Latest / Unstoppable Success Podcast / Turn Grief Into Purpose and Build Lasting Impact | Jonelle Colabufalo

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Turn Grief Into Purpose and Build Lasting Impact | Jonelle Colabufalo · Unstoppable Success Podcast

• 0:22
  Jaclyn Strominger: Hello, everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of the Unstoppable Success podcast.
• 0:28
  Jaclyn Strominger: And today we get a great human.
• 0:32
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, on this podcast, we hear from great humans all about the tips or tricks or insights on being unstoppable and having unstoppable success and creating a great impact.
• 0:42
  Jaclyn Strominger: And so today I get to introduce you to Jonello Colabufalo And let me tell you a little about her.
• 0:48
  Jaclyn Strominger: And I might mess up the name of the foundation, so I apologize.
• 0:51
  Jaclyn Strominger: But she is the co-founder and CEO of the Jared Dunscombe Foundation, a purpose-driven organization created in honor of her brother, Jared, such a great name, by the way.
• 1:01
  Jaclyn Strominger: After experiencing profound personal loss, Jonelle turned grief into action, building a foundation rooted in community, generosity, and meaningful impact.
• 1:11
  Jaclyn Strominger: And through fundraising events, strategic partnerships, she combines Jared's legacy of helping others by supporting young people, vulnerable families, and local communities.
• 1:21
  Jaclyn Strominger: And she has this great program.
• 1:22
  Jaclyn Strominger: And she's like, it's amazing.
• 1:24
  Jaclyn Strominger: What she, if you check it out all on like LinkedIn, like what some of the things that she's doing with students, it's just awesome.
• 1:32
  Jaclyn Strominger: So welcome to Unstoppable Success today.
• 1:36
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Thanks for having me.
• 1:38
  Jaclyn Strominger: Oh, it's so great to have you here.
• 1:39
  Jaclyn Strominger: So you were sharing some of the things that you that that you are you were doing.
• 1:44
  Jaclyn Strominger: And I and you know, I'd love to share, you know, for you to share what, you know, obviously a loss.
• 1:50
  Jaclyn Strominger: So what made you take that?
• 1:52
  Jaclyn Strominger: Like that's you know, what made you go that leap and just say, you know, we need to make a like we need to make an impact.
• 2:01
  Jonelle Colabufalo: When I think about my why, I guess it goes back to my brother and the type of human that he was.
• 2:06
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And he did a lot of charity work and giving, we actually lost him while he was doing a charity bike ride.
• 2:12
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And we sat, actually, my best friend, my husband, and I sat around the kitchen table as the lead up to the first anniversary of his loss, and we were saying it just feels like we should do something one year since losing him.
• 2:27
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And literally around that kitchen table, the Jared Dunscombe Foundation.
• 2:31
  Jonelle Colabufalo: was born, and our first event, The Walk to Remember.
• 2:34
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We started off thinking we'd just fund a little project and do something great in his memory.
• 2:40
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We had, you know, what we thought was an ambitious target at the time of raising $20,000.
• 2:45
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We thought it would take us at least 12 months.
• 2:48
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And on that first day, we had the walk to remember, and then we had a cocktail party that night, and we raised well over that on the first day of the foundation, and we just did that.
• 2:59
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah.
• 3:00
  Jonelle Colabufalo: It was just amazing the support from people.
• 3:03
  Jonelle Colabufalo: I mean, it reflected the type of person he was that people wanted to remember him and they wanted to do something good in his name.
• 3:09
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But yeah, I guess that's like we're 12 years in now, and that's just been the whole process of the organization.
• 3:16
  Jonelle Colabufalo: It's just organically evolved.
• 3:18
  Jonelle Colabufalo: People look at it and they say, Wow, you're doing really different things, but it's just sort of what's come naturally to me, and it's all been, you know, driven from the heart and great people that we've got involved along the way.
• 3:31
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So it's sort of just we just keep growing and evolving and you know, making a real impact.
