James Jackson, president of the Call on Me Foundation, shares an incredible story of transformation from his time in the Marine Corps to starting a powerful nonprofit. With heartfelt sincerity, he reveals the personal experiences and passions that led him to provide crucial support for families of veterans who have passed away unexpectedly. These families often face challenges in silence, and James, alongside ambassadors like Leslie, is creating a community through shared experiences and support. Our conversation explores his transition into the construction industry and the founding of the foundation in February 2023, driven by a mission to aid families affected by military suicides, including poignant stories like that of Greg Gillum's family.
Guiding us through the meticulous process of determining which families receive aid, James highlights the importance of assessing genuine need. The foundation's collaborations with other nonprofits, such as Tunnels to Towers, showcase the power of partnerships in enhancing support for veterans. Fundraising is a cornerstone of the foundation's efforts, with events like the September gathering at Cisco Brewery, an annual reunion, and the Memorial Day MURPH fitness challenge. These gatherings not only raise essential funds but also foster a sense of community and solidarity among veterans and their families.
As the conversation unfolds, James addresses the broader challenges facing nonprofits, such as securing donations and increasing awareness. By collaborating with organizations like One Man, One Mic Foundation and the Warrior Golf Academy, the foundation amplifies its impact, offering diverse resources like equine therapy and focusing on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) treatments. The episode wraps up with a powerful message on building bridges between foundations, emphasizing community connections, and includes a public service announcement with vital resources like 988 and 211 for veterans and their families.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott McLean (00:00):
Welcome to the podcast.
I'm Scott McLean.
My guest today is James Jackson.
James is the president of theCall on Me Foundation, located
in Green Acres, florida.
How you doing, james?
James Jackson (00:14):
Doing well.
Scott, how are you?
Scott McLean (00:15):
Good, good, good.
Thanks for coming on thepodcast, I appreciate you having
me.
All right, you're in the bigpink couch.
James Jackson (00:20):
Yeah, that's nice , that's nice, right?
Okay, there you go.
Everybody loves the big pinkcouch.
Scott McLean (00:24):
He that's nice.
It's nice, right.
Okay, there you go.
Everybody loves the big pinkcouch.
He'll get his picture taken andthen I'll post it all over
social media afterwards.
Might be the only pink couchhe's ever sat on, I think.
So probably all right.
So, uh, let's get right into it, man.
Um, so tell me a little aboutyourself.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Tell us a little about yourselfwhere you're from and when you
(00:44):
went into the military, whatbranch.
James Jackson (00:46):
Sure, okay, so I'm originally from Chesapeake,
virginia, grew up there as soonas I graduated high school in
2006.
I joined the Marine Corps,served in the Marine Corps for
eight years.
I was stationed in SouthCarolina and California,
deployed to Iraq Al-Asad in 2008to 2009.
(01:09):
I was aviation ordnance.
I worked on F-18s but went toschool with a GI Bill and
actually found another veteranorganization called Operation
(01:29):
New Uniform who works withveterans and their transition.
So it helped me kind of gaugehow I can present myself better
for interviews and alsonetworking.
And all that actually helped meget connections to the
construction industry, which Ididn't even think I was
(01:52):
interested in.
So once I completed my degreesI ended up meeting somebody in
my first construction company.
They interviewed me, hired meand I'm still doing construction
to this day.
So it's definitely been ablessing and you know, working
for some great companies and youknow it's my work, family, you
(02:17):
know.
So it's been amazing.
And eventually you know me andsome buddies decided to start
this nonprofit.
So it originally started, Ibelieve my buddy, scott and Tim.
They started talking and thenkind of cued me in on what they
(02:38):
were thinking.
But we just experienced toomany suicides.
It was.
We just experienced, you know,too many suicides.
We all have experienced somebodythat we've worked with or known
who has committed suicide, andone of the guys that we deployed
with did the same, and so westarted talking and we were like
, how can we help?
(03:01):
How can we, what can we do?
We started researching all theorganizations that are out there
and it didn't.
It didn't seem like, uh, therewas anything that necessarily
helped out the families.
Uh, afterwards, um so we allstarted chit chatting on what we
could do, brought a coupleother guys in.
(03:21):
So, um, uh, the main four of usthat are, uh, are running the
organization.
Uh, is myself, uh, timmcculloch, nick dasso and aaron
mitchell.
Um, so we, we all, you know,put our heads together.
Try to figure out, uh, how wecould help, uh, try and figure
out the nonprofit road, how wegot there which was definitely a
(03:47):
lot of hurdles, a lot oflessons learned, mistakes and
achievements as well.
We got there and February 2023,we started the foundation, got
approved by the IRS I believe itwas about six months to a year
(04:11):
later and so we're 501C3, andwe've just been trying to kick
ass ever since and we've helpedthree families.
We've helped three families.
So that's through.
So what we do is we provideshort-term financial assistance
to families of veterans who passaway unexpectedly.
