November 6, 2025 • 38 mins
John Massey and a couple of his friends came together and created a program called Zuzu's Petals. Born out of a great love of Christmas and how each of them were impacted by Chrfistmas when they were young, this non-profit takes care of families that cannot afford to have a Christmas, and they do it in a very unique way.
John, Mak and Dan love Christmas so much, they created a way to share it and help local families. John joins us this year in a heartwarming show that you really need to hear.
To help them visit: https://zuzus-petals.org/ Or, call John at 816-977-1955
And if you need help or have something to share, contact me Cary Hall, America's Healthcare Advocate at https://www.americashealthcareadvocate.com/contact-us A
nd let me know what's on your mind, issues you are dealing with, or other health, healthcare, and health insurance questions and concerns.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:13):
Kind of awkwardly trying to pull awaybecause, I mean,
I don't know what to do with myself,
and he just would not let go of my handand eventually did.
And we left.
And I mean, man, the scenein that car afterwards was.
I don't think people really realize,you know,
what these things do for peoplethat have nothing.
(00:33):
And I mean, those kidsprobably in the foster care system now,
but they they had one day,
you know, just one day where they didn'thave to worry about anything.
And, oh.
And now America's Healthcare Advocate,Cary Hall.
Hello, America.
Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocateshow broadcasting coast
(00:55):
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Anywhere in the country, she can help you.She is happy to do so.
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So in studio today with me, John Massey
is the presidentand one of the founders of Zuzu's Petals.
This is a charity,
(02:42):
and we've been doing this show every yearfor, what, five years?
Just about. Yeah, I think I think so.
Fifth one now
these are this is a group of young menthat I just think are a tribute
to what young men in this countryshould be kind of like Charlie Kirk,
if you will, from the standpointof who they are, what they do.
You know,
they're Christian men
(03:02):
in the Catholic faith, and they createdthis whole thing by themselves
because they saw a need out therefor families at Christmas
who didn't have the moneyor the wherewithal to provide Christmas
for their children.So let's just go right to this.
This is the fifth yearwe've been doing this.
I always enjoy hearing how many kidsgot served last year and how this year.
(03:23):
Let's just do that first,because I love hearing this every year
because it just keeps growingexponentially. Yes, sir.
Well, that was a heck of an introduction.
I'm very grateful. It’s fact.
Yeah.
So last yearwe were able to help 208 kids,
which came to 71 whole families service.
So we try to approach our servicesas we're providing this to a family
(03:45):
rather than an individual child,
because we believe that familyis the foundation of society.
Right.
And that's what we're trying to bring,bring joy and happiness to at that
very important time of year, when wantI think is most, most keenly felt.
So that was a record for us.
And then we're out there to break it againthis year. We've already got,
(04:05):
I believe it's
230 kids in the hopperat the moment, and it's October,
so that number is just going to keep onclimbing and climbing.
Especially after this show airs.
Yeah. Well yeah, absolutely.
So well I mean we're excited.
We're beyond grateful.
We've been very blessed with howthe community has gotten behind it so far,
and we can't wait to see where it goesevery year.
(04:26):
Just gets a little more serious.
And yeah,I mean, we're along for the ride for sure.
So tell the audience what you do,because this is the part that I think
is really quite amazing.
What they do is very, very different.
It's like turnkey Christmas.
It's really quite remarkable.
So describewhat do you do for these families.
Absolutely.
So our broad goal is to enable familiesto create core memories
(04:51):
that they get to take with themfor the rest of their life.
And for me, Christmas was alwaysthe happiest time of year for me.
I mean, all of my happiest memoriesI have as a kid.
I'm one of seven kids
where all on Christmas Day,
and what we want to do is use Christmasas a vehicle to help these families
that are really struggling,really struggling.
(05:11):
It's some, some really tough timesof being in this experience out there.
Use Christmas as a vehicle to createsome memories that they can hold on to.
And how we do that is throughfour major services.
And every family receives all four.
So the first service is almost likea Make-A-Wish for Christmas gifts.
(05:32):
So what we do is when families approachus, they say, you know, I'm in need.
I'm in suchand such a financial situation.
We will we'll ask them in the interviewsthat we have with all the families,
you know, if this was your one opportunityto get your kids
whatever you wanted to get them,what would that be?
And then we'll step in, you know,within the realms of what's reasonable.
(05:53):
And we'll we'll. They’renot going to get a new car.
Right, right. Right, right.As much as we'd love to get the car.
Yeah, yeah.
But we’ll fulfill those requests.
Next,because once again, we're about family.
We we're trying to think of ways
to bring the family together,you know, later on on Christmas Day.
And so we're like, well,
all of my memories with my familywere all around Christmas dinner.
(06:14):
And so we step inand we provide them a dinner
that they can come, come togetheras a family and enjoy.
So that is courtesy of Brancato’s.
Brancato’s Catering here in Kansas Cityand wonderful, amazing company.
Yeah, we couldn't be more gratefulfor their support.
And so every family gets, you know,Christmas dinner with all the fixin's
I get turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy,sweet potato pie, cranberry sauce.
(06:37):
Like everything you ever hadon Christmas Day as a family,
these families are going to get.
And that's brought to their doorready to eat.
And by the way, Brancato’s
are the folks that own the BrassOnion restaurant over on 135th.
And I urge you, if you want to havea great meal, go in there.
But these people do so muchin this community nobody hears about.
(06:58):
And they do this for Zuzu’s Petalsand you know, having, beeing able
to provide the entire mealand walk into the door is pretty special.
Yeah.
And so in addition to that,
what we also dois provide decorations for the family.
So I mean just little thingsthat you don't you
I mean I'msure we all take for granted here.
(07:19):
A lot of these familiesdon't have a Christmas tree you know.
And so we get an a Christmas tree,we get them decorations for the tree
so that they can,
you know, the mom and the kids and dad,you know, can hang around the tree
decorated, you know, listen to someChristmas music while they're doing it.
And then the fourth part of the service,
which is personallymy favorite, is Santa's Workshop.
So we rent out a house every year
(07:42):
and we decorate it to the nth degree.
We hire well,we don't hire a Santa Claus, Santa
actually comes down from the North Polewith us for a day.
And then all of the familiesget to bring in their kids
to spend 30 minutes with Santa Claus.
And I mean, Mrs.
Santa Claus is there as well, so she'sthe one that actually greets them.
(08:04):
We have all sorts of activities forthe families, like roasting marshmallows.
They have hot chocolate.
They have one on one meetings with Santawhere Santa is like, now,
you know, I know that you were stickinggum and Jane's hair last week.
Like, why are we doing that?Come on, we got to get beyond this.
If you want anything for Christmasand they just get to have one magical
(08:25):
like experience
where Santa is talking to themand he knows who they are and he knows,
you know, if they’ve been good or badthis year and, it's just so much fun.
It it is so much fun.
And so that that's what we try to bringfamilies is just one, one experience,
you know, through these serviceswhere no matter how hard life
(08:46):
gets for them,
and a lot of the time it's heartbreakingwhat these families are going through
that they just get to hold onto and say,there is good in the world
that we got to experience. Yeah, it is.
And you know, I the first time
I heard about these guys, I was like,this is really quite remarkable.
And every year I've done this show,they've added things, they've improved it.
(09:07):
They've served more families.
You know, they'll they'llthey'll blow past 250 kids this year.
I can almost guarantee it.
For people would have,
would have no Christmasif they didn't do what they're doing.
So let's give out the websiteso that if folks want to get involved
and they want to donate,they can donate money.
There are other things they can donate.
(09:28):
So let's give out the websiteand then the phone number.
Absolutely.
So our website is zuzus-petals.org.
That's zuzus-petals.org.
Some of the ways you can support us is oneI mean donations are the obvious one.
You know these services cost money.
They're expensive,but you know that we're trying to create
(09:51):
very unique experiencesfor these families.
So please donate.
We also take hard donationslike gifts, decorations.
So please send those to us.
You can attend our annual gala
and then also support us by buyingsome of our merch.
Our Christmas sweaterhas officially been released for the year
(10:11):
and any of our additionalmerch’s So is their hat.
So these are all things you can do.
I will going to be right backafter break with you.
We'll talk about this gala.What's involved.
Why you might want to go and get involved.