• 3:37
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And, you know, my brother obviously was the reason why it started, but now it's really about the community that we're building, and obviously it's his legacy, but it's a real focus on that community that we're building because I think that's something that's really lacking in our world these days is that connection and community and people coming together to do really great things.
• 3:57
  Jaclyn Strominger: So yeah, so I before we go on to the community part, because I really want to touch on that, but but I also just want to touch you talked about the the you know what you're doing with students.
• 4:06
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 4:06
  Jaclyn Strominger: So I'd like for you to like talk a little bit about that, because you know, the the you know, not that we have not that the youth are forgotten, but I kind of feel that the youth are forgotten in some way.
• 4:18
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, like we we forget that that that we can make such a huge impact on them.
• 4:24
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah.
• 4:24
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So our whole foundation focuses on youth projects, so sort of under 25 is kind of where we try to aim.
• 4:31
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So every project that we fund is for youth experiencing some sort of disadvantage or something like that.
• 4:39
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But I now project manage a group called Teenagers Road Accident Group, TRAG, and my brother was actually a presenter with them.
• 4:47
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we do road trauma presentations to students who are about at the age that they're about to get their licenses here.
• 4:54
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so he, my brother was hit by a car at the age of seven and wasn't meant to survive that accident.
• 5:01
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so he used to tell his story of the impact that that had on him.
• 5:06
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So a speeding car hit him and the impact that that had on his life, his family, all of that sort of thing.
• 5:11
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So he used to present with this group.
• 5:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And then obviously, unbelievably, when we lost him to road trauma 13 years ago now, after a couple of years, obviously, of going through the really raw grief, I joined the group to keep continue to tell his story.
• 5:28
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I think the biggest impact on the kids that we present to is you think it won't happen to you, but it actually happened to one of our presenters, you know, like, you know, he survived his first road trauma incident and we lost him the second time.
• 5:43
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So yeah, we go and present to, you know, thousands of students each year.
• 5:48
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We have emergency services personnel, so police, fire, ambulance talk about the impact that, you know, going to those accidents with young teenagers in cars has on them.
• 5:59
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Then we have victims of road trauma, and then people like myself who've lost family members to road trauma talk about the impact that it just has on so many people if you're going to make a bad decision when you're getting in a car.
• 6:11
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And the group started because the area that we present in had the highest road toll of young people, 18 to 25 year olds at the time in Australia.
• 6:20
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And last year, that area had zero road toll for young people in the area.
• 6:26
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah.
• 6:28
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we've, you know, the police in the area are saying we're having an impact.
• 6:32
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Our message is getting through to the young people.
• 6:35
  Jonelle Colabufalo: You know, we teach them about making smart decisions when you're getting into a car, how to get out of a car if you feel unsafe, you know, tips and strategies and just the responsibility, you know, they all get excited that they've got their license, but it's actually a really big responsibility when you get behind the wheel of a car, or even if you're a passenger in the car to not distract the driver.
• 6:54
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So the work that we do.
• 6:57
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah.
• 6:58
  Jaclyn Strominger: That is absolutely amazing.
• 7:00
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, and just it it's so important.
• 7:03
  Jaclyn Strominger: Um, so so important with that.
• 7:06
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, it's I think sometimes whether you're 16 or 18, anywhere in that the young age when you're getting your license.
• 7:15
  Jaclyn Strominger: See, even when you're 50s and 60s, I think you forget.
• 7:21
  Jaclyn Strominger: Like you need that constant reminder that that that yeah, when you get behind a wheel of a car, it's there's other people, like you your your decisions can impact so many people for the good or the bad.
• 7:40
  Jaclyn Strominger: Absolutely.
• 7:42
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 7:43
  Jaclyn Strominger: Oh, and it just makes me so that's absolutely fantastic that you have made such an impact.
• 7:48
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, do you have plans to to go more global?
• 7:52
  Jaclyn Strominger: People ask that, and we have lots of people out there driving.
• 7:58
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah, we have so we present in one kind of area, and the accidents that we talk about are local accidents.
