We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kerry (papa) Slaven (bear). We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kerry (Papa) below.
Kerry (Papa), looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Focusing on outdoor experiences, Brave Young Hearts provides Adventures to children with terminal or life-threatening diseases….for a “chance at normal”
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!!!!!!!!
We know firsthand what it is like to lose a child. 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.
Whether hunting, shooting, archery, camping, horseback riding, fishing,.….whatever a child dreams of…this is the Outdoor Adventure that Brave Young Hearts wants to provide.
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, chemo, suctioning machines, dialysis, and ventilators are these kiddos’ 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, promotes/reinforces
self-respect and self-esteem, and …..SMILES!
Kerry (Papa), love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Having watched our Bethany suffer, have strokes, and then lose her battle, we learned that we weren’t alone in losing a child. Since Bethany really wanted to go hunting with her Papa Bear, and never had the opportunity, we knew there was a need for other kiddos to get outdoors.
So Brave Young Hearts was formed in 2015. with $1,500 of our own money, my wife (Mama Bear), and I and a friend, and my wife’s brother.
My wife’s brother and our friend have since moved on but still help out for our big fundraiser in August.
From the onset, we determined that no one would ever receive a salary, we would all be volunteers.
All board members have full time jobs, and we work out of our home, so overhead costs are kept low.
What sets us apart is that even though we are a small charity in Colorado, we provide Adventures to kiddos from numerous states. I did regulatory compliance and logistics for almost 40 years, so putting Adventures together is easy.
I’m most proud of surprising one of our boys while he was fishing in Florida, I had the Captain baptize him in the Gulf of Mexico, and for the fact that in the beginning I. was committed to making Adventures happen, even if it was on my credit card…and so far, God has provided everything we need, and my personal credit card is unused.
Perspective: people, vendors, guides, etc., don’t necessarily donate for these Adventures.
So when I say God has provided, that includes $15, 000 for a cougar hunt in British Columbia, an elk hunt on private land in Utah for $20,000, A family of 10 going on a whale watching Adventure for $10,000,, and so on for all of our 44 Adventures. We always send the entire family with our Adventure kiddo.
I will mention that TNT Fishing Charters in Venice, Florida has committed to donating deep sea fishing trips for as many of our kiddos that want to reel in some big fish!!!
Logistics challenge: our boy that went to Utah for his elk hunt had his own TRAX chair. We worked with freight companies to get the chair from Oklahoma to Utah and back, and they did donate the freight costs!
We have done a few “emergency” Adventures because the child wasn’t expected to live much longer.
We sent a girl to San Diego, because she had never seen the ocean. She passed away 6 weeks after her Adventure.
One girl wasn’t expected to make it through her Adventure.
We sent her and her family on a month long RV trip throughout the Southwest.
She was 18 months old then…….she’s 5 years old now, and going to school!!!
Miracle!!!
How’d you meet your business partner?
I met my co-founder in 1975, when my band was playing for a Campus Life retreat.
We dated, got married in 1977, have 2 grown sons and 10 grandchildren.
I love that she is as passionate about helping kids as I am and that we get to share this journey together!!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Resilience: I don’t know that I would use that word.
After Bethany died, we went into a cave emotionally.
It took time to get back to life.
I would cal it beauty from the ashes……we recovered and set out to honor Bethany’s memory.
Resilience: We work countless hours on top of our jobs to get donations , in-kind items, coordinate Adventures, and keep Brave Young Hearts legal.
It’s worth every second!
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