You're listening to America'sHealthcare Advocate broadcasting
here on the HIA Radio Network coastto coast across the USA.
Stay there.
We're going to be right back with more.
(10:42):
Welcome back.
You're listening to America'sHealth Care Big show Broadcasting coast
to coast across the USA here on the HIARadio Network.
I want to give a little shout out todayto KGOZ 101.7, in Trenton
and Gallatin, Missouri.
I think it's our oldestaffiliate in the system.
They have been with us since we startedthis show, Dave tells me 20 years ago.
(11:05):
So I've kind of lost track,but we want to thank those folks up there.
They do a wonderful jobfor having us on the air.
All the years that were up there.
We were on the air Saturday.
I think it's around 8or 9:00 there on KGOZ 101.7.
All right.
So let's let's talka little bit about this Gala story.
Because this happens every year.
(11:25):
Country club Christian, it's on December12th this year.
Talk about the timeand what's going to happen.
Absolutely.
So this is by far with all of the calendarevents that I have every year.
This is my favorite.
So Country Club Christian church,you know that
beautiful gothic gorgeous homechurch on Ward Parkway.
We rent that out.
(11:46):
And then starting at 5:30pmwe have a Christmas party.
There's a silent auction with all of thisawesome Chiefs memorabilia.
You graciously donated some last year,which.
We’ll donate more this year.And thank you.
Thank youraised us some really great money.
There's live music during the party,and it's just a really wonderful
(12:06):
sort of festive environment
where a bunch of people that don't knoweach other are hanging out,
you know, which I think is somethingthat we probably need nowadays,
you know, and, and.
Doing something that everybody can enjoyand get their arms around
and it's something good.Absolutely, absolutely.
So people that have never metbefore are talking, making connections.
And then at 7:00pmeveryone adjourns into the main hall
(12:29):
where you will
I mean, if you are even remotelyinto Christmas music
at all, it is the best thingyou will ever experience.
We have a choir of almost 50 members.
There's a a full orchestra and we justwe play music.
We tell stories.
Christmas storiesthat you would have heard growing up
(12:49):
that we, you know, dramatize a little bit.
But to some musicit is everything you could want to do.
It’s a theater productionis what it really is.
Yeah. Yeah. Basically. Yeah.
So I mean, bring your family.
It's a, it's a wonderful family event
and you know, as,as to give the expression but
as warm and fuzzy as you could ever hopea Christmas event to be.
How do they sign up for that.
(13:10):
How do they find out about that.
So you can go to our websiteat zeus-pedals.org like we said before,
and you can purchase ticketsthrough our website.
There are family packagesbecause I know when you try
and bring your whole family to something,things can get a little expensive.
But please, you know, come and just
help us get the word out there for whatwe're trying to do.
(13:33):
In the Kansas City community.
Yeah, it's they really make a difference.
It's really quite remarkable what they do.
And so let's talk a little bit aboutif you would like to donate at Christmas
time to help these young menput these packages together that include,
you know, the giftsthe kids get to pick, the food, the trees,
(13:54):
all of the
decorations, and then the different eventsthey put on for the kids and the family.
So let's just talk about that. Donate.
Well, how do they do thatwhen they go to the website.
So there is a donate page on the website.
We are a 501C3.
So we are completely tax deductible.
And then what I'll also say iswe don't have any paid employees.
So all of the all volunteers correct.
(14:17):
Correct.
There may be a time in the futurewhen we get so big
that we have to hire paid employees,but for right now,
all of the money that you donatewill go directly to the families.
And we can guarantee that.
And then as far as like hard donations.
So if you've got a Christmas treethat you don't use anymore,
or you've got some giftsthat you'd like to donate,
we have a contact us page on
(14:39):
our website as well where you can shoot usan email, you know, give me a text.
We'll be giving out my phone number here,so please.
I mean,
I know that sounds a little bit crazy,but my my cell phone number out there.
But that's how passionate we areabout this reach out to us
and we would be gratefulfor anything that you're able to donate.
I mean, I was working a pop up eventjust the other week, and this lady writes
(15:01):
children's books,
and she asked if we'd like to takesome of their children's books
that she's written.
And we said, heck yes,you know, send them on over.
So anything that anyone's able to give.
Maybe you'd be thinking, well,
I've got this or I've got that,or I got access to this or that,
but they're probably not going to wantthat.
Don't do that. Okay.
Go up on the on the websiteif you want to do it that way.
(15:21):
zeus-pedals.org.
Or you can call John.
Very simply he'sgoing to give his phone out here.
(816) 977-1955.
(816) 977-1955.
If you've got something that you want todonate, I'm sure they'd love to have it.
(15:43):
Give them a call or go online.
If you want to donate,you can certainly do that.
And you know that this gala isis for the family.
And if you want, obviously,if you're an empty nester or whatever,
and you just want to enjoy the memoriesor Christmas or what it's all about.
Country Club Christianis an absolutely gorgeous church.
It's a big church, holds a lot of people.
(16:04):
So that's December 12th.
What a great wayto start the Christmas holiday.
You know,
maybe you go to this church or that churchand they have a Christmas concert.
Whatever.
It's not going to be quite likethis is going to be, hey, yeah, this.
They've got a full symphony, a huge choir.
It's like it's a theater production.
It really is what it is.
And it's well worth,
you know, taking your family toand just enjoying and really kind of set
(16:26):
the tone for the season.
So I absolutely urge you if,
if you have an opportunityto go to that gala, enjoy it and
really get in the spirit of Christmasonce again, that website is
zeus-pedals.org, zeus-pedals.org
or (816) 977-1955.
You know, when we come back to the break,I'm going to ask John.
(16:47):
We do this every year.
To tell a couple of stories aboutbecause you
you listen to this and you,you know, you're yeah, you know people
when you actually hearwhat happens to people in this situation,
you know what it means to them,what it's like when they open the door.
And there's John and his peoplestanding there with the meal.
(17:07):
You know how they get thehow they get the gifts.
We'll talk about that in a minute.How they do the gifts.
So the kids don't know that they'regetting the gifts from Zuzu’s Petals.
They think they're comingfrom the parents.
This thing is so well done and so wellorganized, it’s just very, very different
in the way they do.
It's all, as John, to tellsome of those stories when we come back
and we can personalize this a little bitand let you actually understand,
(17:29):
you know what they do.
They definitely need donations.
They're going to do,they think 70 families this year.
I have a funny feeling
they're going to do over 90 this yearthe way things are looking.
So they're gonna need money,they're going to need money
and they're going to need giftsand all of that.
So if you want to get involvedonce again, 816
is if you want to call John (816) 977-1955or zeus-pedals.org.
(17:52):
Go up on the website.
There's a contact them pagethey'll be happy to reach out to you.
If you've got somethingyou want to talk about,
maybe you've got somethingyou want to donate and
you don'tknow whether they're going to want or not.
What column okay.
Or go up on the websiteand send them a quick email.
They'll get right back to you.They're very good about this.
They know exactly what they're doingand be happy to do it.
So when we come back from the break,
(18:13):
we're going to get intosome of these personal stories.
I think you're going to enjoy this,
and it'll give you some insightinto what you know, what they do
and what a differencethey can make and why.
This is really in my mind, a tributeto these young men and what they've
created out of whole cloth,because literally they created this thing.
I remember the first year I did this,I think they did, what,
20 or 30 families first year?
(18:34):
okay, there you go.
21 families, first year.
And now we are at 70 last year.
And as I said, I'msure they're going to break 90 this year.
So once again the website zuzus-petals.orgif you want to learn more.
And by the way,
you know you want to tell somebodyabout this show or have them listen to,
hey, maybe we should get involved.Maybe your company should get involved.
Maybe our church should get involved upto the website
(18:55):
Americas HealthcareAdvocate.com.
Or to our YouTube page.
Same thing.
America's Healthcare Advocate,the show's up there.
Listen to it.
Or one of the 16 podcast platforms.
We'll be right back after the break.
You're listening to America'sHealthcare Advocate broadcasting
here on the HD radio network Coastto Coast Cross, USA.
We'll be right back after the break.
(19:27):
Welcome back.
You're listening to America's HealthcareAdvocate show, broadcasting coast
to coast across the USA here on the HIAradio network.
Do you want to find out more about us?Go to the website
AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.comin studio with me today.
