

6:51

the military , in their ultimate wisdom

6:54

, sent us from the

6:56

middle of California in August , where it was about

6:58

101 , to Great

7:00

Falls , montana , where it snowed

7:03

at Labor Day . To

7:06

Great Falls Montana where it

7:08

snowed at Labor Day , and that was an experience

7:10

. I have never been that cold in my life

7:13

. I didn't know that it could be too cold

7:15

to snow . I

7:17

now know that . I did not know

7:19

what negative 85 wind chills felt

7:21

like . I now know that and I know that

7:23

I never wanted it again . So

7:26

we did not like

7:28

our time in Montana for

7:31

multiple reasons , and so the only

7:33

option was my husband went

7:35

back to Korea for a year and

7:37

so with that I had

7:39

a decision to stay in Montana when

7:41

all my family was in St Louis , or

7:43

to do what they say move ahead to

7:46

the next duty base , and so I did . I

7:49

moved us ahead to Whiteman

7:51

Air Force Base outside of Kansas City and

7:54

set up the

7:57

home , got the kids started

7:59

in school you know

8:01

all of their activities , school

8:07

, you know all of their activities and then that actually started

8:09

me on my journey to where I'm at now . And just we loved our

8:11

time at Whiteman and

8:14

that community and it was just so

8:16

supportive and we truly

8:18

miss the area . But we are on a new path and it's just amazing for us . But

8:20

we are on a new

8:23

path and it's just amazing for us what

8:25

kind of work did you do ?

8:27

Because you're pretty well a transient

8:29

. You'd be there for a certain period of

8:31

time . What kind of work did you

8:33

pick up ?

8:35

I have . I've worked retail . I

8:37

made the biscuits at Hardee's . I

8:40

worked for an oil and gas consulting company

8:42

. That was my first professional job

8:45

. I worked for an oil and

8:47

gas consulting company . That was

8:49

my first professional job . I worked for a construction company . I worked temporarily

8:51

for a maintenance department of a food processing

8:54

plant where I had to wear a hard hat to go to

8:56

the restroom . That

9:01

was fun . And then , when we moved to Missouri , I started

9:04

working at the . At

9:06

the time they were called Central Missouri State University

9:08

. Now they're called University of Central Missouri , and

9:11

I started there as an office manager

9:13

and worked my way

9:15

up , and 23

9:18

years later , when I left , I

9:21

was a professor . I was a professor

9:23

, I was working

9:26

as the compliance officer for

9:28

a grant in academic

9:30

advisor and

9:32

just absolutely loved what we were doing

9:34

. We had a beautiful home , beautiful

9:37

friends and it was just amazing

9:39

. And

9:44

then 2020 happened and I lost my job

9:46

, and so very good friends of ours knew

9:49

all the work I had done with veterans and

9:52

told me about a job here in St

9:54

Louis and I interviewed

9:56

and moved us back here

9:58

in 2020 . So and

10:01

the best thing ever was

10:04

for me to lose my job I would

10:06

not be where I'm at now and

10:08

I can truly say that

10:10

somebody had a plan for

10:12

me and it

10:15

. I didn't see it at the time , but

10:17

now , looking back , it's just been amazing

10:19

. But

10:27

yeah , my , my career path has been not a straight one , but it's actually helping me out

10:29

in being the executive director of

10:31

the Kauffman Fund , because there's so

10:33

many experiences that I've had

10:35

in my past that I use

10:37

here , and every

10:40

once in a while Wayne Kauffman , who is our

10:42

founder , or Steve Rosenblum , another

10:44

founder , they'll say where did you

10:47

learn that at ? Oh well , when I worked construction

10:49

in Montana , and they're

10:51

like okay .

10:57

So now you're permanently ensconced

11:00

, yes , and your husband's

11:02

retired from the military , yes

11:04

.

11:08

And he retired almost 20 years ago and

11:10

that must have been quite an adjustment , huge adjustment

11:13

. So when he retired , he decided to go back

11:15

to college , and so at the

11:18

time I

11:26

was working on my master's and both of our girls were in college and

11:28

my husband's now in college . It was

11:30

quite the experience that's

11:32

the only way to put it and

11:34

so , yeah , so he went to college

11:37

and then the

11:40

recession the 2006-2008

11:43

recession made it hard

11:45

for him to find a job , so he just

11:47

kind of found different jobs , jobs

11:50

. But now that we're back here in St Louis

11:52

, he's doing security at the Gateway Arch , loves

11:55

it . It allows him

11:57

to use all of his military experience and

11:59

then gets to talk to the public

12:01

and he just really enjoys his

12:03

job .

