Ep. 140: Fundraising, Legacy & ALS with Live Like Lou + Sisters of St. Francis
EPISODE 140
Fundraising, Legacy & ALS with Live Like Lou + Sisters of St. Francis
About the Episode:
What happens when you mix a powerhouse ALS advocate, a faith-driven advancement leader, and a whole lot of heart? You get this conversation.
Recorded live at GiveCon, presented by Bloomerang and QGiv, I sat down with Wendy Faust, Executive Director of Live Like Lou Foundation, and Jen Waning from the Sisters of St. Francis, and let me tell you—it was one of the most real, heartfelt, and surprisingly joyful chats I’ve had in a long time. We talk about the uncertainty so many nonprofits are navigating right now—and how to meet it with clarity, community, and courage. Wendy shares how Live Like Lou is turning personal loss into legacy and how even a simple lemonade stand can spark powerful donor connections. Jen reflects on what it means to honor the wisdom of 124 sisters who’ve spent their lives in service—and what legacy looks like when you’re truly thinking long-term. Together, we celebrated how nonprofits hustle for joy, even in the hardest moments. If you’ve ever wondered how to make your mission magnetic—or how to show up more boldly in your community—this is the episode for you.
Topics:
The fundraising challenges and opportunities facing nonprofits in 2025
How Live Like Lou is funding early-career ALS researchers and supporting 700+ families annually
The power of community events, like Lou Gehrig Day and Lou’s Crew peer fundraising
Strategies for getting new, younger supporters involved in niche causes
Legacy work with aging communities—how the Sisters of St. Francis are preserving stories and values
What it means to be transparent with donors during uncertain times
The emotional and deeply human side of nonprofit work—grief, joy, and everything in between
Using storytelling, branding, and real-life moments to deepen donor connection
The importance of “repping” your mission—and how a hat or sticker can start a movement
It’s not your stories—it’s how you’re telling them. If your amazing work isn’t getting the attention (and donations) it deserves, it’s time for a messaging shift. The Brave Fundraiser’s Guide guide gives you 10 done-for-you donor prompts to make your message impossible to ignore. Get it for free here! https://christinaedwards.krtra.com/t/xKuLs6tOiPZa
Christina’s Favorite Takeaways:
“In the midst of change, there's lots of opportunity.” - Jen
“In the first six months, we had six funerals. There was sadness, of course, but we celebrated what these phenomenal women did and the impact that they had on the world.” - Jen
“Baseball games are a lot of fun, but it's also been such a powerful way for us to get the message out.” - Wendy
“Just because your mission is specific a niche, and if no one knows anyone in that specific niche, doesn't mean they may not be a great donor, a great volunteer, a great supporter.” - Christina
“You were put on this earth to make other people happy” - Jen
“One of the best gifts to teach a kid is to care about other people. It is such an important legacy.” - Christina
“Life is ugly. Diseases are ugly. We live in a world of a lot of uncertainty, but where you can find the joy, focus on it.” - Wendy
“Hustle for joy.”
Connect with JEN AND WENDY:
Jen Haire Waning - Director of Advancement, Sisters of St. Francis Oldenburg
Wendy Faust - Executive Director, Live Like Lou Foundation
Episode Resources:
FREE Resources from Splendid Consulting:
How to Work with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
Connect with Christina and Splendid Consulting:
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*Links may be affiliate links which means I may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Christina Edwards 2:17
Okay, we have a special treat for y'all. Today. I'm here live at give con with two very special guests. Wendy Faust is back on the podcast from the live like blue Foundation, and we have a special guest, Jen waning from Sisters of St Francis. Thank you both for being here. Thanks for having us. Let's start with just a round of intros. So tell us about you and your organization, Wendy, we'll start with you. Okay, yeah,
Wendy Faust 2:43
I'm Wendy Faust. I have the privilege of serving as the executive director of the live like Lou foundation named in honor of Lou Gehrig, the luckiest man in iron horse. And we support families affected by Lou Gehrig's disease. We fund ALS research, specifically through early career scientists, and we aim to create more awareness of ALS and honor Luke Eric's legacy in the process.
Christina Edwards 3:03
And Jen, right, great.