• 8:04
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So I think that has an impact as well.
• 8:06
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Like they know the roads, they've seen, you know, the flowers at the side of the road and things like that.
• 8:12
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And we do have schools that travel from quite a distance to come.
• 8:16
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And we have had people say, Would you come, you know, quite far away.
• 8:20
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But the the the toll that it takes on the presenters, like retelling the story, you know, it's quite draining.
• 8:29
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so, you know, we're all we can have a really big impact in the area that we're presenting.
• 8:36
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We have helped in other areas for other groups to try and set up similar things, and I'm really obviously open to that.
• 8:44
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But it's because the stories are so personal, it's not something that we can just, you know, take on a road show.
• 8:51
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Right.
• 8:52
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But but it's something that can be replicated and grown elsewhere.
• 8:56
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 8:56
  Jaclyn Strominger: I think that's what I'm thinking more, like, how do you help other you know, and then sort of like let's talk about the community.
• 9:03
  Jaclyn Strominger: How do we help other communities develop a community that's like this and so that they have additional stories to share?
• 9:11
  Jaclyn Strominger: Because again, each local community can have such a huge impact on the local community.
• 9:17
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 9:17
  Jaclyn Strominger: So let's talk about the community because you said, you know, it's you know, share a little bit more about that impact that it's having, you know, and the this the community within the community that you're creating.
• 9:30
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 9:31
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So you mean like in terms of the Jared Dunscombe Foundation. Community?
• 9:34
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:35
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So that's obviously just one element of that.
• 9:38
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But in terms of what the Jared Dunskum Foundation is doing, it's funding.
• 9:42
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So it's this model that I guess I created about collaboration over competitions.
• 9:48
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So in the not-for-profit sector, you know, in Australia there's 66,000 charities, which for a small country that's a lot.
• 9:56
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I just saw that there's a lot of people doing, you know, each of them start for a really great reason, but there's a lot of them doing the same thing.
• 10:03
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so they're using up expenses in their organization, trying to, you know, build a community and that sort of thing.
• 10:11
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we decided not to reinvent the wheel because there's all these amazing organizations doing amazing things.
• 10:17
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And we came to discover that each of them often has a wish list of projects that, you know, if they've struck gold and suddenly got all this money, they would love to do.
• 10:28
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so we come in as sort of an extra fundraising and we bring our community in.
• 10:34
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And the reason why people support us is that they love that there's a different project each year, but they see a direct end result.
• 10:41
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we we never just put money into an organization, we fund a specific project, and so they can see the need that was there at the start and then the end result of what we've achieved at the end.
• 10:53
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so they feel like they're taken on part of that journey.
• 10:56
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And, you know, my focus has always been it's not just about the fundraising, it's about creating a community where people feel like our our events are fun and they feel like they really contribute to the projects as well.
• 11:11
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we've had, you know, projects where we've gone and built new training facilities.
• 11:15
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Like I got a team of trades from our community, and we went and built some new training facilities for an organization that trains dogs for kids with diabetes, diabetes detection dogs, and also at-risk youth to get them in their training dogs instead of not going to school.
• 11:32
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And then I did a lot of work with an organization called Field of Magic, who do grief camps for kids who've lost a parent or a sibling.
• 11:40
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so a lot of our volunteers we then trained in their program and to see them think, oh, could I really go and do that?
• 11:49
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And then, you know, now there's quite a lot from our community who are facilitating those programs at the camps and just to see the growth and the belief in them.
• 11:57
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And that's come through, you know, us wanting to develop our volunteers as well.
• 12:01
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Because a lot of organizations, you know, they volunteers come and they just want to give their time and and do something good for the community.
• 12:08
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But I just thought, why can't we develop our volunteers along the way and get and make sure that, you know, volunteers get a lot out of just giving, just giving back.
• 12:19
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But if we can develop them and teach them new skills and, you know, we've had people who've changed careers because they've come in and they've realized they want to be in, you know, that that that the job that they've been in forever doesn't really give them a lot of satisfaction.