John Massey.
He's the presidentand one of the founders of Zuzu's Petals.
This group of amazing young men
who is the oldest,the oldest guy in your group, 35.
(19:50):
31 actually..
He’s about
to marry my sister, FYI.
Lord.
Okay, but 31 years old. Okay.
And they started this thing from scratchon their own.
It's grown every year. It's remarkablewhat they've done.
And every year we do this show for them,because it's the least we can do
for the people that they help.
And there are a lot of people out thereneed help, and the family's fortunate
(20:11):
enough to be able to get help from Zuzu’sPetals and make the full Christmas.
They don't have to do anything.It's all done.
From food to giftsto a Christmas tree to ornaments.
It's all there. Okay?
Along with, you know, a Santa'shouse for them go and meet Santa.
I mean, this thing is remarkable,
what they've doneand how they've put it together.
And I urge you to get involvedif you really want to do something,
(20:33):
you know, you see these large charitiesand that's great.
But if you want to reach out,and as they say, touch someone.
Here's a chance, okay,to reach out and touch someone
instead of 70 families this yearit will probably be like 90.
And I'm predicting
they're going to have 250, 260 kidsby the time they get done with this thing.
So the website, zuzus-petals.org.
(20:57):
You can get Ahold of Johnif you want to get involved.
Maybe your church,your civic organization,
maybe you personally, I don't know.
Maybe you're maybe your workplace. Maybe.
Maybe you guys would like to do somethingfor Christmas Day think,
What could we do?
Well, this is something you could dothat would make a big difference.
Give John a call (816) 977-1955.
(816) 977-1955.
(21:19):
So every year I ask you to do this,
there's one
particular onethat I want you to do this year where you
showed up at this woman's house.
She didn't have anything.
She was the singlemom had nothing for these kids.
And you showed up at the housefor Christmas.
You just tell that story
because that story from start to finishis one of my favorite stories.
(21:40):
Yeah, I think it's interestingbecause when we started,
I don't think we quite realized,you know, the depth of need
and just how how rough it is out therefor some families.
I mean, the storythat you're talking about.
It was actuallyit was one of our first deliveries.
It was on our first day of deliveries.
(22:02):
Yeah.
And I'd been in communicationwith this lady for a few weeks.
You know, we like ran the interviewwith her in very, very nice and very up
beat.
Very, very gratefulfor what we were going to do for her.
And we, calledher when we were on our way to her house,
letting her know that we'll be therein ten, 15 minutes, whatever it was.
(22:23):
And she said, awesome.
I just knock on the door when you get hereand we'll let you in.
So we pull up in what's, you know,obviously a pretty rough neighborhood.
Most of these places that we go,
you know, more difficult neighborhood.
Yeah.
They're they're not living in the suburbsand in million dollar homes.
No, no, exactly.
(22:45):
And so we go up, we knock on the door,
we make sure the address is correct,we knock on the door,
and I know we're probably waiting20 or 30 seconds or so,
and a young guy comes up
to, the door, and it's one of her kids.
And right off the bat,
what kind of thinkingwill this defeats a lot of the purpose.
You're not supposed to be here.
Yeah, but then, what we found outshortly after is we walked in,
(23:10):
and the lady that I'd been communicatingwith was actually
lying in a bed in the living room,
and she was in hospice, so she did not.
Unfortunately, she's no longer with us,
and she didn't
have very long to live at that point.
And it was likeall she wanted was to just give her boys,
(23:32):
her two boys that were therejust one Christmas before she left.
And that, I mean, that was a lotto take in when we this was my first day.
We had no idea what to expectwhen we're going into these houses
and we go in, you know, we try andbring some cheer in there as well.
So, you know, we're all, yeah,we're really happy.
Give her a hug and her two boys
(23:56):
sitting over on the couch,which once again is not ideal,
but in this scenario, it is what it is.
And so we we make the delivery,we say Merry Christmas, give her a hug.
And I go over and I say, wish her boysMerry Christmas as well.
From memory their ages were 14 and nine.
Okay.
And I shake the hand of the 14 year oldand he was very gracious.
(24:19):
And then I goand I shake the hand of the 19 year old
and I say, hey bud, Merry Christmas.
9 or 19? Nine, I'm sorry. Yeah. Nine.
And I go shake his hand.
I say, hey, like Merry Christmas.
Hope you guys,I hope we're able to step in there for you
and he he's staring right into my eyes
and he will not let go of my hand.
(24:42):
And there was this very kind of awkward,
uncomfortable 10 to 15 seconds there where
I'm kind of awkwardlytrying to pull away because, I mean,
I don't know what to do with myself,
and he just would not let go of my handand eventually did.
And we left.
And I mean, man, the scene in that carafterwards was,
(25:03):
is I don't think people really realize,
you know, what these things do for peoplethat have nothing.
And I mean, those kidsprobably in the foster care system now,
but they they had one day,
you know, just one day where they didn'thave to worry about anything.
And, you know, that.
(25:23):
Was the memory with their momthat you created that they'll never lose.
Yeah.
And that that's what I mean
by illustrating what they doand why it's so very, very different.
You so but that particularyou provided food, the tree. Yes.
And the whole thing. The whole thing.
The whole thing.
The whole thing. And it was.
(25:45):
Yeah.
I mean that anyway, I think it was kind offitting and obviously like divine
intervention that that was the first onethat we did or one of the first ones,
because then you when youwhen you realize,
I think the wants, that's out there,I mean, it makes everything else easy.
You know, there was another one last year
where the, the
(26:06):
parents came to Santas workshop
with the kids with the kidsso the kids were with Santa.
And we were. Like,that's where you get the.
So when the parents,you separate kids from the parents
and then you give the gift, right? Right.
So they got put them in the car.The kids never see them. Correct.
Which is for the audiencethat doesn't know it.
That's part of the point is to letthe parents be the heroes in this.
(26:26):
Right now, we're not riding in on a ona white horse saying like, you know, yeah.
Exactly.
Right.
Well, I mean, metaphorically not,
yeah.
But yeah,we want the parents to participate
in this,like we want them to share in the joy.
We want them to bethe ones that wake up on Christmas morning
and see the joy in their their kids eyes.
So what happened?
(26:47):
So where, we’rewere working with the parents,
the kids are with Santa, we’re,taking the gifts to the car.
And this dad,
really, really nice guy.
He's telling me how, you know,he lost his job, and,
you know, he's he's never had to usea service like this before.
And after we, you know,we take him through, we show him
(27:09):
all of the items, make sure that that iswhat that he wanted.
He starts crying.
You know, this is a grown man, you know?
Then it just startsgetting very emotional.
And where there are more like,hey, like, no worries.
You know, we’re,we all get down on our luck sometimes.
I mean, that's one of the reasonsI wanted to do this is my family
went through tough timeswhen when I was a kid
(27:31):
and he just said, I promise you,he looked at me and he said, I promise
you, you know, when things improve for me,I'm going to do this for somebody else.
And I was like, well then, man,I mean, God bless you.
You know, like what?
What else do you say to that?
But, you know, you tip your cap to himwish him a merry Christmas.
You know, that's the thing.
It's I think a lot of people
don't realize a lot of folks out thereliving paycheck to paycheck.
(27:54):
They miss a couple of paychecks.
They're on the street.
Okay.
I mean, it's rough and that for folksin that particular situation.
So now you multiply that by Christmas.
Well, if they've got enough money for rentwherever they're living, okay.
And groceries, they probably don'thave the money for gifts.
And, and,and a really nice Christmas dinner
(28:15):
and all the things that come with it.
But that's what these folks do.
That's why I asked John every year to tella couple of these stories, because,
again, there's lots of Christmas
charities out there in this town,you know, all over the place.
But if you really want to just reach outis, you know,
there was an old commercial,I forget who it was and touch someone.
(28:38):
This is a way to do it, okay?
This is a way where you can walkin, make a donation, get involved.
Go to the gala on December 12th.
The Country ClubChristian, great opportunity.
Have a great time.
You bring your whole family, bring your,if your a grandparent, bring grandkids.
Have a great timeand get in the mood for Christmas.
But at the same timerealize what you're doing here.
(29:00):
You're really helpingsome people that need help.
The website, zuzus-petals.org.
zuzus-petals.org.
