40 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | MAY 2018 GIVING BACK CONTINUED Rich Berra. “There are little babies that need to be adopted, kids that are aging out that need mentorship and jobs. There are kids in the middle that are at the prime time where people are probably looking for a 7 or 8 year old.” Van Es and Berra’s families also make a difference by engaging with the cause — with both founders’ children spending time with the kids, Van Es’s wife Blake helping to make connections between parents and adoptable children and Berra’s wife Kristi helping to lead the Heart Gallery initiative. “It’s great seeing our kids get involved and seeing the connections that the kids that are in foster care make, because we don’t know what life is like for them in group homes,” said Berra. “I can’t imagine being ripped away from the only world I’ve ever known — my parents — and then being put in some group home with a bunch of kids who don’t like me or don’t want to have anything to do with me or who have their own problems to worry about and how lost you must feel and how unbelievably traumatic that can be.” The Future Van Es and Berra plan to continue raising awareness and support for foster children and encouraging others to get involved as well. “A lot of times we’ll talk to other radio shows and they’ll say, ‘ You guys do so much,’” said Berra. “We don’t want people to say, ‘ Oh, we can’t keep up with that.’ Like, beat us. Do more. Please get out there and do it. It’s a big job. If every single radio host and every single TV show host in this entire city were working to get kids adopted there’d still be a lot of kids that need to be adopted. It’s a giant mountain.” They also hope to grow their impact by merging initiatives — such as their focus on foster care and their dog rescue program, #LovePup. “The big dream is to build a #LovePup brick- and-mortar building for our dog rescue and then have the dog rescue work with foster kids, so foster kids come in and help with a program we set up,” said Van Es. For more information, visit loveupfoundation.org . The community can support the foundation by purchasing a #LoveUp or #LovePup T-shirt.

MAY 2018 | FRONTDOORS MEDIA 41 Find your cause. Invest in your community. Arizona Gives Day generated a record-breaking $3.2 million this year, and has raised $13.4 million for Arizona nonprofits since 2013. Give to a nonprofit today! www.azgives.org is accepting donations 365 days a year. Find your cause at THANK YOU!