• 12:32
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So, you know, they go and do further studies and things like that.
• 12:36
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So that's been a really important focus for me in this foundation that it's not just about fundraising, it's about building a community, making sure that our events are really fun and something that and and that's how they've grown because people come and then they go, well, you know, this walk that's on every year is such a fun event because we've turned it into a family day and we have activities for kids and you know, all of that sort of thing.
• 13:00
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So then the next year they bring friends and family and and that sort of thing.
• 13:05
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So it's grown from there.
• 13:06
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But I guess as a leader in the organization, yeah, that focus, it's not just about, you know, the projects and the fundraising.
• 13:14
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Let's, you know, give back to the people that are giving their time to us as well.
• 13:18
  Jaclyn Strominger: So talk me through a little bit about this a bit more, because you know, this is there there's a whole leadership component in this, right?
• 13:25
  Jaclyn Strominger: About helping people grow, which you can easily take into a business, right?
• 13:30
  Jaclyn Strominger: So when you know, so you have your you have the the walk, right?
• 13:36
  Jaclyn Strominger: And you and so you are raising money for that.
• 13:38
  Jaclyn Strominger: So then is the money that you're raising for that helping then you do you you said you pick one project a year, yeah, that goes to X per X other charity.
• 13:49
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 13:51
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so our very first project that we started that we, you know, hoped to raise $20,000 in in the first year, that was to bring it was through an organization called Romac, and it was to bring a little boy over from East Timor for life-saving heart surgery.
• 14:07
  Jonelle Colabufalo: That if he was born here, he would have had in the first, you know, weeks or months of his life.
• 14:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But he'd gotten to a stage where he couldn't go to school and he couldn't, you know, exert himself.
• 14:18
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so his dad and him flew over here and they stayed with us and he had the surgery, and that was in 2014, the year that we first founded the organization.
• 14:27
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And then on our 10-year anniversary of the organization in 2024, we got an update on him, and he's a healthy, you know, 18-year-old boy.
• 14:35
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We got photos of him, and that's kind of how it started funding that project.
• 14:40
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But since then, we've done you know a multitude of things.
• 14:42
  Jonelle Colabufalo: As I said, we we built the training facilities for Righteous Pups.
• 14:46
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We've done a lot of work with Feel the Magic.
• 14:48
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We sort of bought their grief camps into Victoria, which is the state that I live in, and really built that up for them here.
• 14:56
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We supplied all of their resources, we funded a full camp.
• 14:59
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We've now funded three full camps here for about all together, probably 130 kids to come to those camps.
• 15:08
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Last year we funded a project for an organization called Limbs for All, who support children who've lost limbs in Cambodia to get them into school because otherwise, you know, they can't learn and then earn money to survive.
• 15:24
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And also to rebuild a spinal rehab center in Kathmandu in Nepal.
• 15:29
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So my elder son and I actually trekked the Himalayas last year as part of that.
• 15:36
  Jaclyn Strominger: Oh, I'm a terrible.
• 15:38
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah, so we raised $50,000 for that project last year through events that we ran and that sort of thing for that.
• 15:46
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we've done all, yeah, all sorts of different projects, all you kind of youth focused.
• 15:50
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We built a training center in Kenya for an organization called One One Heart who were using it to teach people skills that they could then start up their own business to break the poverty cycle over there.
• 16:05
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we've got the Jared Dunskam Skills Training Center in Kenya.
• 16:08
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Um, and then we've done lots of local projects.
• 16:11
  Jonelle Colabufalo: At the moment, our new project we've just launched is there's an area down here that has a really big homeless problem.
• 16:18
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And a lot of them are young families who just can't afford the cost of living at the moment.
• 16:24
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so we're funding a group who provides food for families who are really struggling, or single mothers that are fleeing domestic violence and that sort of thing.
• 16:34
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So they're providing them with food.
• 16:36
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So I actually went yesterday and helped pack some of the food bags yesterday morning and heard some of the stories of the people that we'll be supporting through that.