The phone number (816) 977-1955.
(816) 977-1955.
Stay tuned.We'll be right back after the break.
You're listening to America's
Healthcare Advocate Broadcastinghere on the HIA Radio Network.
(29:20):
Once again,that website is zuzus-pedals.org.
You want to call John directlyand get involved?
(816) 977-1955. We'll be right back.
Stay there.
Welcome back.
You're listening to America's HealthcareAdvocate show, broadcasting coast to coast
(29:42):
across the USA here on the HIARadio Network.
You can find out more about us,go on to the website or up on the podcast
channels, or 16 of them,or once again on the YouTube channel.
So this particular show.
We're here talking to the folks and Zuzu'sPetals.
John Massey,
president and founder of Zuzu’sPetals, along with the other gentleman
that work with him.
(30:02):
If your company wants to do somethingthis year,
it will make a differencewhere you literally
are goingto make a difference to a family.
This might be the place to do it.
It's zuzus-petals.org, zuzus-petals.org
or (816) 977-1955.
If you want to call John, he’llcome out and talk to you.
Maybe you want to have come and talk
to the HR director,the CEO, whatever the case may be,
(30:26):
he’d be happy to have a chat with you,so feel free to get Ahold of him.
They've got a huge gala coming up onDecember 12th at Country Club Christian.
It’s atheater Production is what it really is.
Okay, you've got a full orchestra,a 50 member choir.
It's just a wonderful time, food,a great time for people to get together.
And that church is beautifulup on Ward Parkway.
(30:47):
So that's December 12th.What time is that?
Party starts at 530PMand then the concert starts at 730PM.
Okay, so 530PM it startsand then and the concert is at 730PM.
So it's going to be a great time.
All right. So what is it.
So this is Dave's ideaand we've done this before.
How did all this just start.
You know were there are five of youwhen you originally started or four?
(31:09):
It was actually just three of us.
One of the three of you.
And you belong to Saint Vincent'sCatholic Church.
That's how you all know each other?Yep. Okay.
And then one day. What?
This just like you sit arounddrinking beer and trying to figure.
Yeah, it does.
It started a long time ago, actually.
So Christmas has always been.
I've just had. Your favorite holiday.
(31:31):
Well or it my parents alwaysput such an intense amount of effort
into making that dayjust the most magical experience
any of my,my siblings could ever wish for.
And as I got older, you know,
I think I saw that not everyone had that.
And I also saw that you know,like I mentioned earlier
(31:54):
in the show that my family went throughsome tough times.
Yeah.
And I remember very specifically
my parents being so stressed outabout bringing Christmas.
Right?
Because times were tough,finances were tight.
And at the time I'm kind of thinking,you know, like what?
Like I I'm I'm fine, you know, like,I don't need a bike
(32:17):
or I don't need that,but I think as I got older,
what I realized was,is whether or not I needed it.
It's kind of irrelevant.
The point was, is that my parentswanted me to have something
that they were worried they weren'tgoing to be able to give to me.
So anyway, later on,I'm obviously from Australia.
I'm not I'm not from Kansas City,
but my mom's from Kansas City,which is how I ended up here.
(32:39):
And she's gotshe's got a massive, massive family.
I've got a lot of cousinsin the Kansas City area.
I got very close with my cousinDanny from out here who you've met.
He's been on the show on previous year,
and we were both kind of at a pointin our careers where we were trying
to figure out, you know, what it waswe wanted to do long term.
And I'd bounced around, trieda couple of different things.
(33:02):
And I remember being in a career interview
with, with a mentor of mine who asked mevery specifically, you know, like what?
Yeah. What are you passionate about?
Which I always hated that question,if I'm being honest,
because I'm like, well, I don't know.
I mean, football like.
I'm drinking beer. Yeah, exactly.
I'm very passionate about drinking beer.
(33:22):
What's that you're drinking?
So, I'm really good at drinking beer.
Yeah. Exactly, exactly.
And what my answer at the time,and this was, like,
supposed to be a serious interviewso I couldn't say this,
but my answer was Christmas.
I mean, it's the one thingthat I could think about work
on 365 days a year and never, everget sick of it.
(33:46):
I didn't say that in the interviewthat later that night
I was over Danny's houseand we were just having a glass of scotch,
and I was telling him about this,and we had a good laugh over,
you know, what I wanted to say,but I couldn't stay.
And that was followedby probably a 30 second silence.
And then there was this what if,
(34:07):
you know, like we bothhe grew up very similar to me.
So he's one of 11 kids.
And Christmas was always likea huge part of his life as well.
And so we were like, well,if you were to take the concept of,
say, Santa Claus and you were goingto try and make that real,
how would you do that?
(34:28):
And this is what we came up with.
So that's where that's why we started.
That is how it all started.
And I rememberI had started working on this website
on Wix.com, which I am the furthest thingfrom a developer that you will ever meet.
I know nothing about it, but I builtsomething that I was kind of proud of.
(34:48):
Honestly.
I worked on it for about six monthsand I was in my office at my day job.
And then Mak who you've also met.
That's the guy that's marryingmy little sister in a couple of months.
He was walking past my officeand I didn't really know him at the time.
I just knew he built websitesfor the company that I worked for,
and I pull him in and I was like,so we're about to launch this, you know,
(35:09):
could you take a look at it?And he's like, oh, yeah, sure.
And I show it to himand he's just kind of looking at it.
And within secondshe goes, I mean, what if I just built you
one, which Mak’s this super nice guy?
I later found out that that's Mak’s
way of saying this stinks,and you should not do this ever again.
Just let me do it for you.
And I was like, hey, okay.
(35:29):
And that's how he then became involved.
And so he built us a website.
And then it was Chiefs preseason football.
This is five years ago now.
4 or 5 years agowe were watching a really crappy game
and we launched it.
And then that year we ended upservicing 21 families, 52 kids.
(35:54):
I remember then the next yearit was 127 kids or 45 families.
Then last year it was
208 kids, 72 families.
And then this year, I mean, we've alreadygot 80 families in the hopper, you know,
and it's October, so like, that numberis going to grow and grow and grow.
And, you know, that's why we're here,
(36:14):
trying to let people know whatwe're trying to do.
And, you know,I do this show every year for a reason.
Obviously,
I've helped these guys every year.
I've made donations to them
to help them get this thing off the groundand do what it needs to do.
Their remarkable in what they do,they're passionate about it.
I think you can tell that if, again,as I said,
if you want to help somebody a specific.
(36:36):
So this is an opportunity whereyou can get involved with these folks
and know that there is a single familyout there
going to benefit from what you're doing,from the way you're helping them.
People that wouldn't have a Christmaswithout what they're doing.
Okay. Their remarkableyoung men. The website is
zuzus-petals.org.
If you want to call John once again,if your company wants to do something
(36:58):
or your church or your civic group,you want to do something.
(816) 977 1955
the big gala is December12th at Country Club Christian.
Starts at 5 or 530,but at 530 okay, at Country Club
Christian goes music in the theaterstart at seven.
Bring the whole family.
Kick your Christmas off
(37:18):
with real music and peoplethat really are going to enjoy Christmas.
This is your opportunity,so I urge you to take the time
to look into thisto see if you can help these folks
and make a difference out there for peoplethat really need a difference.
John Massey.
Thank you once again for coming in here.Thank you, Cary.
You can tell me other guys playing hooky,they better be here next year
(37:39):
I will I'll give them a good ribbing.
Yeah. You should okay.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, I leave youwith this thought from Albert Einstein.
The one who follows the crowd theyusually get no further than the crowd.
The one who walks alone is likely to findhimself in places no one has ever been.
Remember,friends is a funny thing about life.
If you refuse to accept anythingbut the very best, you most often get it.
(37:59):
Thank you for listening to America'sHealthcare Advocate Show,
broadcasting coastto coast across the USA.
Goodbye, America.
You. You.
Kind of awkwardly trying to pull awaybecause, I mean,
I don't know what to do with myself,
and he just would not let go of my handand eventually did.
And we left.
And I mean, man, the scenein that car afterwards was.
I don't think people really realize,you know,
what these things do for peoplethat have nothing.
(00:33):
And I mean, those kidsprobably in the foster care system now,
but they they had one day,
you know, just one day where they didn'thave to worry about anything.