(04:31):
It's primarily suicide, but itcould be, you know, anything
else that was unexpected.
These families are losing theirsignificant other, but also,
you know, it could be a primarysource of income or just
(04:51):
additional source of income thatyou know they needed to help
kind of keep their familytogether, and that's huge.
So we're just trying to helpout any way we can, and it's
through public donations.
So we try and gain the supportof other organizations our
community, uh, which and we tryand build our, our community,
our veteran community, and bringpeople together for the same
(05:11):
same goal and, uh, it's beengreat so far.
Um yeah.
Scott McLean (05:19):
Is there a particular incident that really
set this off, cause there'susually a catalyst to something.
James Jackson (05:29):
So we, everybody with the foundation we've known,
you know, at least one or twoguys that have committed suicide
, and the one that kind ofreally set it off was the first
family that we actually helped,which was Greg Gillum.
So his wife, leslie we knew herfrom the Marine Corps as well,
(05:53):
but Greg deployed with us and wejust had to do something.
So we put this foundationtogether to help her out and she
has a teenage boy.
So we just had to do somethingand we started reaching out to
everybody we knew, trying to getdonations.
(06:14):
We set up events.
We set up our first event,which was in Beaufort, south
Carolina, where we were firststationed.
It was at a brewery.
It was more so a reunion event.
It was kind of like our firstevent kickoff event for the
foundation, to kind of spreadthe word and just bring some
people together.
So it was great.
Leslie joined us and we had oursergeant major there.
(06:35):
We had, you know, a bunch ofguys from our unit, people we
deployed with and it was just agreat time.
And so Leslie's actually anambassador now for the
foundation and she helps outwith outreach.
But also the biggest part, Ifeel, is speaking to these other
(06:58):
families Because their wiveswho lost their husband went
through the same thing that shewent through and she's the only
one that can really speak tothat and knows what they're
going through and can relate andhelp them deal with the
challenges that she dealt withand help them get past that.
Scott McLean (07:19):
So you're not just local.
This reaches national, or it'snational regional.
James Jackson (07:25):
So I mean we're, we're willing to help uh any
veteran anywhere, but we'respread out throughout the the
east coast.
So I'm in florida, we have aguy in georgia, and new jersey
and massachusetts okay, um, andwe're, we're open to travel
wherever we.
We've held uh events in southcarolina, new jersey, uh down
(07:48):
here in florida and then also inin boston.
We had one this past septemberwhere in massachusetts is he
located?
He's in.
I can't, uh, I can't rememberoff that's okay, I had.
Scott McLean (08:00):
Actually.
That's where I'm from, so I'mfrom boston, so just Sure.
So people reach out to you.
Now how do they hear about you?
Is it word of mouth?
Do you have a like?
Since this is one of thosethings, it's kind of very, very
niche right, right and so how do?
James Jackson (08:22):
people hear about you, so mainly through social
media, word of mouth.
So we try and reach out toother organizations that have
similar missions as ours.
We reach out to our community,ask them to spread the word by
sharing posts, and that's ourmain platform is social media.
Scott McLean (08:46):
I think the networking is a big one, also
because I think all thesefoundations, nonprofits, run
into this.
And well, I didn't know aboutyou until you reached out and we
started talking.
Well, now you're a resource forme and my foundation.
And I'm going to pass the wordon to others, because that's a
(09:09):
pretty noble cause.
You know the families.
We don't like that.
The veteran gets into thesituation where they end up
taking their own life.
James Jackson (09:22):
But it's the aftermath of it that needs
attention, Exactly, and you know, to your point.
There it's.
You know we're advocates ofmental health.
You know we want to stopsuicide, obviously, but we don't
want to be, you know, anorganization that has a need,
(09:42):
you know, but it's stillhappening and we've got to do
something.
We've got to join forces.
We've got to join forces, We'vegot to help each other out.
And, yeah, you want to be thereto support whoever is in need
or is going through a tough time, but unfortunately, it
continues to happen.
So we've got to be there tohelp these families out.
So what's your website?
Scott McLean (10:03):
I'll say this a couple times because this is
important your website,thecallonmefoundationcom
Callonmefoundationcom, and Ithink it's important to at least
take a look at it.
If you're a listener, go andtake a look at the website.
James Jackson (10:19):
It's one of those ones.
Scott McLean (10:20):
It'll stick with you, because now it's a resource
that I think we all should knowabout.
It's a resource that I think weall should know about.
So all of this costs money andfundraisers.
Before I get to that, how doyou it's?
kind of a tough question in asense but I'm sure you have the
(10:47):
answer, and I don't know how toput it in any other way other
than how do you vet familiesthat request?
Because it's impossible to helpeverybody, which now that must
be a very tough decision for youand your board to make,
absolutely so how?
James Jackson (11:06):
if you don't mind .