12:05

Wonderful , wonderful

12:08

. Tell us about the Kauffman Fund . How did

12:10

you get involved in that ? What was that all

12:12

about ?

12:13

So when we moved back to St Louis

12:19

, I was working with a homeless program here in St Louis

12:22

called the St Patrick Center and I was with the Homeless Veterans Employment Program

12:24

. I have an HR background , so it was a perfect fit

12:26

. And so with that , I

12:29

started networking and everybody

12:31

told me about this networking event

12:33

for veterans and that I really should go

12:35

to it . And it was hosted

12:37

by the Kauffman Fund . And when I

12:39

first started attending , it was still on Zoom

12:42

and there were

12:44

about 20 , 25 people there . But

12:46

I started learning all these great resources

12:48

in St Louis and after about

12:50

a year , everybody

12:53

at St Patrick's Center who was working with veterans

12:55

they were like oh , you need a resource , go find Sheila

12:57

, she's got the resources . And

12:59

so in 2021

13:02

, the Kaufman Fund decided to

13:04

start doing food for vets , where

13:06

they give out about a week's worth of groceries six

13:09

times a year , and I thought this is perfect

13:11

for the veterans that I'm working with , because

13:13

they're dealing with housing insecurities . So

13:15

this would be helpful . And

13:17

I like to tease the first time I went to volunteer

13:19

, they turned me down . The

13:24

second time they had their

13:26

food event , it was about 10 minutes from my

13:28

house and so I called to volunteer

13:30

again . They're like well , no , we think we

13:32

have enough . And I said , no , you don't understand . You're 10

13:34

minutes from my house , I'm going to be there , put

13:37

me to work . And

13:39

so that was in June of 21

13:41

. And they

13:43

had me on registration . And I'm looking at this

13:46

registration list and it's not alphabetized

13:48

. And I was like , who did this list ? And

13:51

they're like well , none of us know how to alphabetize

13:53

it , send

13:55

it to me , I've got you taken care of . And

13:57

so then , after that I was the registration person

13:59

, they'd send me the list , I'd alphabetize it

14:02

. You know , it made it so much smoother . And

14:04

then , in December of 21 , I

14:07

was called to a lunch with Wayne Kaufman

14:09

, steve Rosenblum and Ken Weintraub

14:12

, who is the chair of the food committee , and

14:14

they asked me to take over the food committee because

14:16

I had done such a great job . And

14:23

so , in 2022 , we increased the number of veterans we were serving

14:26

. I was able to get us more volunteers and

14:28

it was great . And then

14:30

, in June of 22

14:32

, I thought I was going to a meeting about

14:35

the food committee and

14:41

it was a job interview . I was 10 minutes in before I realized

14:44

it was a job interview and

14:50

Wayne Kaufman explained that they had grown to the point where they realized that they finally needed

14:52

to hire someone . They were a 100% volunteer organization from the start

14:54

in 1990 . And

14:56

Wayne is a

14:59

Vietnam veteran and

15:01

you know they were like we need to hire

15:03

somebody younger . I said how am I classified younger

15:05

? You know , I've got children

15:08

, you know . But

15:12

they wanted someone who had grant

15:15

experience , which I helped to bring

15:17

a grant to the University of Central Missouri to

15:19

help veterans go back to school . Um

15:21

, they wanted somebody who was organized . I had

15:23

proven that with the food for vets and

15:26

somebody who was connected to

15:28

resources and I had proven that as

15:30

well . And so that was in

15:32

June of 22 . At

15:35

the same time as St Patrick's Center

15:37

, I was interviewing for the

15:39

manager position of the program . I

15:41

worked for and received it . I

15:44

received the promotion and was

15:46

rebuilding my team . And

15:48

then in September 22 , I

15:50

was at a planning committee for

15:53

the Kaufman Fund's Casino Night one of their two

15:55

big fundraisers and

15:57

we were finished . Wayne said everybody

15:59

out of the room , but Sheila and I went . What

16:02

did I do ? Oh no , and

16:04

he said we want to offer you a position and

16:06

I had to ask for a few weeks to

16:09

be able to notify my staff before

16:11

we notified everybody else . But then

16:13

, January 23 , I started as

16:15

the first paid employee , the

16:17

first executive director , and

16:19

it's been

16:21

a challenge , but it has been

16:23

just amazing and

16:25

definitely a true passion

16:28

of the heart for me , and

16:30

it's just been wonderful for

16:39

me and it's just been wonderful .

16:40

How do you prioritize the needs of veterans ? So many have really

16:42

very special needs . How do you prioritize ?