And, oh.
And now America's Healthcare Advocate,Cary Hall.
Hello, America.
Welcome to America's Healthcare Advocateshow broadcasting coast
(00:55):
to coast across the USA here on the HIARadio Network.
You can find out more about usby going to our website,
AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.comand all of our podcast platforms.
There are 16 of them.
Our YouTube channel,
all of the all of our shows are postedup there for everybody to listen to.
After we do them,they are posted up on those sites.
(01:16):
Here's some news.
We're at 605,000 views thanks to Mr.
Dave Thiessen,our producer behind the cameras, and Mr.
Garner Cowdrey who records all these showshere in the studio at Cumulus.
And I couldn't believe itand didn't he told me, we're at 605,000.
That's a tribute to all of youwho listen to this show.
Go to the website,go to the podcast, go to YouTube.
(01:38):
Thank you.
We appreciate all of you out there
and really appreciate the opportunityto bring this show to you.
Or we think we hope,we educate and inform.
And that's the purpose of these shows.
If you are chronologically challengedor looking for an ACA Obamacare plan,
you need to give Carolee Steeleover at RPS Benefits by Design,
a call (877) 385-2224.
(01:58):
(877) 385-2224.
Anywhere in the country, she can help you.She is happy to do so.
Also, if you are an employerfacing one of these big
premium increasescoming through on your group plan
need talk to MariaAhlers at RPS Benefits by Design.
She's got some pretty amazing plansshe can offer you.
And here's the thing about hershe was a human resource director
for 15 years,so she knows both sides of the equation.
(02:22):
The side of the equation from the employerand employee standpoint
as well as the broker.
And she's got access someplace.
Other people don't have her urge youto call her at (877) 385-2224.
If you're getting one of those renewals.
So in studio today with me, John Massey
is the presidentand one of the founders of Zuzu's Petals.
This is a charity,
(02:42):
and we've been doing this show every yearfor, what, five years?
Just about. Yeah, I think I think so.
Fifth one now
these are this is a group of young menthat I just think are a tribute
to what young men in this countryshould be kind of like Charlie Kirk,
if you will, from the standpointof who they are, what they do.
You know,
they're Christian men
(03:02):
in the Catholic faith, and they createdthis whole thing by themselves
because they saw a need out therefor families at Christmas
who didn't have the moneyor the wherewithal to provide Christmas
for their children.So let's just go right to this.
This is the fifth yearwe've been doing this.
I always enjoy hearing how many kidsgot served last year and how this year.
(03:23):
Let's just do that first,because I love hearing this every year
because it just keeps growingexponentially. Yes, sir.
Well, that was a heck of an introduction.
I'm very grateful. It’s fact.
Yeah.
So last yearwe were able to help 208 kids,
which came to 71 whole families service.
So we try to approach our servicesas we're providing this to a family
(03:45):
rather than an individual child,
because we believe that familyis the foundation of society.
Right.
And that's what we're trying to bring,bring joy and happiness to at that
very important time of year, when wantI think is most, most keenly felt.
So that was a record for us.
And then we're out there to break it againthis year. We've already got,
(04:05):
I believe it's
230 kids in the hopperat the moment, and it's October,
so that number is just going to keep onclimbing and climbing.
Especially after this show airs.
Yeah. Well yeah, absolutely.
So well I mean we're excited.
We're beyond grateful.
We've been very blessed with howthe community has gotten behind it so far,
and we can't wait to see where it goesevery year.
(04:26):
Just gets a little more serious.
And yeah,I mean, we're along for the ride for sure.
So tell the audience what you do,because this is the part that I think
is really quite amazing.
What they do is very, very different.
It's like turnkey Christmas.
It's really quite remarkable.
So describewhat do you do for these families.
Absolutely.
So our broad goal is to enable familiesto create core memories
(04:51):
that they get to take with themfor the rest of their life.
And for me, Christmas was alwaysthe happiest time of year for me.
I mean, all of my happiest memoriesI have as a kid.
I'm one of seven kids
where all on Christmas Day,
and what we want to do is use Christmasas a vehicle to help these families
that are really struggling,really struggling.
(05:11):
It's some, some really tough timesof being in this experience out there.
Use Christmas as a vehicle to createsome memories that they can hold on to.
And how we do that is throughfour major services.
And every family receives all four.
So the first service is almost likea Make-A-Wish for Christmas gifts.
(05:32):
So what we do is when families approachus, they say, you know, I'm in need.
I'm in suchand such a financial situation.
We will we'll ask them in the interviewsthat we have with all the families,
you know, if this was your one opportunityto get your kids
whatever you wanted to get them,what would that be?
And then we'll step in, you know,within the realms of what's reasonable.
(05:53):
And we'll we'll. They’renot going to get a new car.
Right, right. Right, right.As much as we'd love to get the car.
Yeah, yeah.
But we’ll fulfill those requests.
Next,because once again, we're about family.
We we're trying to think of ways
to bring the family together,you know, later on on Christmas Day.
And so we're like, well,
all of my memories with my familywere all around Christmas dinner.
(06:14):
And so we step inand we provide them a dinner
that they can come, come togetheras a family and enjoy.
So that is courtesy of Brancato’s.
Brancato’s Catering here in Kansas Cityand wonderful, amazing company.
Yeah, we couldn't be more gratefulfor their support.
And so every family gets, you know,Christmas dinner with all the fixin's
I get turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy,sweet potato pie, cranberry sauce.
(06:37):
Like everything you ever hadon Christmas Day as a family,
these families are going to get.
And that's brought to their doorready to eat.
And by the way, Brancato’s
are the folks that own the BrassOnion restaurant over on 135th.
And I urge you, if you want to havea great meal, go in there.
But these people do so muchin this community nobody hears about.
(06:58):
And they do this for Zuzu’s Petalsand you know, having, beeing able
to provide the entire mealand walk into the door is pretty special.
Yeah.
And so in addition to that,
what we also dois provide decorations for the family.
So I mean just little thingsthat you don't you
I mean I'msure we all take for granted here.
(07:19):
A lot of these familiesdon't have a Christmas tree you know.
And so we get an a Christmas tree,we get them decorations for the tree
so that they can,
you know, the mom and the kids and dad,you know, can hang around the tree
decorated, you know, listen to someChristmas music while they're doing it.
And then the fourth part of the service,
which is personallymy favorite, is Santa's Workshop.
So we rent out a house every year
(07:42):
and we decorate it to the nth degree.
We hire well,we don't hire a Santa Claus, Santa
actually comes down from the North Polewith us for a day.
And then all of the familiesget to bring in their kids
to spend 30 minutes with Santa Claus.
And I mean, Mrs.
Santa Claus is there as well, so she'sthe one that actually greets them.
(08:04):
We have all sorts of activities forthe families, like roasting marshmallows.
They have hot chocolate.
They have one on one meetings with Santawhere Santa is like, now,
you know, I know that you were stickinggum and Jane's hair last week.
Like, why are we doing that?Come on, we got to get beyond this.
If you want anything for Christmasand they just get to have one magical
(08:25):
like experience
where Santa is talking to themand he knows who they are and he knows,
you know, if they’ve been good or badthis year and, it's just so much fun.
It it is so much fun.
And so that that's what we try to bringfamilies is just one, one experience,
you know, through these serviceswhere no matter how hard life
(08:46):
gets for them,
and a lot of the time it's heartbreakingwhat these families are going through
that they just get to hold onto and say,there is good in the world
that we got to experience. Yeah, it is.
And you know, I the first time
I heard about these guys, I was like,this is really quite remarkable.
And every year I've done this show,they've added things, they've improved it.
(09:07):
They've served more families.
You know, they'll they'llthey'll blow past 250 kids this year.
I can almost guarantee it.
For people would have,
would have no Christmasif they didn't do what they're doing.
So let's give out the websiteso that if folks want to get involved
and they want to donate,they can donate money.
There are other things they can donate.
(09:28):
So let's give out the websiteand then the phone number.
Absolutely.
So our website is zuzus-petals.org.
That's zuzus-petals.org.
Some of the ways you can support us is oneI mean donations are the obvious one.
You know these services cost money.
They're expensive,but you know that we're trying to create
(09:51):
very unique experiencesfor these families.
So please donate.