Sure, yeah, and we do havecriteria that is in our bylaws,
actually and we have to ask afew questions whether it's going
to be the person that isconnected to them or we're able
to connect with the spouse.
Sometimes it's harder, you know, going that route, but, uh, we
(11:30):
need to.
They need to be veteran, um,they need to uh have a need, uh,
so I mean that to to thataspect of it.
You know, if, if somebody isout there, it doesn't doesn't
necessarily need the help, youknow we'd like to understand
that, because then there's otherfamilies out there who actually
do need the assistance and we,you know, like to help them if
(11:53):
we can.
So, and then it also has to be,you know, an unexpected death,
so primarily suicide, but youknow it could be anything else,
an accident that happens and nowthey're gone and you know
insurance isn't covering it orsomething along those lines.
Scott McLean (12:10):
Oh, so scenarios start to pop up.
James Jackson (12:12):
Yeah, there's a lot of different scenarios there
are a lot of differentscenarios, but you know, we're
not investigating.
You know the criteria of, youknow the accident, but you know
we've had people reach out to usand it's like oh, you know, my
father was sick, he had anillness and he passed away and
in that circumstance, you know,that's not really in line with
(12:36):
our bylaws and our mission.
You know, obviously we, youknow we'd love for you to get
some support, but I think thatthere's some other organizations
or other benefits that you canapproach that might help you out
better, right?
Scott McLean (12:50):
Are there any foundations that you guys kind
of collaborate with, or is itjust kind of?
James Jackson (12:57):
So we haven't really connected with too many
other nonprofit foundations thatwe collaborate with.
Connected with too many othernonprofit foundations that we
collaborate with, we've donesome outreach, attended some
events here and there.
We're working on a coupleavenues of other nonprofits that
maybe we can partner with sothat could be a future
(13:18):
opportunity there.
We have coordinated withTunnels to Towers.
They did a 5K event in Boston,where we also had our event at
Cisco Brewery at the Seaport.
So we collaborated with them,we did the 5K, they had our logo
up and then a lot of the peoplethat attended the 5K came to
(13:40):
our event afterwards and we'vealso received a legacy award
from Tunnels to Towers as well.
So they're a great organization, great people to work with.
But as far as other foundations, that's really the extent of it
for now.
Scott McLean (13:57):
I just want to touch on something you just said
.
You said the seaport area ofBoston.
Well, when I was growing up itdidn't look anything like that.
James Jackson (14:08):
It was nice.
It was pretty crazy thatthere's a brewery right in the
middle of downtown.
Scott McLean (14:11):
Yeah, it was pretty crazy without that
building, all those buildingsthere growing up, but that's
another story.
So fundraisers, right?
Well, first of all, I want tosay, if you're a nonprofit, and
you're listening to this, or ifyou're a veteran, or if you're a
spouse, family member or friendof a veteran, this is a great
(14:34):
resource to know.
I think it's very important.
There's not many of them outthere that are doing this and I
think this is at least take noteof this foundation, because it
unfortunately might arise whereyou'll be like how can we help
the family?
Well, go tocallonmefoundationcom and you
(14:59):
have a chance, a resource we'llcall it a resource for at least
advice or a way out to help afamily member, but I think it's
really important.
James Jackson (15:11):
So take note of that if you're listening.
Scott McLean (15:14):
And yeah, so fundraisers, I suppose, are they
done?
James Jackson (15:24):
on an event like on a situation by situation.
Scott McLean (15:28):
Do you have them X amount times like?
Three a year, or you know thenkind of bank roll, the future,
or how do you do that?
James Jackson (15:40):
So obviously we're always pushing, you know,
raising money, because that'sthe prime driver for our
foundation the families thatwe've helped we create campaigns
for, and then we also haveevents throughout the year.
So we're kind of trying to lockdown a cycle for the year.
(16:03):
The seaport, I think, is onethat's going to be recurring, so
each September we're probablygoing to be doing that.
I'm pretty sure we're going tobe doing it in 2025.
We really loved it.
Cisco Brewery was great.
They were very helpful.
It was a great venue.
We are doing our reunion eventagain in April.
(16:25):
So so that was our first event,our kickoff event that we did,
uh, and this is going to be thesecond one, uh, so the air show
is also that weekend and we gota table at the air show as well.
So, uh, so we're going to betrying to spread the word at the
air show, uh, and then we'realso going to have our reunion
on that that friday, right, uh,before the air show.
(16:46):
And, uh, we did do a murphevent, uh, for memorial day.
Uh, it's a small event, uh, butwe did get uh a gym to do a
virtual event for us as well tohelp raise some money.
So that could be a possibilitywe're still trying to figure out
if that's what's a MRF.
So it's the Lieutenant MichaelMurphy, the Navy SEAL, that
(17:09):
passed.
They do a fitness event calledthe MRF, so it's like a run
push-ups, pull-ups.
It's just an exercise event sowe got some people together at a
park in Greenacres and also hada virtual so is there?