16:44

Well , for us we have eight different programs

16:46

and so we have

16:48

four referral programs where we

16:51

work with professionals in

16:53

dental , legal , mental health and chiropractic

16:55

and we ask each of those professionals

16:58

to volunteer to do one pro bono

17:00

to help one veteran a year

17:02

pro bono or

17:04

give us a sliding scale . And

17:08

our dental program . Most people

17:10

don't know this , but majority

17:13

of veterans do not qualify

17:16

for dental care through the VA . Of

17:19

all veterans it's about 4.5%

17:22

that do qualify . That's

17:25

a horrible number . There's

17:28

lots of reasons for it . But

17:31

our dental program is our largest

17:33

program and

17:42

with that we're working with two dental schools and about 20 private

17:44

dentists to be able to provide dental care for veterans . And so with that one we of course

17:46

take those who are in pain first . You know we

17:48

always want to try to help them deal

17:51

with that , want

18:00

to try to help them deal with that . Some of them , their needs are so high that we

18:02

have to find a volunteer dentist to help with just because we can't

18:04

afford all of their care , or

18:07

we have to spread it out over several years

18:09

just because of

18:12

the expense . With our

18:14

legal referral program we have about

18:16

145 lawyers here

18:19

in the St Louis area who have agreed

18:21

to help us , which sounds great

18:23

, but we have about 100 , 150

18:25

calls a month for legal

18:27

Mental health . The

18:29

other great thing that I love about our mental health

18:31

program is the

18:34

family cannot receive services

18:36

through the VA . It's pretty much strictly

18:38

the veterans . And so with our mental health

18:40

program we're helping the family

18:42

. We're taking that holistic approach , because

18:45

if the veteran is dealing with trauma

18:47

, ptsd , things

18:49

, anything , so is the family

18:52

, and so last year we were

18:54

able to help some children because

18:56

they couldn't understand why their parent wouldn't let them

18:58

watch cartoons with explosions or

19:01

why their parent would all of a sudden get very

19:03

upset , and so again

19:06

, we were helping the veteran as well

19:08

. But helping the children also helps

19:10

, and so that's just an amazing

19:12

program . Children

19:16

also helps , and so that's just an amazing program . And with that one , here again , we're working with individuals

19:18

who have agreed to do pro bono or sliding

19:20

scales , and so we're just trying

19:23

to make sure that folks are able to get

19:25

into those services quickly , because

19:27

even a veteran who's trying to go to the VA , it

19:29

may be six to eight weeks before you

19:31

get an appointment , and if

19:33

you're in crisis you need help immediately

19:36

, and so with this

19:38

we are saving lives

19:40

because we're getting them the help they need

19:42

quickly and

19:44

just trying to help

19:47

as much as we can . And then our

19:49

other programs are more program events

19:51

. So six times a year we do that

19:53

food for vets , where we give out about a week's worth

19:55

of groceries to include proteins and produce

19:57

, because you can't find those in most

19:59

food pantries . We also

20:01

give out Christmas trees . That was our very

20:04

first program in 2014

20:06

to give out Christmas

20:08

trees and it's just an amazing event

20:10

. Right now we're doing taxes

20:12

for vets so we are an IRS certified

20:15

VITA site and doing free

20:18

tax preparation . And then , during

20:20

Veterans Day , we give

20:22

out brand new winter coats and winter

20:24

gear to those veterans dealing with housing

20:26

insecurities and with that we're working

20:28

with those programs that have the housing programs

20:31

, because they know where those veterans

20:33

are and so trying to get them the warm gear while they know where those veterans are and so trying to get them

20:35

the warm gear while getting them the resources

20:37

as well is another

20:40

one of our programs . That is

20:42

just helping so much

20:44

, and you wouldn't believe how much

20:46

a brand new coat just

20:49

helps with the self-esteem because

20:51

it's not used , it's brand new

20:53

to them . They're the first one to take it out of the

20:55

package . And then there's

20:58

being able to help stay warm during

21:00

the winter , and here in St

21:02

Louis we were talking earlier

21:05

we could have days where

21:07

it's zero , with

21:09

multiple snow , and then two

21:11

weeks later we're at 80 degrees Time

21:16

to take off the coat . Yeah

21:22

, time to take off the coat . But we're , you know , we're trying to do things like

21:24

even with our coat program . It's the coat , hat , gloves , sweatpants

21:26

, a sweatshirt , toiletries . Thick

21:28

socks , because some of the programs that give socks to the homeless they're thinner

21:30

. So we try to make sure we get thick socks , because some of the programs that give socks