We also take hard donationslike gifts, decorations.
So please send those to us.
You can attend our annual gala
and then also support us by buyingsome of our merch.
Our Christmas sweaterhas officially been released for the year
(10:11):
and any of our additionalmerch’s So is their hat.
So these are all things you can do.
I will going to be right backafter break with you.
We'll talk about this gala.What's involved.
Why you might want to go and get involved.
You're listening to America'sHealthcare Advocate broadcasting
here on the HIA Radio Network coastto coast across the USA.
Stay there.
We're going to be right back with more.
(10:42):
Welcome back.
You're listening to America'sHealth Care Big show Broadcasting coast
to coast across the USA here on the HIARadio Network.
I want to give a little shout out todayto KGOZ 101.7, in Trenton
and Gallatin, Missouri.
I think it's our oldestaffiliate in the system.
They have been with us since we startedthis show, Dave tells me 20 years ago.
(11:05):
So I've kind of lost track,but we want to thank those folks up there.
They do a wonderful jobfor having us on the air.
All the years that were up there.
We were on the air Saturday.
I think it's around 8or 9:00 there on KGOZ 101.7.
All right.
So let's let's talka little bit about this Gala story.
Because this happens every year.
(11:25):
Country club Christian, it's on December12th this year.
Talk about the timeand what's going to happen.
Absolutely.
So this is by far with all of the calendarevents that I have every year.
This is my favorite.
So Country Club Christian church,you know that
beautiful gothic gorgeous homechurch on Ward Parkway.
We rent that out.
(11:46):
And then starting at 5:30pmwe have a Christmas party.
There's a silent auction with all of thisawesome Chiefs memorabilia.
You graciously donated some last year,which.
We’ll donate more this year.And thank you.
Thank youraised us some really great money.
There's live music during the party,and it's just a really wonderful
(12:06):
sort of festive environment
where a bunch of people that don't knoweach other are hanging out,
you know, which I think is somethingthat we probably need nowadays,
you know, and, and.
Doing something that everybody can enjoyand get their arms around
and it's something good.Absolutely, absolutely.
So people that have never metbefore are talking, making connections.
And then at 7:00pmeveryone adjourns into the main hall
(12:29):
where you will
I mean, if you are even remotelyinto Christmas music
at all, it is the best thingyou will ever experience.
We have a choir of almost 50 members.
There's a a full orchestra and we justwe play music.
We tell stories.
Christmas storiesthat you would have heard growing up
(12:49):
that we, you know, dramatize a little bit.
But to some musicit is everything you could want to do.
It’s a theater productionis what it really is.
Yeah. Yeah. Basically. Yeah.
So I mean, bring your family.
It's a, it's a wonderful family event
and you know, as,as to give the expression but
as warm and fuzzy as you could ever hopea Christmas event to be.
How do they sign up for that.
(13:10):
How do they find out about that.
So you can go to our websiteat zeus-pedals.org like we said before,
and you can purchase ticketsthrough our website.
There are family packagesbecause I know when you try
and bring your whole family to something,things can get a little expensive.
But please, you know, come and just
help us get the word out there for whatwe're trying to do.
(13:33):
In the Kansas City community.
Yeah, it's they really make a difference.
It's really quite remarkable what they do.
And so let's talk a little bit aboutif you would like to donate at Christmas
time to help these young menput these packages together that include,
you know, the giftsthe kids get to pick, the food, the trees,
(13:54):
all of the
decorations, and then the different eventsthey put on for the kids and the family.
So let's just talk about that. Donate.
Well, how do they do thatwhen they go to the website.
So there is a donate page on the website.
We are a 501C3.
So we are completely tax deductible.
And then what I'll also say iswe don't have any paid employees.
So all of the all volunteers correct.
(14:17):
Correct.
There may be a time in the futurewhen we get so big
that we have to hire paid employees,but for right now,
all of the money that you donatewill go directly to the families.
And we can guarantee that.
And then as far as like hard donations.
So if you've got a Christmas treethat you don't use anymore,
or you've got some giftsthat you'd like to donate,
we have a contact us page on
(14:39):
our website as well where you can shoot usan email, you know, give me a text.
We'll be giving out my phone number here,so please.
I mean,
I know that sounds a little bit crazy,but my my cell phone number out there.
But that's how passionate we areabout this reach out to us
and we would be gratefulfor anything that you're able to donate.
I mean, I was working a pop up eventjust the other week, and this lady writes
(15:01):
children's books,
and she asked if we'd like to takesome of their children's books
that she's written.
And we said, heck yes,you know, send them on over.
So anything that anyone's able to give.
Maybe you'd be thinking, well,
I've got this or I've got that,or I got access to this or that,
but they're probably not going to wantthat.
Don't do that. Okay.
Go up on the on the websiteif you want to do it that way.
(15:21):
zeus-pedals.org.
Or you can call John.
Very simply he'sgoing to give his phone out here.
(816) 977-1955.
(816) 977-1955.
If you've got something that you want todonate, I'm sure they'd love to have it.
(15:43):
Give them a call or go online.
If you want to donate,you can certainly do that.
And you know that this gala isis for the family.
And if you want, obviously,if you're an empty nester or whatever,
and you just want to enjoy the memoriesor Christmas or what it's all about.
Country Club Christianis an absolutely gorgeous church.
It's a big church, holds a lot of people.
(16:04):
So that's December 12th.
What a great wayto start the Christmas holiday.
You know,
maybe you go to this church or that churchand they have a Christmas concert.
Whatever.
It's not going to be quite likethis is going to be, hey, yeah, this.
They've got a full symphony, a huge choir.
It's like it's a theater production.
It really is what it is.
And it's well worth,
you know, taking your family toand just enjoying and really kind of set
(16:26):
the tone for the season.
So I absolutely urge you if,
if you have an opportunityto go to that gala, enjoy it and
really get in the spirit of Christmasonce again, that website is
zeus-pedals.org, zeus-pedals.org
or (816) 977-1955.
You know, when we come back to the break,I'm going to ask John.
(16:47):
We do this every year.
To tell a couple of stories aboutbecause you
you listen to this and you,you know, you're yeah, you know people
when you actually hearwhat happens to people in this situation,
you know what it means to them,what it's like when they open the door.
And there's John and his peoplestanding there with the meal.
(17:07):
You know how they get thehow they get the gifts.
We'll talk about that in a minute.How they do the gifts.
So the kids don't know that they'regetting the gifts from Zuzu’s Petals.
They think they're comingfrom the parents.
This thing is so well done and so wellorganized, it’s just very, very different
in the way they do.
It's all, as John, to tellsome of those stories when we come back
and we can personalize this a little bitand let you actually understand,
(17:29):
you know what they do.
They definitely need donations.
They're going to do,they think 70 families this year.
I have a funny feeling
they're going to do over 90 this yearthe way things are looking.
So they're gonna need money,they're going to need money
and they're going to need giftsand all of that.
So if you want to get involvedonce again, 816
is if you want to call John (816) 977-1955or zeus-pedals.org.
(17:52):
Go up on the website.
There's a contact them pagethey'll be happy to reach out to you.
If you've got somethingyou want to talk about,
maybe you've got somethingyou want to donate and
you don'tknow whether they're going to want or not.
What column okay.
Or go up on the websiteand send them a quick email.
They'll get right back to you.They're very good about this.
They know exactly what they're doingand be happy to do it.
So when we come back from the break,
(18:13):
we're going to get intosome of these personal stories.
I think you're going to enjoy this,
and it'll give you some insightinto what you know, what they do
and what a differencethey can make and why.
This is really in my mind, a tributeto these young men and what they've
created out of whole cloth,because literally they created this thing.
I remember the first year I did this,I think they did, what,
20 or 30 families first year?
(18:34):
okay, there you go.
21 families, first year.
And now we are at 70 last year.
And as I said, I'msure they're going to break 90 this year.
So once again the website zuzus-petals.orgif you want to learn more.
And by the way,
you know you want to tell somebodyabout this show or have them listen to,
hey, maybe we should get involved.Maybe your company should get involved.
Maybe our church should get involved upto the website
(18:55):
Americas HealthcareAdvocate.com.
Or to our YouTube page.
Same thing.
America's Healthcare Advocate,the show's up there.
Listen to it.
Or one of the 16 podcast platforms.