Scott McLean (17:30):
I suppose there is a spot on your website for
people to donate.
There is, yeah, there is.
James Jackson (17:35):
Right on the main page there's a donate button
and we also do have a recurringdonation program called the
Support Battalion that we'retrying to push.
It just helps the donationsflow through that can help with
these families and everythingthat comes through goes towards
(17:56):
these families.
We just finished assisting ourthird family recently, and you
know I say finished but that's,you know, sending money to them.
But it's never finished.
We keep them, we keep in touchwith them.
You know we try and includethem in future events and then
(18:19):
you know constantly see, youknow what else we can do to help
out and just be there.
Scott McLean (18:29):
Yeah, yeah, know what else we can do to help out?
Um, and just just be there,yeah, yeah, um, I see, you have
a a resource kind of section onyour website?
Yes, right, um, I would love ifyou put my podcast on, because
my podcast.
My website is really a bigresource page, absolutely
Absolutely.
I'd love to do that, you knowI'd love to just say, hey, take
it, put it out there, becauseeverybody that comes on here
(18:50):
gets an episode and then theirlogo and the website, so it's
kind of a unique resource page.
James Jackson (18:56):
Yeah that would be great.
Scott McLean (18:57):
Whereas people can listen to you before they, you
know.
Then when they go to yourwebsite they're like oh, now I
know kind of get an idea of whatit's about.
James Jackson (19:04):
Sure, you know.
Scott McLean (19:06):
So yeah, I would be glad on it if you could put
it on there.
James Jackson (19:09):
Okay, yeah, for sure so other people can reach
out you know, Absolutely yeahand I did notice on your website
that you guys had a connectionwith Haven for Heroes.
Scott McLean (19:19):
Yeah, yeah.
James Jackson (19:22):
So, yeah, we connected with them.
Johnny Shway, I worked with acouple different people and they
, you know, wanted us to puttheir logo on and help us out
with one of our events, sure,and we've been trying to see
what else we can do in thefuture.
And then you know, I mentionedTunnels to Towers.
(19:43):
And we have a few others, likeReviven, who donated laptops to
us which we've forwarded on tosome of our veteran families to
help them out, because some ofthem have kids, they're in
school and whatnot.
And we also have Idaho AsphaltSupply and Spolly Specialized
Products and Logistics, who havehelped us out with stuff for
(20:04):
events, like either merchandiseor equipment that we needed for
some of those events.
And then Warrior ReunionFoundation.
We're trying to work with themon our future April events for
the reunion.
So what they do is they sponsorreunions for veterans.
(20:25):
What they do is they sponsorreunions for veterans.
So whether it be a hike, youknow a brewery or you know some
other kind of activity, theyhelp put it together and sponsor
that.
Scott McLean (20:34):
Wow, okay, all right.
Well, if you know any of themthat might want to come on the
podcast, let them know, givethem my number, for sure.
I think the more people thatcome on on, the more people will
know about this.
So let me ask you about this.
So now we're going to get tolike a foundation thing, like
and we kind of touched on thisbefore the episode the ask right
(20:59):
?
James Jackson (21:00):
the ask what?
Scott McLean (21:01):
what was your initial take on being, you know,
the foundation and asking fordonations, as opposed to where
you are now?
James Jackson (21:10):
is it?
Scott McLean (21:11):
is it any easier, is it?
James Jackson (21:14):
um, it's kind of uh I guess, uh, not, you know
it's.
um, it is depending on theperson, I guess, depending on
who you're asking, you know,especially if they understand
your take on it and you knowwhat we're all about, that's
(21:36):
definitely easier.
But as far as trying to sellwhat we're doing and helping
some people understand that youknow what they donate is going
to make a difference, that'sstill somewhat of a challenge.
A lot of people are fully onboard, but then it's trying to
(22:03):
get into and figure out how wecan get there just because of
you know, little donations help,of course, and that gets us
rolling.
But you know, if we can getbigger eyes and ears on what
we're doing, then that'll helpus continue our mission.
Scott McLean (22:25):
Absolutely.
The ask doesn't get easier.
You just get better at it.
Sure, yeah, that's what I'vecome to that conclusion.
It's never easy.
You just gotta get better at itand eventually I guess it all
just what's the most they cansay is no right.
Absolutely.
(22:45):
So let's go back to what wetalked about earlier other
foundations and collaboration,what we talked before, the show,
the episode, and we'redefinitely you, one man, one
Mike Foundation, and there's acouple others that I spoke to
that we're kind of going to tryto work our own coalition and
(23:06):
help each other out organically,get to know each other, and I
think more foundations should dothat Absolutely.
I agree, 100, I think it's.
You know, a lot of foundationshave business, business and they
and they, they're lookingforward and they're like you
know, hey, we met this place,but you know, life goes on and
things happen.
But I think foundations have tomake a conscious effort to get
(23:26):
to know each other.