• 16:44
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So yeah, we do lots of different things, and that's why our supporters love being part of it because they go on that journey and they see, you know, we've been able to do this because of your support.
• 16:55
  Jaclyn Strominger: That's that's really fantastic.
• 16:57
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, you know, talk a little bit about me, because you know, you're you're working with students, and so people in the community see this.
• 17:05
  Jaclyn Strominger: What do you think, you know, when people are, you know, as you said, it's like somebody even like had a you know a job change, right?
• 17:11
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, you know, talk about the impact that it's having, you know, on on the people that are there.
• 17:16
  Jaclyn Strominger: Cause that's again, it's a huge I look at it, you know, when you really are doing things that are rewarding, it gives you a different perspective onto onto why you do your other day-to-day.
• 17:32
  Jaclyn Strominger: Absolutely.
• 17:34
  Jonelle Colabufalo: I always say, you know, if you're going through a really hard time, I actually think that one of the best things to do is to just go and give and give.
• 17:41
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And it might, you know, you might not have the money or whatever, you might be going through off time, but give your time to something because the the satisfaction and the boost that you'll get out of giving back to someone, whether it's, you know, just going and volunteering at a souped kitchen for two hours or you know, whatever it is, it can really give you a boost and just remind you.
• 18:02
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And even going yesterday morning to pack these bags, seeing all those people there at 7 a.m.
• 18:07
  Jonelle Colabufalo: yesterday morning, it was four degrees, they were in a shed packing these bags, but it just reminds you of the good that there is in the world.
• 18:15
  Jonelle Colabufalo: You know, sometimes we can get really caught up in all the terrible things that are happening in this world, and and just, you know, being part of something like that and going and giving back can really make a difference to people, and just and and it's about that connection.
• 18:31
  Jonelle Colabufalo: I just think this world is really lacking that connection piece, and I just think that human beings absolutely need that.
• 18:37
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Like I just think that's a vital, you know, there's sleep, food, all of that sort of thing.
• 18:41
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I just think connection, because with it out at, you know, loneliness is a real problem.
• 18:46
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So if I can help build community and connection, then that's a big part of my why in doing all of this as well.
• 18:54
  Jaclyn Strominger: That it no, it's huge.
• 18:55
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, connection and and being in touch with people, human contact is so important for each and every one of us, it's a huge part of, you know, it's when you know, it's you can't stay great in solitary confinement.
• 19:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah, and I think it does translate obviously into business as well.
• 19:16
  Jonelle Colabufalo: You know, if an organization from the top down can have a real focus on, you know, obviously the employees are delivering the work, but what can we give to them?
• 19:26
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And that, you know, creates obviously all the things that we know about creates loyal employee loyalty and all of that sort of thing to the organization.
• 19:33
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But if you can develop them and, you know, organizations who do do charity giving days where the staff go and volunteer, I'm sure that's probably a thing in America as it is in Australia.
• 19:43
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But, you know, if you can look at continuing to develop your staff, and it might not be sending them training in exactly their job, it might be looking more broadly about what are some skills that we can develop in these people, you know, the softer skills and the more human skills and look at that, that sort of thing.
• 20:02
  Jonelle Colabufalo: I think that and that builds connection in the team as well when you're doing stuff like that.
• 20:06
  Jaclyn Strominger: So I think that's really I think it's so important to have that type of connection and to because it gets people out of, you know, when a company does have a almost like you know, a give back day, a charity day where the whole where the whole company goes in and does something, you know, together and you're just you're out of your, you know, your your work mode, and it's not about somebody's position or title, it's just about you're all you're all equal.
• 20:32
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, you're always all equal, but yeah, people don't always think of it that way.
• 20:36
  Jaclyn Strominger: And when you're you know, digging or hitting a hammer get your fingers wet and dirty, whatever, you know.
• 20:46
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And it's also like those staff might have never done something like that before, and they and you know, for someone to realize, oh my gosh, I did that today, like, you know, something that they normally wouldn't have done, just the the buzz that that gives to people is really positive as well.