We'll be right back after the break.
You're listening to America'sHealthcare Advocate broadcasting
here on the HD radio network Coastto Coast Cross, USA.
We'll be right back after the break.
(19:27):
Welcome back.
You're listening to America's HealthcareAdvocate show, broadcasting coast
to coast across the USA here on the HIAradio network.
Do you want to find out more about us?Go to the website
AmericasHealthcareAdvocate.comin studio with me today.
John Massey.
He's the presidentand one of the founders of Zuzu's Petals.
This group of amazing young men
who is the oldest,the oldest guy in your group, 35.
(19:50):
31 actually..
He’s about
to marry my sister, FYI.
Lord.
Okay, but 31 years old. Okay.
And they started this thing from scratchon their own.
It's grown every year. It's remarkablewhat they've done.
And every year we do this show for them,because it's the least we can do
for the people that they help.
And there are a lot of people out thereneed help, and the family's fortunate
(20:11):
enough to be able to get help from Zuzu’sPetals and make the full Christmas.
They don't have to do anything.It's all done.
From food to giftsto a Christmas tree to ornaments.
It's all there. Okay?
Along with, you know, a Santa'shouse for them go and meet Santa.
I mean, this thing is remarkable,
what they've doneand how they've put it together.
And I urge you to get involvedif you really want to do something,
(20:33):
you know, you see these large charitiesand that's great.
But if you want to reach out,and as they say, touch someone.
Here's a chance, okay,to reach out and touch someone
instead of 70 families this yearit will probably be like 90.
And I'm predicting
they're going to have 250, 260 kidsby the time they get done with this thing.
So the website, zuzus-petals.org.
(20:57):
You can get Ahold of Johnif you want to get involved.
Maybe your church,your civic organization,
maybe you personally, I don't know.
Maybe you're maybe your workplace. Maybe.
Maybe you guys would like to do somethingfor Christmas Day think,
What could we do?
Well, this is something you could dothat would make a big difference.
Give John a call (816) 977-1955.
(816) 977-1955.
(21:19):
So every year I ask you to do this,
there's one
particular onethat I want you to do this year where you
showed up at this woman's house.
She didn't have anything.
She was the singlemom had nothing for these kids.
And you showed up at the housefor Christmas.
You just tell that story
because that story from start to finishis one of my favorite stories.
(21:40):
Yeah, I think it's interestingbecause when we started,
I don't think we quite realized,you know, the depth of need
and just how how rough it is out therefor some families.
I mean, the storythat you're talking about.
It was actuallyit was one of our first deliveries.
It was on our first day of deliveries.
(22:02):
Yeah.
And I'd been in communicationwith this lady for a few weeks.
You know, we like ran the interviewwith her in very, very nice and very up
beat.
Very, very gratefulfor what we were going to do for her.
And we, calledher when we were on our way to her house,
letting her know that we'll be therein ten, 15 minutes, whatever it was.
(22:23):
And she said, awesome.
I just knock on the door when you get hereand we'll let you in.
So we pull up in what's, you know,obviously a pretty rough neighborhood.
Most of these places that we go,
you know, more difficult neighborhood.
Yeah.
They're they're not living in the suburbsand in million dollar homes.
No, no, exactly.
(22:45):
And so we go up, we knock on the door,
we make sure the address is correct,we knock on the door,
and I know we're probably waiting20 or 30 seconds or so,
and a young guy comes up
to, the door, and it's one of her kids.
And right off the bat,
what kind of thinkingwill this defeats a lot of the purpose.
You're not supposed to be here.
Yeah, but then, what we found outshortly after is we walked in,
(23:10):
and the lady that I'd been communicatingwith was actually
lying in a bed in the living room,
and she was in hospice, so she did not.
Unfortunately, she's no longer with us,
and she didn't
have very long to live at that point.
And it was likeall she wanted was to just give her boys,
(23:32):
her two boys that were therejust one Christmas before she left.
And that, I mean, that was a lotto take in when we this was my first day.
We had no idea what to expectwhen we're going into these houses
and we go in, you know, we try andbring some cheer in there as well.
So, you know, we're all, yeah,we're really happy.
Give her a hug and her two boys
(23:56):
sitting over on the couch,which once again is not ideal,
but in this scenario, it is what it is.
And so we we make the delivery,we say Merry Christmas, give her a hug.
And I go over and I say, wish her boysMerry Christmas as well.
From memory their ages were 14 and nine.
Okay.
And I shake the hand of the 14 year oldand he was very gracious.
(24:19):
And then I goand I shake the hand of the 19 year old
and I say, hey bud, Merry Christmas.
9 or 19? Nine, I'm sorry. Yeah. Nine.
And I go shake his hand.
I say, hey, like Merry Christmas.
Hope you guys,I hope we're able to step in there for you
and he he's staring right into my eyes
and he will not let go of my hand.
(24:42):
And there was this very kind of awkward,
uncomfortable 10 to 15 seconds there where
I'm kind of awkwardlytrying to pull away because, I mean,
I don't know what to do with myself,
and he just would not let go of my handand eventually did.
And we left.
And I mean, man, the scene in that carafterwards was,
(25:03):
is I don't think people really realize,
you know, what these things do for peoplethat have nothing.
And I mean, those kidsprobably in the foster care system now,
but they they had one day,
you know, just one day where they didn'thave to worry about anything.
And, you know, that.
(25:23):
Was the memory with their momthat you created that they'll never lose.
Yeah.
And that that's what I mean
by illustrating what they doand why it's so very, very different.
You so but that particularyou provided food, the tree. Yes.
And the whole thing. The whole thing.
The whole thing.
The whole thing. And it was.
(25:45):
Yeah.
I mean that anyway, I think it was kind offitting and obviously like divine
intervention that that was the first onethat we did or one of the first ones,
because then you when youwhen you realize,
I think the wants, that's out there,I mean, it makes everything else easy.
You know, there was another one last year
where the, the
(26:06):
parents came to Santas workshop
with the kids with the kidsso the kids were with Santa.
And we were. Like,that's where you get the.
So when the parents,you separate kids from the parents
and then you give the gift, right? Right.
So they got put them in the car.The kids never see them. Correct.
Which is for the audiencethat doesn't know it.
That's part of the point is to letthe parents be the heroes in this.
(26:26):
Right now, we're not riding in on a ona white horse saying like, you know, yeah.
Exactly.
Right.
Well, I mean, metaphorically not,
yeah.
But yeah,we want the parents to participate
in this,like we want them to share in the joy.
We want them to bethe ones that wake up on Christmas morning
and see the joy in their their kids eyes.
So what happened?
(26:47):
So where, we’rewere working with the parents,
the kids are with Santa, we’re,taking the gifts to the car.
And this dad,
really, really nice guy.
He's telling me how, you know,he lost his job, and,
you know, he's he's never had to usea service like this before.
And after we, you know,we take him through, we show him
(27:09):
all of the items, make sure that that iswhat that he wanted.
He starts crying.
You know, this is a grown man, you know?
Then it just startsgetting very emotional.
And where there are more like,hey, like, no worries.
You know, we’re,we all get down on our luck sometimes.
I mean, that's one of the reasonsI wanted to do this is my family
went through tough timeswhen when I was a kid
(27:31):
and he just said, I promise you,he looked at me and he said, I promise
you, you know, when things improve for me,I'm going to do this for somebody else.
And I was like, well then, man,I mean, God bless you.
You know, like what?
What else do you say to that?
But, you know, you tip your cap to himwish him a merry Christmas.
You know, that's the thing.
It's I think a lot of people
don't realize a lot of folks out thereliving paycheck to paycheck.
(27:54):
They miss a couple of paychecks.
They're on the street.
Okay.
I mean, it's rough and that for folksin that particular situation.
So now you multiply that by Christmas.
Well, if they've got enough money for rentwherever they're living, okay.
And groceries, they probably don'thave the money for gifts.
And, and,and a really nice Christmas dinner
(28:15):
and all the things that come with it.
But that's what these folks do.
That's why I asked John every year to tella couple of these stories, because,
again, there's lots of Christmas
charities out there in this town,you know, all over the place.
But if you really want to just reach outis, you know,
there was an old commercial,I forget who it was and touch someone.
(28:38):
This is a way to do it, okay?