Like I love your cause, yeah,so why would I not want to be
involved with that right?
You know it doesn't run intomine.
It doesn't have anything to dowith mine, it's just.
I just think it's a better wayto work in this world of
nonprofits, and so I lookforward to One man, one Mic
(23:48):
Foundation, and Call on Me and afew others Warrior Golf Academy
.
James Jackson (23:54):
I interviewed.
Yeah, I listened to that.
Jonathan, yeah, I listened to afew of them.
Scott McLean (24:00):
And I appreciate that.
James Jackson (24:02):
You know, I didn't know?
Scott McLean (24:03):
Oh, you were those three Donros I got.
James Jackson (24:06):
I did not know about a lot of them and the
resources.
I know there's a lot ofresources out there, but I've
done a lot of research and theones that you interviewed I
never even came across Right.
I think it was the HerdFoundation that you're a part of
Equine.
Therapy.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I mean I'd love to be a part ofthat.
(24:27):
I mean I think it's really cooland it's a really great way to
help veterans out.
And then the Golf Academy.
Scott McLean (24:34):
Warrior Golf Academy.
Yeah, Very cool.
James Jackson (24:37):
And there were a few others that I listened to.
I know one.
I can't remember the name, butone of the guys owns a gym.
Yeah that's Wade Waddock.
Yeah, so I listened to that one.
And then also the 22 Project.
I listened to that one as well.
Amazing, it is amazing, yes,the resources that are out there
.
I mean, you hear about, youknow, ptsd treatments, you hear
(25:00):
about TBI, but I really don'tthink that there's a huge focus
on TBI, right, and you know,when I was going through my own
counselings, tbi is somethingthat's not really talked about,
and I think there was some placementioned that was on the west
(25:23):
coast of Florida.
It's like that's it, that's allyou have for that condition.
And then these guys are 22project, are doing something
pretty great and, uh, I thinkthe the more of us that can
spread the word and and gettogether, then the better for
our community.
Scott McLean (25:40):
Oh, yeah, yeah, so all right.
When else anything else youwant to talk about, anything?
That you want to get out thereto the podcast universe.
Uh, to the podcast universe.
James Jackson (25:52):
I mean, if you could spread the word.
We really need the help, weneed our voice to be heard and
these families' voices to beheard, and you know there's so
many families out there, justlike the three that we've helped
, and you know there's going tobe a lot more, uh, sadly, um,
(26:15):
you know we, we want this plagueto end, but it's not.
It's not losing any traction,right?
Scott McLean (26:22):
so, um, anything that you know you can contribute
, or even as a share, a like onsocial media we're on facebook,
instagram, linkedin anythinghelps well, I'll do my best to
spread the word because, again,this is a very noble and unique
(26:46):
foundation in what you do and Ithink everybody listening and I
I say this if you like whatthey're doing, if, if you like
what they're doing, if you feelwhat they're doing at the Call
on Me Foundation is touching you, give them money.
Give them money.
(27:07):
That's what helps them, that'swhat helps those families and as
they say every.
It used to say every pennycounts.
Now it has to be a dollar.
James Jackson (27:16):
Yeah, inflation.
Scott McLean (27:22):
I could get political right now, but I won't
.
Every dollar counts and again,this is a great cause.
Help the families and go totheir website, call on me,
foundationcom.
Give them money.
Did I say that already?
I think I did.
I think I did Well with that.
(27:44):
Anything else you want to?
I think that's it All, rightAll right, and James actually
for future podcast guests.
James brought a couple T-shirts.
He's kind of he's giving me aT-shirt, hint, hint.
I got some pretty cool hats too,and he's giving me hats.
Future podcast guests.
(28:07):
Thank you, that's so cheesy.
Well, anyways, again I can'tsay this enough I look forward
to for our foundations gettingto know each other better in
2025.
Any help I could ever give youreach out to me.
I'll do everything I can tohelp you.
(28:29):
Love the cause.
And with that, I just want tosay, as I usually do well, we
built another bridge today.
Very important, all the bridgesare important.
These bridges, and that's thething about these foundations
we're all islands unto ourselvessometimes.
That's why I say we builtanother bridge, because now we
(28:49):
just bridge two foundations.
James Jackson (28:52):
And you're gonna work on bridges right yeah, they
need maintenance, which is arelationship so, uh, we're gonna
make that happen and, as I say,listen to the end.
Scott McLean (29:04):
There's a good public service announcement that
basically covers everything forveterans, family members of of
veterans, friends of veterans,even first responders, even
civilians.
Listen to it.
It's 30 seconds long.
It's very informative.
988-211.
And with that, you will hear menext week with another episode.
Welcome to the podcast.
I'm Scott McLean.
My guest today is James Jackson.
James is the president of theCall on Me Foundation, located
in Green Acres, florida.
How you doing, james?
James Jackson (00:14):
Doing well.
Scott, how are you?
Scott McLean (00:15):
Good, good, good.