Jen Waning 3:05
I'm Jen Waning. I get to serve as the director of advancement with the Sisters of St Francis in Oldenburg, Indiana. We'll be celebrating our 175th anniversary next year. These women are powerhouse. Women have served in all areas, mainly in the Midwest, but all over the world, and it's just a privilege to be with them. Amazing.
Christina Edwards 3:25
Well, while we're getting set up here in the green room, we were having quite a lively conversation. We've hit all of the things, so a lot of baseball talk happening here. But I want to just kind of anchor into it's been a wild time these past few months for the nonprofit world. So lot of challenges with fundraising, lot of challenges in general. Let's kind of just level set. How are you what are you struggling with, and maybe some breadcrumbs of what you're excited about as we kind of go into the year.
Wendy Faust 4:00
I think it's for me, there's uncertainty, right? There's uncertainty in what does the fundraising landscape look like. There's uncertainty in what does my organization's landscape look like. Donors are uncertain. The families we serve are uncertain. Based on healthcare and so many things happening in the world, cuts to NIH funding for the researchers that we support has made the power and the gift of private funding and institutional funding like my organization provides, has made that even more important for the researchers that we support, and it makes it more competitive for the processes that are out there for private funding for biomedical research happening throughout the United States right now, so not just in ALS, but in all disease spaces. So I think those are some of the things keeping me up at night. But uncertainty is the name of the game, yeah, sadly, uncertainty is the name of ALS as a disease. Yeah, it's something that the community we serve, unfortunately has to deal with on a daily basis. So uncertainty, it's tough, yeah? But. Think rallying support for the community, it's more important than ever to raise funds to support the programs that we that we have. Yeah, and what I'm looking forward to is just the opportunity to learn here at give con, even Yeah, meeting like minded nonprofits, small shop nonprofits, and having the opportunity to learn from others, what tools are they using the resources that Bloomerang has been developing and that they're rolling out to support their clients? Excited to see what those are? Because anything we can do to be more efficient helps challenge that uncertainty on the other side as well. Yeah, stewarding our donors, better, communicating with our donors and our families more frequently, all of that is really powerful in moments of
Christina Edwards 5:39
uncertainty. Yeah, great. Yeah,
Jen Waning 5:41
absolutely. So thanks for sharing. So we have some of the similar, I mean, completely different organization, yeah, but, but some of the similar, I mean, working for an order of religious women. You know, there's 124 of them left. And so really, our biggest concern, you know, obviously, we care about peace and justice. So what's happening in our world that's really, really important to the sisters. There's a whole lot of time dedicated to prayer for that, yeah, and some action as well, which is really impressive for for these women to be able to do that. So that's kind of where we are. But it's really just important to share their legacy and to figure out how you know, as we go through the next 25-30 years, what's that legacy going to look like? Yeah, you know, what are we going to do? So, but I see all the uncertainty, but I also, in my mind, see the great opportunity for us to do whatever, right? Like there's, yeah. So, you know, in the midst of change, there's lots of opportunity, and so I think it's a great it's a great time. That's
Christina Edwards 6:38
a great point. Jen, it's like change rips the rug from underneath you, like, like it or not, you're like, Yeah, okay, okay. And I'm wondering how one of the things you said, Wendy is it's more competitive, right? How do you communicate that to donors? I mean, it's almost like, I don't know that they would directly know what you're dealing with internally right now, unless you said that, right? Yeah. So how are you communicating that?
Wendy Faust 7:09
I love the question, and in fact, we just came from a session where Yeah, said it's okay to talk about the uncertainty with your donors and to be honest and to be transparent. So having those conversations that matters even more now that we're able to support families for Live Like Lou, we've seen tremendous increase in our program growth. We registered 739 ALS families in 2024 that brought us to a total of 13.101 families registered in 5 years. So like double the amount of families heard about us last year. So thank you.
Wendy Faust 7:50
I'm grateful to the founders of my organization and to the incredible leadership of my board for having the vision to make sure thatLive Like Lou mission was very uniquely positioned. We don't replicate or duplicate efforts of what other organizations are doing, because that then provides us the opportunity to be very clear in our mission. We don't have that opportunity to have the, you know, mission creep and look for the shiny objects in other locations, because what we're doing, it's unique. We do it well. We want it to be meaningful to the families that we're serving. We are the only organization that is specifically funding early career researchers within 10 years of their PhD. So I think that gives me confidence, that gives our donors confidence that if they're interested in what our program is accomplishing, Live Like Lou was the answer. But there are dozens, if not hundreds, of other organizations that are doing incredible things to serve the ALS community, but I find that breaking through the competition, breaking through the noise, it's the vision of our founders, the vision of our board to make sure that what we're doing is very specific
Christina Edwards 8:50
and very unique. I like that. I like that you said that, and that's one of the things I think a lot of nonprofits, earlier stage, nonprofits have a passion for a certain cause, but they are not necessarily saying, is this different? Is this different? And so I think that's a really smart piece. There Jen anything to add.