21:33

to the homeless they're thinner . So

21:35

we try to make sure we get thick socks . For

21:37

the winter , soil trees

21:39

are always needed . And then

21:42

this past year we gave them $15

21:45

McDonald's gift cards because

21:47

the McDonald's that was closest to one

21:49

of the homeless programs . You

21:52

couldn't go in there unless you were buying food

21:54

, and so this

21:57

way we're not

21:59

only giving them food but giving them the opportunity

22:01

to go warm up and

22:03

so you know , again , just doing what

22:05

we can . And Wayne

22:08

Kaufman , when he started this in

22:10

1990 , originally they were

22:12

just doing golf tournaments and giving the money

22:14

to other organizations

22:16

and in 2014 , they

22:18

said you know , we really could do

22:20

this ourselves In

22:23

2024 , we helped 2,000

22:27

individual veterans

22:29

in a 90-mile radius

22:31

around the Gateway Arch 2,000 . 2,000

22:33

. 2,000 . And we

22:35

are a small nonprofit

22:37

. We are classified very small

22:39

and yet we're

22:41

doing amazing , amazing things

22:43

, which is why it's easy to have passion for it . Oh

22:46

, yes , we're

22:48

living the talk . I

22:50

mean it's not lip service

22:52

for us . I mean not only are

22:55

we doing our programs , but we're also helping these

22:57

veterans get connected to other resources

22:59

outside of our program , because at

23:01

VetNet Connect , which is a networking

23:03

meeting , last year we were averaging 60

23:05

people a month at that meeting . So

23:08

that allows us , this outreach , to be

23:10

able to say , listen , we don't have to do housing

23:12

, but we know five programs that are doing

23:14

housing , or we know another program that's

23:16

doing this and it's just

23:18

allowing us to build a better community

23:21

here in St Louis , because we're

23:23

relying on each other and

23:25

using that sense

23:27

of the military where it takes the team and

23:30

you have to have each other's back and that's what we're

23:32

doing .

23:33

Clearly , Shelia

23:35

, you have a passion for helping .

23:37

I do have a passion . Yes , yes

23:39

, I witnessed it . And when

23:41

we were in the military , I witnessed those

23:43

military members who didn't have the

23:45

family support . So we would

23:47

Thanksgiving . I'd never know

23:50

knew if I just had my family , or

23:53

one year I ended up feeding

23:55

the entire squad that had to work on Thanksgiving

23:57

day , because security forces is 24 seven

24:00

, and so I prepared Thanksgiving

24:02

dinner for 35 individuals who had

24:04

to work . And , you

24:06

know , it's just , we have

24:09

to help each other and and we talk

24:11

about with our food program veterans

24:14

will say , well , I don't need it , you

24:16

know , and we say that's great . But

24:18

you probably know brothers and sisters in arms

24:20

who do need it and who are not

24:22

going to ask for help because that's not a military

24:25

thing to do . So

24:27

go ahead and get the food and if it magically

24:29

appears on their doorstep , wonderful

24:32

, we're still helping the veteran , and

24:34

so even we do that

24:36

. Like I said , my husband's working at gateway

24:38

arch and every once in a while he'll say

24:40

, hey , sign up for the food for vets

24:42

for us , because he'll have some

24:45

young veteran who is

24:47

in need but doesn't want to ask for the help , and

24:49

we just I roll up

24:51

next to him as they get off work and say

24:53

pop the trunk . And there you go .

24:58

Fabulous Shelia

25:00

. What advice would you give to other women who want

25:03

more purpose and passion in their

25:05

life and don't even know where to start ?

25:07

Well , I think the start of it is to

25:10

look in your backyard . What

25:12

is it in your community

25:14

that you see needs help

25:16

? Maybe it's a park that needs

25:18

to be cleaned up . Maybe it's a organization

25:21

that's just needing some volunteers , and

25:24

you can volunteer maybe two hours a month

25:26

. Those little things

25:28

add up . I have a volunteer

25:30

comes in here three hours a

25:33

week and all she's pretty much doing is

25:35

putting all the business cards that I collect into

25:37

my Google contacts , and all she's pretty much doing is putting all the business

25:39

cards that I collect into my Google Contacts To her . It doesn't seem like a big

25:41

deal . To

25:43

me . It's huge . So look in your backyard . What is it that you

25:46

see needs to be fixed , and

25:48

start there , and you

25:51

never know where that's going to

25:53

take you . I started off as a Girl

25:55

Scout leader and then

25:57

I became what they

25:59

call a service unit manager , helping a

26:02

bigger group , and then I became a trainer

26:04

, and

26:06

so I started in my backyard

26:08

and then just kind of grew from there . And

26:10

so look at , what is it that you're

26:12

passionate about ? Are you passionate

26:14

about animals ? Well

26:16

, the animal shelters need folks

26:19

to walk the animals , or

26:21

maybe you have

26:23

a lot of old towels and you

26:25

want to , you know , rip them up and make

26:27

it into things for the animal shelter

26:29

. Start there . There's all

26:32

kinds of things that need to be done

26:34

and it takes somebody to

26:36

say I have an hour and

26:38

that's where it starts .