Thanks for coming on thepodcast, I appreciate you having
me.
All right, you're in the bigpink couch.
James Jackson (00:20):
Yeah, that's nice , that's nice, right?
Okay, there you go.
Everybody loves the big pinkcouch.
Scott McLean (00:24):
He that's nice.
It's nice, right.
Okay, there you go.
Everybody loves the big pinkcouch.
He'll get his picture taken andthen I'll post it all over
social media afterwards.
Might be the only pink couchhe's ever sat on, I think.
So probably all right.
So, uh, let's get right into it, man.
Um, so tell me a little aboutyourself.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Tell us a little about yourselfwhere you're from and when you
(00:44):
went into the military, whatbranch.
James Jackson (00:46):
Sure, okay, so I'm originally from Chesapeake,
virginia, grew up there as soonas I graduated high school in
2006.
I joined the Marine Corps,served in the Marine Corps for
eight years.
I was stationed in SouthCarolina and California,
deployed to Iraq Al-Asad in 2008to 2009.
(01:09):
I was aviation ordnance.
I worked on F-18s but went toschool with a GI Bill and
actually found another veteranorganization called Operation
(01:29):
New Uniform who works withveterans and their transition.
So it helped me kind of gaugehow I can present myself better
for interviews and alsonetworking.
And all that actually helped meget connections to the
construction industry, which Ididn't even think I was
(01:52):
interested in.
So once I completed my degreesI ended up meeting somebody in
my first construction company.
They interviewed me, hired meand I'm still doing construction
to this day.
So it's definitely been ablessing and you know, working
for some great companies and youknow it's my work, family, you
(02:17):
know.
So it's been amazing.
And eventually you know me andsome buddies decided to start
this nonprofit.
So it originally started, Ibelieve my buddy, scott and Tim.
They started talking and thenkind of cued me in on what they
(02:38):
were thinking.
But we just experienced toomany suicides.
It was.
We just experienced, you know,too many suicides.
We all have experienced somebodythat we've worked with or known
who has committed suicide, andone of the guys that we deployed
with did the same, and so westarted talking and we were like
, how can we help?
(03:01):
How can we, what can we do?
We started researching all theorganizations that are out there
and it didn't.
It didn't seem like, uh, therewas anything that necessarily
helped out the families.
Uh, afterwards, um so we allstarted chit chatting on what we
could do, brought a coupleother guys in.
(03:21):
So, um, uh, the main four of usthat are, uh, are running the
organization.
Uh, is myself, uh, timmcculloch, nick dasso and aaron
mitchell.
Um, so we, we all, you know,put our heads together.
Try to figure out, uh, how wecould help, uh, try and figure
out the nonprofit road, how wegot there which was definitely a
(03:47):
lot of hurdles, a lot oflessons learned, mistakes and
achievements as well.
We got there and February 2023,we started the foundation, got
approved by the IRS I believe itwas about six months to a year
(04:11):
later and so we're 501C3, andwe've just been trying to kick
ass ever since and we've helpedthree families.
We've helped three families.
So that's through.
So what we do is we provideshort-term financial assistance
to families of veterans who passaway unexpectedly.
(04:31):
It's primarily suicide, but itcould be, you know, anything
else that was unexpected.
These families are losing theirsignificant other, but also,
you know, it could be a primarysource of income or just
(04:51):
additional source of income thatyou know they needed to help
kind of keep their familytogether, and that's huge.
So we're just trying to helpout any way we can, and it's
through public donations.
So we try and gain the supportof other organizations our
community, uh, which and we tryand build our, our community,
our veteran community, and bringpeople together for the same
(05:11):
same goal and, uh, it's beengreat so far.
Um yeah.
Scott McLean (05:19):
Is there a particular incident that really
set this off, cause there'susually a catalyst to something.
James Jackson (05:29):
So we, everybody with the foundation we've known,
you know, at least one or twoguys that have committed suicide
, and the one that kind ofreally set it off was the first
family that we actually helped,which was Greg Gillum.
So his wife, leslie we knew herfrom the Marine Corps as well,
(05:53):
but Greg deployed with us and wejust had to do something.
So we put this foundationtogether to help her out and she
has a teenage boy.
So we just had to do somethingand we started reaching out to
everybody we knew, trying to getdonations.
(06:14):
We set up events.
We set up our first event,which was in Beaufort, south
Carolina, where we were firststationed.
It was at a brewery.
It was more so a reunion event.
It was kind of like our firstevent kickoff event for the
foundation, to kind of spreadthe word and just bring some
people together.
So it was great.
Leslie joined us and we had oursergeant major there.
(06:35):
We had, you know, a bunch ofguys from our unit, people we
deployed with and it was just agreat time.
And so Leslie's actually anambassador now for the
foundation and she helps outwith outreach.