Jen Waning 9:08
So the sisters are different, all in and of themselves, right? They are, they are unique. I mean, there's several orders of religious out there. But again, we have unique. We have a huge mother house where we live, in Oldenburg. Well, I don't live there, but in Oldenburg. And so what, what do we do with that space? Right? That's a challenge we have. You know, what are we going to do with it when there's not people to fill it up? And so, you know, how, how do we work with the community, and how do we make sure, you know, that all of those pieces fall into place? So, you know, that's a that's a big challenge, not necessarily from a funding aspect, but really just a life aspect, right? Yeah, the sisters are challenged with, this is the end of the line for them, yes, as an order. And what legacy do we leave? You know, when, when we're gone? And so they do sponsor two educational institutions. And university in Indianapolis and Oldenburg Academy, yeah, and so to me, it makes sense that that's where the legacy will live, yeah, is through those two educational institutions as they will live forever.
Christina Edwards 10:10
I think legacy is such an interesting concept, because legacy inevitably makes you think about death exactly. I mean, it's hard not to. And I think we as people don't want to think about that, don't want to talk about it. And also, there's this like, parallel of like, but we want to leave an impact. We want to have meaning. We want to exist even after right? It's why we tell stories. It's why we think about our grandparents and pass those right? And so it's a unique kind of space you're in. It
Jen Waning 10:45
is, it's, it's definitely, it's like nowhere else I've ever been, yeah, but it's been, I've only been there eight months. It's been great, yeah, just really learning about the way they make decisions and the way they really discern about, does it, does it fit with our mission? Does it fit with our values and and that's how they make decisions, and to me, that's really important, right? Like, yeah,
Christina Edwards 11:07
let's talk about that for a second, which is, does this fit with our mission or our values? When your organization is as established and old as it is, right? Those have changed, ish or no,
Jen Waning 11:18
um, some, right? I mean, they were designed. I mean, they literally came over and started a school for German immigrants. That's what their task was, yeah. And so then they became educators all across the Midwest. But of course, now they're not in the classroom anymore. They're in the mother house, which is great. I had 100 of them there, and they're praying. They are doing volunteer work. They're doing tons of great things. So yes, their values have stayed true to the Franciscan values, but the mission has shifted. So
Christina Edwards 11:48
yeah, and when you think of legacy, what does that look like for your organization? Well, I
Wendy Faust 11:54
think it's inherent in our name to Live Like Lou is, to live with courage in the face of adversity, to have determination to show up for his teammates. Lou Gehrig showed up 2130 consecutive games on first base for the Yankees. That was unheard of. Then it's been unheard of until, you know, decades later, until that streak was broken. But I think, and it's to live with gratitude. It's, you know, Lou Gehrig when he gave his speech that is remembered around the world. I have chills as I say that July 4, 1939 telling the world of his ALS diagnosis. It was a big thank you. It was a big love letter to the fans, the socialites, the coaches, the groundskeepers, his wife, his in laws. I mean, he truly. It was a big love letter, and thank you letter so to be grateful even in the face of a fatal diagnosis of ALS, and to share that with the world, but that's legacy for the people we serve as well. Yeah, I was live like Lou's first staff member, first full time staff member in 2021 and, you know, an ALS diagnosis comes with two, two to five years on average, before someone will pass away from the disease. So we're starting to see many of our friends and many of the people that we've gotten to know and just absolutely adore and love and serve. They passed away in the last year, yeah, but their legacy lives on in the work that our organization is doing. So legacy is huge. We honor lose legacy, both in baseball as well as what he stood for in the face of this disease. I am, like, getting super emotional, right? No, I'm saying this because it's, it's death is tough, it's tough, yeah, and it's so interesting.