This is a way where you can walkin, make a donation, get involved.
Go to the gala on December 12th.
The Country ClubChristian, great opportunity.
Have a great time.
You bring your whole family, bring your,if your a grandparent, bring grandkids.
Have a great timeand get in the mood for Christmas.
But at the same timerealize what you're doing here.
(29:00):
You're really helpingsome people that need help.
The website, zuzus-petals.org.
zuzus-petals.org.
The phone number (816) 977-1955.
(816) 977-1955.
Stay tuned.We'll be right back after the break.
You're listening to America's
Healthcare Advocate Broadcastinghere on the HIA Radio Network.
(29:20):
Once again,that website is zuzus-pedals.org.
You want to call John directlyand get involved?
(816) 977-1955. We'll be right back.
Stay there.
Welcome back.
You're listening to America's HealthcareAdvocate show, broadcasting coast to coast
(29:42):
across the USA here on the HIARadio Network.
You can find out more about us,go on to the website or up on the podcast
channels, or 16 of them,or once again on the YouTube channel.
So this particular show.
We're here talking to the folks and Zuzu'sPetals.
John Massey,
president and founder of Zuzu’sPetals, along with the other gentleman
that work with him.
(30:02):
If your company wants to do somethingthis year,
it will make a differencewhere you literally
are goingto make a difference to a family.
This might be the place to do it.
It's zuzus-petals.org, zuzus-petals.org
or (816) 977-1955.
If you want to call John, he’llcome out and talk to you.
Maybe you want to have come and talk
to the HR director,the CEO, whatever the case may be,
(30:26):
he’d be happy to have a chat with you,so feel free to get Ahold of him.
They've got a huge gala coming up onDecember 12th at Country Club Christian.
It’s atheater Production is what it really is.
Okay, you've got a full orchestra,a 50 member choir.
It's just a wonderful time, food,a great time for people to get together.
And that church is beautifulup on Ward Parkway.
(30:47):
So that's December 12th.What time is that?
Party starts at 530PMand then the concert starts at 730PM.
Okay, so 530PM it startsand then and the concert is at 730PM.
So it's going to be a great time.
All right. So what is it.
So this is Dave's ideaand we've done this before.
How did all this just start.
You know were there are five of youwhen you originally started or four?
(31:09):
It was actually just three of us.
One of the three of you.
And you belong to Saint Vincent'sCatholic Church.
That's how you all know each other?Yep. Okay.
And then one day. What?
This just like you sit arounddrinking beer and trying to figure.
Yeah, it does.
It started a long time ago, actually.
So Christmas has always been.
I've just had. Your favorite holiday.
(31:31):
Well or it my parents alwaysput such an intense amount of effort
into making that dayjust the most magical experience
any of my,my siblings could ever wish for.
And as I got older, you know,
I think I saw that not everyone had that.
And I also saw that you know,like I mentioned earlier
(31:54):
in the show that my family went throughsome tough times.
Yeah.
And I remember very specifically
my parents being so stressed outabout bringing Christmas.
Right?
Because times were tough,finances were tight.
And at the time I'm kind of thinking,you know, like what?
Like I I'm I'm fine, you know, like,I don't need a bike
(32:17):
or I don't need that,but I think as I got older,
what I realized was,is whether or not I needed it.
It's kind of irrelevant.
The point was, is that my parentswanted me to have something
that they were worried they weren'tgoing to be able to give to me.
So anyway, later on,I'm obviously from Australia.
I'm not I'm not from Kansas City,
but my mom's from Kansas City,which is how I ended up here.
(32:39):
And she's gotshe's got a massive, massive family.
I've got a lot of cousinsin the Kansas City area.
I got very close with my cousinDanny from out here who you've met.
He's been on the show on previous year,
and we were both kind of at a pointin our careers where we were trying
to figure out, you know, what it waswe wanted to do long term.
And I'd bounced around, trieda couple of different things.
(33:02):
And I remember being in a career interview
with, with a mentor of mine who asked mevery specifically, you know, like what?
Yeah. What are you passionate about?
Which I always hated that question,if I'm being honest,
because I'm like, well, I don't know.
I mean, football like.
I'm drinking beer. Yeah, exactly.
I'm very passionate about drinking beer.
(33:22):
What's that you're drinking?
So, I'm really good at drinking beer.
Yeah. Exactly, exactly.
And what my answer at the time,and this was, like,
supposed to be a serious interviewso I couldn't say this,
but my answer was Christmas.
I mean, it's the one thingthat I could think about work
on 365 days a year and never, everget sick of it.
(33:46):
I didn't say that in the interviewthat later that night
I was over Danny's houseand we were just having a glass of scotch,
and I was telling him about this,and we had a good laugh over,
you know, what I wanted to say,but I couldn't stay.
And that was followedby probably a 30 second silence.
And then there was this what if,
(34:07):
you know, like we bothhe grew up very similar to me.
So he's one of 11 kids.
And Christmas was always likea huge part of his life as well.
And so we were like, well,if you were to take the concept of,
say, Santa Claus and you were goingto try and make that real,
how would you do that?
(34:28):
And this is what we came up with.
So that's where that's why we started.
That is how it all started.
And I rememberI had started working on this website
on Wix.com, which I am the furthest thingfrom a developer that you will ever meet.
I know nothing about it, but I builtsomething that I was kind of proud of.
(34:48):
Honestly.
I worked on it for about six monthsand I was in my office at my day job.
And then Mak who you've also met.
That's the guy that's marryingmy little sister in a couple of months.
He was walking past my officeand I didn't really know him at the time.
I just knew he built websitesfor the company that I worked for,
and I pull him in and I was like,so we're about to launch this, you know,
(35:09):
could you take a look at it?And he's like, oh, yeah, sure.
And I show it to himand he's just kind of looking at it.
And within secondshe goes, I mean, what if I just built you
one, which Mak’s this super nice guy?
I later found out that that's Mak’s
way of saying this stinks,and you should not do this ever again.
Just let me do it for you.
And I was like, hey, okay.
(35:29):
And that's how he then became involved.
And so he built us a website.
And then it was Chiefs preseason football.
This is five years ago now.
4 or 5 years agowe were watching a really crappy game
and we launched it.
And then that year we ended upservicing 21 families, 52 kids.
(35:54):
I remember then the next yearit was 127 kids or 45 families.
Then last year it was
208 kids, 72 families.
And then this year, I mean, we've alreadygot 80 families in the hopper, you know,
and it's October, so like, that numberis going to grow and grow and grow.
And, you know, that's why we're here,
(36:14):
trying to let people know whatwe're trying to do.
And, you know,I do this show every year for a reason.
Obviously,
I've helped these guys every year.
I've made donations to them
to help them get this thing off the groundand do what it needs to do.
Their remarkable in what they do,they're passionate about it.
I think you can tell that if, again,as I said,
if you want to help somebody a specific.
(36:36):
So this is an opportunity whereyou can get involved with these folks
and know that there is a single familyout there
going to benefit from what you're doing,from the way you're helping them.
People that wouldn't have a Christmaswithout what they're doing.
Okay. Their remarkableyoung men. The website is
zuzus-petals.org.
If you want to call John once again,if your company wants to do something
(36:58):
or your church or your civic group,you want to do something.
(816) 977 1955
the big gala is December12th at Country Club Christian.
Starts at 5 or 530,but at 530 okay, at Country Club
Christian goes music in the theaterstart at seven.
Bring the whole family.
Kick your Christmas off
(37:18):
with real music and peoplethat really are going to enjoy Christmas.
This is your opportunity,so I urge you to take the time
to look into thisto see if you can help these folks
and make a difference out there for peoplethat really need a difference.
John Massey.
Thank you once again for coming in here.Thank you, Cary.
You can tell me other guys playing hooky,they better be here next year
(37:39):
I will I'll give them a good ribbing.
Yeah. You should okay.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, I leave youwith this thought from Albert Einstein.
The one who follows the crowd theyusually get no further than the crowd.
The one who walks alone is likely to findhimself in places no one has ever been.
Remember,friends is a funny thing about life.
If you refuse to accept anythingbut the very best, you most often get it.
(37:59):
Thank you for listening to America'sHealthcare Advocate Show,
broadcasting coastto coast across the USA.
Goodbye, America.
You. You.
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