But also the biggest part, Ifeel, is speaking to these other
(06:58):
families Because their wiveswho lost their husband went
through the same thing that shewent through and she's the only
one that can really speak tothat and knows what they're
going through and can relate andhelp them deal with the
challenges that she dealt withand help them get past that.
Scott McLean (07:19):
So you're not just local.
This reaches national, or it'snational regional.
James Jackson (07:25):
So I mean we're, we're willing to help uh any
veteran anywhere, but we'respread out throughout the the
east coast.
So I'm in florida, we have aguy in georgia, and new jersey
and massachusetts okay, um, andwe're, we're open to travel
wherever we.
We've held uh events in southcarolina, new jersey, uh down
(07:48):
here in florida and then also inin boston.
We had one this past septemberwhere in massachusetts is he
located?
He's in.
I can't, uh, I can't rememberoff that's okay, I had.
Scott McLean (08:00):
Actually.
That's where I'm from, so I'mfrom boston, so just Sure.
So people reach out to you.
Now how do they hear about you?
Is it word of mouth?
Do you have a like?
Since this is one of thosethings, it's kind of very, very
niche right, right and so how do?
James Jackson (08:22):
people hear about you, so mainly through social
media, word of mouth.
So we try and reach out toother organizations that have
similar missions as ours.
We reach out to our community,ask them to spread the word by
sharing posts, and that's ourmain platform is social media.
Scott McLean (08:46):
I think the networking is a big one, also
because I think all thesefoundations, nonprofits, run
into this.
And well, I didn't know aboutyou until you reached out and we
started talking.
Well, now you're a resource forme and my foundation.
And I'm going to pass the wordon to others, because that's a
(09:09):
pretty noble cause.
You know the families.
We don't like that.
The veteran gets into thesituation where they end up
taking their own life.
James Jackson (09:22):
But it's the aftermath of it that needs
attention, Exactly, and you know, to your point.
There it's.
You know we're advocates ofmental health.
You know we want to stopsuicide, obviously, but we don't
want to be, you know, anorganization that has a need,
(09:42):
you know, but it's stillhappening and we've got to do
something.
We've got to join forces.
We've got to join forces, We'vegot to help each other out.
And, yeah, you want to be thereto support whoever is in need
or is going through a tough time, but unfortunately, it
continues to happen.
So we've got to be there tohelp these families out.
So what's your website?
Scott McLean (10:03):
I'll say this a couple times because this is
important your website,thecallonmefoundationcom
Callonmefoundationcom, and Ithink it's important to at least
take a look at it.
If you're a listener, go andtake a look at the website.
James Jackson (10:19):
It's one of those ones.
Scott McLean (10:20):
It'll stick with you, because now it's a resource
that I think we all should knowabout.
It's a resource that I think weall should know about.
So all of this costs money andfundraisers.
Before I get to that, how doyou it's?
kind of a tough question in asense but I'm sure you have the
(10:47):
answer, and I don't know how toput it in any other way other
than how do you vet familiesthat request?
Because it's impossible to helpeverybody, which now that must
be a very tough decision for youand your board to make,
absolutely so how?
James Jackson (11:06):
if you don't mind .
Sure, yeah, and we do havecriteria that is in our bylaws,
actually and we have to ask afew questions whether it's going
to be the person that isconnected to them or we're able
to connect with the spouse.
Sometimes it's harder, you know, going that route, but, uh, we
(11:30):
need to.
They need to be veteran, um,they need to uh have a need, uh,
so I mean that to to thataspect of it.
You know, if, if somebody isout there, it doesn't doesn't
necessarily need the help, youknow we'd like to understand
that, because then there's otherfamilies out there who actually
do need the assistance and we,you know, like to help them if
(11:53):
we can.
So, and then it also has to be,you know, an unexpected death,
so primarily suicide, but youknow it could be anything else,
an accident that happens and nowthey're gone and you know
insurance isn't covering it orsomething along those lines.
Scott McLean (12:10):
Oh, so scenarios start to pop up.
James Jackson (12:12):
Yeah, there's a lot of different scenarios there
are a lot of differentscenarios, but you know, we're
not investigating.
You know the criteria of, youknow the accident, but you know
we've had people reach out to usand it's like oh, you know, my
father was sick, he had anillness and he passed away and
in that circumstance, you know,that's not really in line with
(12:36):
our bylaws and our mission.
You know, obviously we, youknow we'd love for you to get
some support, but I think thatthere's some other organizations
or other benefits that you canapproach that might help you out
better, right?
Scott McLean (12:50):
Are there any foundations that you guys kind
of collaborate with, or is itjust kind of?
James Jackson (12:57):
So we haven't really connected with too many
other nonprofit foundations thatwe collaborate with.
Connected with too many othernonprofit foundations that we
collaborate with, we've donesome outreach, attended some
events here and there.
We're working on a coupleavenues of other nonprofits that
maybe we can partner with sothat could be a future
(13:18):
opportunity there.
We have coordinated withTunnels to Towers.