Jen Waning 13:21
It is, I mean, it is, yeah, that's right, that our organizations do that, yeah. But again, I mean, these women face it so gracefully. It's so refreshing to see. And I mean, in the first six months, we had six funerals, I'm telling you, it was celebrations of life. It really was there. It is a celebration. I mean, there was sadness, of course, yeah, but we celebrated what these phenomenal women did and the impact that they had on the world. And so it is legacy that's
Christina Edwards 13:51
huge, and I think that's what both of your organizations are doing well, is bringing together community to celebrate what is inevitably known is going to happen, and hard and hard, yeah, I think with it's interesting. So since knowing you and working together, and I knew about ALS a bit, right, we have ice bucket challenge as our anchor, Christina and the rest of the world learned about ALS who didn't already know, and then from working together years ago. There's a term for it where suddenly you see it everywhere. You know. It's like, you go car shopping, and now you Yeah, yeah. And so I'm like, now suddenly I know people with ALS, or I know somebody who's passed with ALS, and I'm going, Is this more common, or is this more talked about? It known? Is this, I'm
Wendy Faust 14:43
gonna say it's more talked about, okay, because of the awareness that is being created, maybe, yeah, baseball created Lou Gehrig day. It's one of three days honoring a former player. It was just created in 2021 wow. And Live Like Lou has been so fortunate to be a really big part of that, and becoming an even bigger part of that will be on six. Yes, we'll be in six ball parks on June 2 this year to celebrate Lou Gehrig day, to honor the ALS community, to do some special surprises for people living with ALS and their families. So it is becoming bigger and more prominent. And I'd like to say, live like Lou has a hand in that 100% and it's it's through live like Lou partnership too, with Lou Gehrig's college fraternity, fidelta Theta, who had the vision to partner with the Alexander family, who created live like Lou as a grassroots effort in Pittsburgh back in 2011 Neil Alexander became a Fidel and was this opportunity to really meld these incredible 200,000 living members of this fraternity, 200 college campuses throughout the United States and Canada, that opportunity to get fight alt nation engaged in the work that we're doing, and then through them, we're creating more awareness. So
Christina Edwards 15:49
then we're talking about awareness advocacy and bringing in young people, yeah, and bringing in young people. I'm thinking about every client I've ever talked to, and they're like, how do we get more wrong people? How do we get more people to care about our mission who aren't affected, who don't know someone with ALS? It's like these big, big questions, right? And you've done that. You've done that really, really well. So let's talk a little bit more about how do you do it? What does it look like? Well, I have to
Wendy Faust 16:19
give a shout out to my colleague, Steve good, who works for the fraternity, Steve created a program in 2010 he was doing his masters at Xavier and training for a marathon, and he was finishing the marathon. And I Steve, I'm sorry if I butcher your story, but I love it. He was competing in the flying pig marathon and running with a couple of women that were doing the race as part of Team and training, and they had fundraised for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and he realized, as he crossed the finish line, while he was so proud of himself, they had a bigger purpose in their run, right? It wasn't just about accomplishing that personal goal. So Steve, as his capstone project for his MBA, created the iron five program for members of Lou Gehrig's fraternity to raise $1,000 through their personal community and then complete an athletic challenge of their choice, and so write fairly simple, very specific, raise $1,000 complete an athletic challenge. It can be a 5k my husband became an iron five. Yeah through disc golf with our neighbors on the weekends. Yeah, I became an iron fi. I did the dry triathlon, indoor triathlon at Orange theory fitness. Wow, that program has now raised $5 million so we have launched, and through inspiration from people like Christina and working with you over the years, we launched a program last year called Lou's Crew. Yeah. So to join Lou's Crew, it's a similar premise, you raise $1,000 but it's for the non find out audience. Raise $1,000 either complete an athletic challenge or complete a service project. We've now in the ALS community. Yeah, we've had 14 people become members of Lou's Crew, including both of my children, which was really exciting. They did a lemonade stand and became grandmas competing to donate more. So that lemonade stand raised quite a bit of money.
Christina Edwards 17:58
That's like that Girl Scout Cookie effect. We like it. Get the grandparents involved. Yeah.