26:41

Thank you , Sheila . Thank you Just reach

26:43

out .

26:44

Reach out . Yeah , everybody's in

26:46

need of help , especially now , oh

26:49

yes , especially now . All the nonprofits

26:51

are , you know , looking for volunteers . Schools

26:55

are needing help . Maybe

26:57

it's a situation where you want to go

26:59

and pay for a child's lunches , that

27:02

they're behind on their lunches . Right , that

27:05

one little act of kindness

27:07

can cause ripples that

27:09

go beyond your imagination .

27:12

Yes just start , just start

27:14

. Thank you , thank you

27:16

. Shelia Schneider is the executive

27:18

director of the Kaufman Fund

27:20

, helping veterans and families

27:22

in need . Her career

27:25

has been dedicated to supporting

27:27

veterans , a mission rooted

27:29

in both her personal and professional

27:31

life . Shelia's lifelong

27:34

passion for helping others and

27:36

those who serve their country drives

27:39

her purpose at the Kaufman Fund

27:41

, where she continues to make

27:43

meaningful impact on the lives

27:46

of those who served . Here

27:48

are a few takeaways from this episode

27:50

. You

27:54

are never too old to make a difference . You can contribute . No matter

27:56

how old you are , there's always

27:58

something . Building strong

28:00

connections can help us overcome

28:03

our challenges . Your life

28:05

experiences can help others

28:07

in so many meaningful ways , and

28:10

if you've been relating to this episode , think

28:13

about one small thing that

28:15

you can do to have more purpose

28:17

in your life . Perhaps it's

28:19

volunteering for a cause that

28:21

has some meaning for you , connecting

28:24

with life-minded women , or talking

28:28

and taking small , little

28:30

, consistent steps to support

28:32

others when you know that they're

28:34

in need . For similar episodes

28:37

on finding your purpose , check out

28:39

episode 100 and 111

28:42

of Aging with Purpose and Passion , and

28:45

if you've enjoyed this episode , you may also

28:47

like the podcast Fit Strong Women

28:49

Over 50 or the Becoming Elli

28:52

community , where women motivate

28:54

each other to stay on their goals . You

28:56

can find them on becominglecom

28:59

, and that link will be in the show notes

29:01

.

29:02

So where can people learn more about

29:04

the Kauffman Fund and the wonderful

29:13

work that they do and all

29:15

about you , sheila , is the T-H-E

29:18

Kaufman K-A-U-F-M-A-N

29:22

fundfund . org

29:25

. You'll find out about all of our

29:27

programs . There's a space there to donate

29:29

and if you're in the St Louis area

29:32

, you can also click to volunteer

29:34

with us and so going

29:36

out to thecoffmanfundorg and

29:38

also if you're out there , you at

29:40

the top is a link to

29:42

our YouTube channel and you can see

29:44

some of the great videos of our

29:47

programs and the impact that we are

29:49

making . That's terrific

29:51

.

29:52

Thank you . All Shelia's

29:54

links are going to be in the show notes

29:56

and they'll be on my

29:58

site too . That's reinventimpossiblecom

30:01

. And now , my friends , what's next

30:04

for you ? Are you just going

30:06

through the motions or are you really passionate

30:08

about your life ? Get my free

30:11

checklist go from stuck

30:13

to unstoppable to unlock your

30:15

full potential . And that link

30:17

is also in the show notes . You

30:19

can connect with me , Beverly Glazer , on

30:21

all social media platforms and in

30:23

my positive group of women on Facebook

30:26

, Women Over 50 Rock . And

30:28

if you're looking for guidance in your own transformation

30:30

, I invite you to explore reinventimpossiblecom

30:34

. Thank you for listening

30:36

. Have you enjoyed this conversation

30:38

? Subscribe so you won't miss

30:41

out on the next one , and send this episode

30:43

to a friend . And always

30:45

remember that you only have one

30:47

life , so live it with purpose

30:50

and passion .

30:58

Thank you for joining us . You can

31:00

connect with Bev on her website

31:02

, reinventimpossible . com

31:04

and , while you're there , join

31:06

our newsletter Subscribe so

31:08

you don't miss an episode . Until

31:11

next time , keep aging with

31:13

purpose and passion and

31:15

celebrate life .