• 21:03
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah, no, that that is.
• 21:04
  Jaclyn Strominger: So what is your, you know, what's the long-range plan that you have, you know, for the foundation?
• 21:10
  Jaclyn Strominger: Like, where do you see it going?
• 21:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Look, I hope that it just continues to go as it has.
• 21:16
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I think the longer I go, the more focus I have on our community.
• 21:22
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Like I talk about the JDF community all the time.
• 21:25
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I think that's how it will stay sustainable because we, you know, we started off with three of us around a table, and now we have sort of about 80 regular volunteers who we can call upon.
• 21:36
  Jonelle Colabufalo: I have, you know, it used to be my best friend and I organizing every event, literally like packing bags for the walk and trying to register people.
• 21:46
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And and now I have a team of people.
• 21:48
  Jonelle Colabufalo: I mean, now we have a board that helps to run it as well.
• 21:50
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But now I have a team of people.
• 21:52
  Jonelle Colabufalo: None of them, like there is no payroll in our organization.
• 21:55
  Jonelle Colabufalo: It is all voluntary.
• 21:56
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But, you know, we have an event coming up in a few weeks and I I have a group who are organizing all the finer details and then they just come back to us to say, what do you think about this?
• 22:07
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And so it's giving them ownership and they're getting event management experience and all of that sort of thing.
• 22:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So it's growing in terms of people who just want to help and be part of it as well.
• 22:18
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So yeah, it's it's not just about me and you know, a tiny team of us trying to continue this thing because that will eventually end up in burnout.
• 22:29
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Like I was really conscious of that.
• 22:30
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So now we're we're bringing people in and we can utilize the skills in our organization.
• 22:35
  Jonelle Colabufalo: You know, we have people with marketing skills who are helping with all of that.
• 22:38
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And yeah, so I yeah, hope that we'll continue to be able to build it and grow it and fund more projects because the wish list of organizations is is growing.
• 22:49
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I guess we've kind of gone against the trend over the last five years or so where you know donor support, obviously, cost of living's gone up, donor support's come down, actually, volunteer rates fell quite dramatically.
• 23:03
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But for us, we've seen the opposite.
• 23:05
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So we must be doing something right.
• 23:09
  Jaclyn Strominger: But you just something that I think is interesting.
• 23:11
  Jaclyn Strominger: You don't have a payroll.
• 23:12
  Jonelle Colabufalo: No.
• 23:13
  Jaclyn Strominger: No.
• 23:14
  Jonelle Colabufalo: This is often.
• 23:15
  Jonelle Colabufalo: I'm not sure.
• 23:16
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Like, obviously, eventually that may change, but I want to keep it that way as long as I can because a big issue that a lot of people have with not-for-profits is how much of my money is going to admin and employee expenses and all of that sort of thing.
• 23:32
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And we can say, you know, you're donating to us and we're not spending any of that on employee on employee costs.
• 23:40
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I realize like charities can't run, most of them can't run the way that we've been able to.
• 23:45
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But yeah, as long as as long as I can, I'll hold off on that.
• 23:50
  Jaclyn Strominger: Right.
• 23:50
  Jaclyn Strominger: No, but that's huge.
• 23:51
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, it's a huge, you know, you always look at that number.
• 23:54
  Jaclyn Strominger: You always want to see like what percentage of my donation is either going to the charity that I'm trying to support or the organization.
• 24:04
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, I can tell you stories, but whatever.
• 24:08
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yes, there's plenty of them.
• 24:10
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Um, yeah, yeah.
• 24:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But I just yeah, want to keep that, yeah, that focus on as long as we can.
• 24:19
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I guess it's because we're very heartled.
• 24:21
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So people want to give and they want to give their time and and that sort of thing to help us continue the good work that we're doing.
• 24:28
  Jaclyn Strominger: So but that also becomes sort of part of the mission, which is, you know, and for lack of a better word, like the selling point of it, which is, you know, help help us keep it payroll-free in a sense, right?