Wendy Faust 18:03
But you know what? We posted up a lemonade stand. My husband sat out with his sun hat in the middle of a roundabout outside of our neighborhood with a sign of support people living with ALS lemonade stand this way. And I mean, people would drive up and say, like, I'm here because that guy was sitting in a roundabout in the middle of a, you know, 85 degree day in Indiana to tell me to come by lemonade, I ended up with a local gentleman that does community relations for a bank that has branches throughout the Midwest. He came by and wanted to find out more. He donated 15 bucks to each of my girls, and that has created a relationship and an opportunity for potential grant funding through that those bank branches. So Lou's Crew has that great potential. And, yeah, you know, my youngest daughter helped set up for a surprise birthday party for someone living with ALS. She helped blow up the balloons and build the balloon arch. So that was her service project. And my older daughter is a competitive swimmer, and she and her teammates for the swim team labeled stuffed and stamped all of our holiday cards, 2000 holiday cards
Christina Edwards 19:01
this past Christmas. That's a service project, yes, but
Wendy Faust 19:05
we've made Lou's Crew. You become a member of Lou's Crew every year. So it's not just where iron five was the one and done. Wanted it to be replicable. So this
Christina Edwards 19:14
is what we like, retention, retention, yes, donors or any retention, Ambassador. Retention, street team, retention, yeah, got
Wendy Faust 19:23
their lose crew hats for becoming members of Lou's Crew last year. Water bottle this year. So just we're getting creative, but that again, it drew in new donors. It educated our neighborhood, and these girls have had an experience. They're, you know, tweens and teens. So it's giving them an opportunity to give back as well at an early age, which is something I was introduced to through my mom. Yeah, that inspired my career in philanthropy.
Christina Edwards 19:47
I just want to bookmark a couple things you said, which was this idea of repping so even just it's not always about swag, but the way you've branded Lou's Crew, it's very easy for me to say I sort of immediately like. Feel a vibe about it that makes me feel happy, right? And there's a hat and there's an experience, and that's what I think a lot of organizations are missing, is it's not about how do I get you to do this for me? Have the lemonade stand, post on social media, be a peer fundraiser, but more of like, why it would be cool for them to rep you, why it would be cool for them to actually have, like, a reciprocal relationship with you. And I think you've done that really well, and it has a lot of legs to have that growth, to have that growth like that ripple effects. I'm excited.
Wendy Faust 20:32
Thank you. And I mean, one of our volunteers, he did a wrecking challenge and raised a couple $1,000 through Lou's Crew and did the wrecking challenge, and that was something that he set out to do with a group of friends, yeah, so for six months, the fundraising was ongoing, but again, a personal athletic challenge for him, and he's someone that had served several of our families in the St Louis area. So through that, then inspired additional people and educated als while he's there, right? Like it's expanding our reach, yeah, through the donors, but also through the people he's participating in the in the exercise with. And
Christina Edwards 21:01
then I think the other thing you're doing well is getting out into the field. Yeah, talk about that, the literal field, the baseball field. I think that's really important. And I think that a lot of organizations listen. I love working remote. I think it's great. But sometimes we're very, very cozy, yes, and I was talking to a consultant last night, and I said, answer me this. Everybody says, How do I get more board members and good ones? Let's talk. And she's the board Pro. And what is her name? Sabrina. Sabrina Walker, Hernandez, yeah. I said, get in here. She's another one. I said, get in here. I said, I'm going to pick your brain. We're doing this. And she said, You got to go out, and it's I said, and we both agreed, it's not just about anyone, but you got to figure out who am I trying to reach, and you got to put yourself out there. And you know, it's not just how to get you to fundraise. And so just kind of right, citing that so, but I think you're really good about getting out, talk to us more about that, what that looks like.
Wendy Faust
So this is my first fully remote job, okay? And I am a people person. I am an extrovert. Jen and I worked together previously, yeah, we've known each other and left that very office structured environment, you know, eight to five to being fully remote. So joined a co working space. And we have, we have remote teams in Indiana and Ohio, and the co working space we joined. Thank you, co hatch. We received a scholarship from them. Amazing. Don't pay a penny to have access to co working space that we can go into. I've got stickers on my laptop that, you know, tell the story of what I'm doing. People comment and ask who's Lou or what is what does that mean all the time? So that's been powerful. I had lunch with my auditors last week, and I kind of felt bad. I realized I've been in the office way too much because, you know, it's winter, it's summer, I'm sorry, it's snowing. Yeah, I could have talked their ears off for like,
Christina Edwards
Oh, I know this feeling you're like, stay human.
Wendy Faust 22:58
Oh, and they read my family minutes and they're asking questions, yeah, just filled my pocket. So I think it's being willing to tell the story, and having the elevator pitch, having the conversation. You know, we have a partnership with a wheelchair manufacturer, and when I see people in Permobil wheelchairs, I will talk to them about their experience with promobilia and talk about how great the company is that manufactured their chair. I've seen the you know, how the wheelchairs are made and tested and the care that goes into them, so just being willing to strike up a conversation, yeah, baseball games are a heck of a lot of fun, and it's but it's also been such a powerful way for us to get the message out. We wore Lou Gehrig jerseys last year for all of our baseball activities, and people thought I was like a Yankee staff member. We were at the San Francisco Giants, and we had just awarded a scholarship on the field to a girl that had lost her father to ALS. She actually lost her dad, her aunt and her uncle. They had a familial form of the ALS Wow. Cases are hereditary, and so this, her family has been devastated, right? She's becoming a nurse at point, Loma University, we're at the Giants game. We present the scholarship on the field to her before the game starts. And people are stopping me because I'm in a Yankees jersey. The Giants were playing the Yankees, or many Yankees appearing jersey, yeah, and but repping, repping, Lou and have garrick's name on the back, and people would strike up conversations and want to know more about the organization and what we do. It's an incredible awareness opportunity, and Lou Gehrig's legacy is really important. I remember when Whitney was stuffing holiday cards with her swim team as they were doing it. I'm telling the story of who Lou was and what it means to Live Like Lou. And yeah, their parents have then, you know, since reached out and said, I love that they were able to do this service project and help out and learn about it, learn about something that they wouldn't have otherwise.
Christina Edwards 24:45
That's just what popped in is, I think it's a really good reminder that just because your mission is specific a niche, and if no one knows anyone in that specific niche, doesn't mean anything about whether. Not they may be a great donor, a great volunteer, a great supporter, and it's just like a double check yourself on that, that belief, right? Yeah? Now, when you think about events or just going out into the community, going out into the community, driving that awareness or that advocacy, tell me about that. Sure. Well,
Jen Waning 25:17
that's again, being in the job just a short amount. Yeah, that's been probably my biggest challenge, yeah, is, is how, how do you measure, how do you tell or share the impact of the sisters? I've jokingly said for the 175th year, I would like to know every school that they've ever taught in, figure out how many students that might have been, and then how many of those students became teachers, or what they did, and how, and literally, how did that really ripple, right? How did that impact? I mean, we have a couple great archivists, but I'm not sure we can get all that. Okay. I was
Christina Edwards 25:50
just gonna say, are we? Are we capturing their stories? We are
Jen Waning 25:54
we are going to for the 175th year? We've not done a fantastic job of it in the past. So I'm looking forward to, okay,
Christina Edwards 26:00
I have an app for you. Oh, good. I love that. It's called Linda. We'll link to it in the podcast. It is all about passing on those generational, rich stories, yeah, like, that's great. And it prompts so I was saying to somebody last night, it prompts you, if you have you know, like, you're like, I know my grandpa has that great story, but he sort of just tells the tells the same story again again. But like, what about the other story? It gives you really great prompts. And yeah, it's, yeah, that would be so
Jen Waning 26:32
good for us, because, again, we we really want to capture the stories. They have fantastic story for the
Wendy Faust 26:37
sisters to tell. The story. Oh, that's
Christina Edwards 26:38
that in their voice, in their voice. That's exactly it.
Jen Waning 26:42
I love to joke. I mean, we have a 95 year old sister who was a principal, but she works in our office, and she shreds our documents and she puts stamps on our envelopes. But, I mean, I'm telling you the stories. I mean, she's ornery and so fun. Those are
Christina Edwards 26:55
my favorite. They're the best. So that's
Jen Waning 26:57
so but we love having her, and it's just to her, it's a privilege to us. It's just great. Another sister that calls all of our donors and thanks them and offers to pray with them, which is, I mean, how unique is that, right? So, but again, it's just, how do we, how do we do
Christina Edwards 27:13
that and get out at scale too, right? Yes. And we really, I
Jen Waning 27:17
mean, the sisters are still relevant. They may not be out in schools, doing their things, but they are still very relevant in their life,
Christina Edwards 27:22
absolutely and some of the wisest people you will meet, because, right, yeah, yeah, oh, I love that. Oh, that's so good.