• 24:42
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, your your your contribution volunteering is going to help us, you know, and people can volunteer, you know, can donate some of the the goods.
• 24:54
  Jaclyn Strominger: Like, you know, they might donate, you might get a company to donate the paper that whatever you need to have to print something on, like all of that being donation taking, you know, you can sort of check the box of all the things that you need for a donation that money would normally pay for, but if you're getting it as in kind, absolutely huge.
• 25:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah, yeah.
• 25:13
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And we have a supporter that's been pretty much here from the start who covers all those types of, you know, stationery and and those sort of expenses that, you know, still need to be paid for.
• 25:27
  Jonelle Colabufalo: But so they just kind of cover that so that all of our other donors are directly contributing to the projects that we're funding.
• 25:33
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah.
• 25:34
  Jaclyn Strominger: That is really fantastic.
• 25:36
  Jaclyn Strominger: Oh my god, I think it's absolutely I think what you're doing is truly remarkable.
• 25:40
  Jaclyn Strominger: And it's it's so beautiful that you took, you know, something that's sad.
• 25:44
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, and and and you know, the condolences through the loss of your brother, because that's huge, but you've turned something into something great.
• 25:55
  Jaclyn Strominger: And it's not just a legacy for him, it's a legacy for you and your family.
• 25:59
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Oh, absolutely.
• 26:00
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And I love I like I have four children.
• 26:02
  Jonelle Colabufalo: My second was 11 days old when I lost my brother, and my eldest was two.
• 26:06
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So obviously they don't remember him physically, but he's such a big part of our family and our daily life, and it's because of things like the foundation.
• 26:17
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Like they love to get involved now.
• 26:18
  Jonelle Colabufalo: You know, my eldest is 15 now, so they're at that age where they can help with things and events and and they can invite their friend, you know, we've got the next generation coming to events and things now, because they've got all of their friends coming and getting involved.
• 26:32
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So they can talk about their uncle through all of this and have a really positive relationship with him through the foundation, which is amazing.
• 26:42
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah.
• 26:43
  Jaclyn Strominger: That is truly, truly remarkable.
• 26:46
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, listeners, there is so much good that you can do.
• 26:49
  Jaclyn Strominger: You just have to put, you know, it's it's all about, you know, what Jonelle is saying is you're putting your heart behind something, and your mission has to be, it's not really about it's, I mean, it is about the why, but it's purpose-driven mission as to what you're doing.
• 27:05
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, and that's helping you have unstoppable success, which is true with your foundation, which is like kudos to you.
• 27:11
  Jaclyn Strominger: I think it's absolutely great, absolutely fantastic.
• 27:14
  Jaclyn Strominger: So tell our listeners how they can connect with you, maybe even make a donation to the foundation to contribute to what what you're doing, because it is you are you are making a difference and a great impact on the world.
• 27:26
  Jonelle Colabufalo: Yeah.
• 27:27
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So if they just look up the Jared Dunscombe Foundation.
• 27:29
  Jonelle Colabufalo: our website is www.jdf.org.au.
• 27:33
  Jonelle Colabufalo: We're on social media and that sort of thing.
• 27:36
  Jonelle Colabufalo: So yeah.
• 27:37
  Jonelle Colabufalo: And if any of the listeners are in Victoria, Australia, they can come and come to our event support.
• 27:43
  Jaclyn Strominger: We do have listeners that are down in Victoria.
• 27:46
  Jaclyn Strominger: We have we do have them.
• 27:47
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, listeners, please do me a favor, connect with you now.
• 27:50
  Jaclyn Strominger: I'm gonna put the links into the show notes, but do connect with her because this, you know, really what she is doing, it's you know, it is creating a lasting legacy, but it's also creating an impact and helping other people understand, you know, the impact that one decision and one choice can make, like what the impact that it has, a good, bad, a good one or a bad one.
• 28:14
  Jaclyn Strominger: So please do me a favor and reach out and connect with her.
• 28:17
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• 28:20
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• 28:23
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• 28:27
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• 29:02
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• 29:09
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