Jen Waning 29:13
when I was when I was growing up, my dad used to say I was put on this earth to make other people happy. And I never really thought about that. But what we get to do every day? Yeah, really is that? And, you know, he was a financial planner, and he's done a lot, he's a big philanthropist, and it has done a lot of good,
Unknown Speaker 29:37
but it's pretty great. Yeah, every day. So
Jen Waning 29:40
that's probably my parting thought, emotional, yeah,
Christina Edwards 29:43
yeah, absolutely, oh, it's true. I think that I was talking to somebody outside of the sector, and I just kept hitting this wall where I'm like, you don't get it, that's right. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, like, you don't get it, he gets it. Yeah, he gets it. He gets it. And
Jen Waning 30:00
luckily for me, he passed it down to me, yeah, and to my siblings, and I've been able to do the same for my children. And my kids are really they get
Christina Edwards 30:08
it. They get it. And that's like one of the best gifts to teach a kid. It
Jen Waning 30:12
is, it is absolutely, especially
Christina Edwards 30:13
right now, very fortunate, yes, to care about others, other people, yeah. Is such an important legacy. There it is. It is, yes, really important legacy. Wendy. Wendy, will you share your thought? You like to think on purpose with us? Yeah,
Wendy Faust 30:30
I thought on purpose, and I actually read it in a book, gosh, probably like 10 years ago. Girl, wash your face. Oh, I know that one. Yeah, I forgot about that, and she talked about what was her name, Rachel Hollis. It has stuck with me, and I actually have a little frame on my in my home office. I had it on my desk where Jen and I work together joy, hustle for joy, that we do as fundraisers. We are on call, nights, weekends, right? Like, while there may not be fundraising emergencies, there are opportunities, there are deaths, there are memorial services, right? There's a lot that is not fun about this work. I am a mom. I have, you know, 11 and 13 year old girls, and there's a lot of times where working in nonprofit leadership and fundraising, it's taken me away, but to focus on hustling for joy and finding joy in those small moments, joy in the legacy that the people that are losing their lives from this terrible disease, like seeing the joy that they had in their lives and Live Like Lou so hustle for
Christina Edwards 31:36
joy, hustle for joy and hustle for joy. I'm gonna shout out we talked about her last time, and she's doing it. Brooke Eby, yes, she's incredible. She's hustling for joy I'm gonna cry like every day. And she's using Tiktok, and she's using Instagram, and she is advocating, and she's sharing her story. And it is so fucking hard. It's real, it's raw, it is and she even on the days where I think she can't choose joy, she's like, this is what we got, and that's it. And somehow there's joy in that. If that makes sense, she
Wendy Faust 32:04
just Brooke diagnosed with ALS in her early 30s. Brooke just posted an Instagram like, I think it was yesterday, of someone had sent her a message about how she's finding joy. And unfortunately, the person compared it to their dating life and that they weren't finding joy in their dating life. And, you know, Brooks, but it was, she used humor to make the point she's dying. Yeah, every day she's losing abilities. Yes, she's creating awareness, she's educating and she's, you know, giving wheelchair rides, and
Christina Edwards 32:33
she is finding joy. And she is so sarcastic, and she is such a force, and she's, okay
Wendy Faust 32:40
to be real. Life is ugly. Diseases are ugly. Yeah? We don't live in a perfect world. We live in a world of a lot of uncertainty, yeah, but where you can find the joy, focus on it. That's right, it gets me out of bed.
Christina Edwards 32:52
Thank you. Thank you both for coming. Where can everyone follow, hang out with you? Give us your all the places, sure,
Jen Waning 32:59
Oldenburg franciscans.org is our website, so it will be revamped and new in the next six months, which is really exciting, yeah, but yeah, really we're going to be celebrating the 175th next year starting in January of 2026 and so look for lots of big things then.
Wendy Faust 33:17
And live like lou.org We're on all the major social media channels as well and lose crew.org. If you're interested in becoming a 2025, member of lose crew.
Christina Edwards 33:26
We love a custom URL for that. That's good. That's good. Awesome. All right, thanks, y'all