They did a 5K event in Boston,where we also had our event at
Cisco Brewery at the Seaport.
So we collaborated with them,we did the 5K, they had our logo
up and then a lot of the peoplethat attended the 5K came to
(13:40):
our event afterwards and we'vealso received a legacy award
from Tunnels to Towers as well.
So they're a great organization, great people to work with.
But as far as other foundations, that's really the extent of it
for now.
Scott McLean (13:57):
I just want to touch on something you just said
.
You said the seaport area ofBoston.
Well, when I was growing up itdidn't look anything like that.
James Jackson (14:08):
It was nice.
It was pretty crazy thatthere's a brewery right in the
middle of downtown.
Scott McLean (14:11):
Yeah, it was pretty crazy without that
building, all those buildingsthere growing up, but that's
another story.
So fundraisers, right?
Well, first of all, I want tosay, if you're a nonprofit, and
you're listening to this, or ifyou're a veteran, or if you're a
spouse, family member or friendof a veteran, this is a great
(14:34):
resource to know.
I think it's very important.
There's not many of them outthere that are doing this and I
think this is at least take noteof this foundation, because it
unfortunately might arise whereyou'll be like how can we help
the family?
Well, go tocallonmefoundationcom and you
(14:59):
have a chance, a resource we'llcall it a resource for at least
advice or a way out to help afamily member, but I think it's
really important.
James Jackson (15:11):
So take note of that if you're listening.
Scott McLean (15:14):
And yeah, so fundraisers, I suppose, are they
done?
James Jackson (15:24):
on an event like on a situation by situation.
Scott McLean (15:28):
Do you have them X amount times like?
Three a year, or you know thenkind of bank roll, the future,
or how do you do that?
James Jackson (15:40):
So obviously we're always pushing, you know,
raising money, because that'sthe prime driver for our
foundation the families thatwe've helped we create campaigns
for, and then we also haveevents throughout the year.
So we're kind of trying to lockdown a cycle for the year.
(16:03):
The seaport, I think, is onethat's going to be recurring, so
each September we're probablygoing to be doing that.
I'm pretty sure we're going tobe doing it in 2025.
We really loved it.
Cisco Brewery was great.
They were very helpful.
It was a great venue.
We are doing our reunion eventagain in April.
(16:25):
So so that was our first event,our kickoff event that we did,
uh, and this is going to be thesecond one, uh, so the air show
is also that weekend and we gota table at the air show as well.
So, uh, so we're going to betrying to spread the word at the
air show, uh, and then we'realso going to have our reunion
on that that friday, right, uh,before the air show.
(16:46):
And, uh, we did do a murphevent, uh, for memorial day.
Uh, it's a small event, uh, butwe did get uh a gym to do a
virtual event for us as well tohelp raise some money.
So that could be a possibilitywe're still trying to figure out
if that's what's a MRF.
So it's the Lieutenant MichaelMurphy, the Navy SEAL, that
(17:09):
passed.
They do a fitness event calledthe MRF, so it's like a run
push-ups, pull-ups.
It's just an exercise event sowe got some people together at a
park in Greenacres and also hada virtual so is there?
Scott McLean (17:30):
I suppose there is a spot on your website for
people to donate.
There is, yeah, there is.
James Jackson (17:35):
Right on the main page there's a donate button
and we also do have a recurringdonation program called the
Support Battalion that we'retrying to push.
It just helps the donationsflow through that can help with
these families and everythingthat comes through goes towards
(17:56):
these families.
We just finished assisting ourthird family recently, and you
know I say finished but that's,you know, sending money to them.
But it's never finished.
We keep them, we keep in touchwith them.
You know we try and includethem in future events and then
(18:19):
you know constantly see, youknow what else we can do to help
out and just be there.
Scott McLean (18:29):
Yeah, yeah, know what else we can do to help out?
Um, and just just be there,yeah, yeah, um, I see, you have
a a resource kind of section onyour website?
Yes, right, um, I would love ifyou put my podcast on, because
my podcast.
My website is really a bigresource page, absolutely
Absolutely.
I'd love to do that, you knowI'd love to just say, hey, take
it, put it out there, becauseeverybody that comes on here
(18:50):
gets an episode and then theirlogo and the website, so it's
kind of a unique resource page.
James Jackson (18:56):
Yeah that would be great.
Scott McLean (18:57):
Whereas people can listen to you before they, you
know.
Then when they go to yourwebsite they're like oh, now I
know kind of get an idea of whatit's about.
James Jackson (19:04):
Sure, you know.
Scott McLean (19:06):
So yeah, I would be glad on it if you could put
it on there.
James Jackson (19:09):
Okay, yeah, for sure so other people can reach
out you know, Absolutely yeahand I did notice on your website
that you guys had a connectionwith Haven for Heroes.
Scott McLean (19:19):
Yeah, yeah.
James Jackson (19:22):
So, yeah, we connected with them.
Johnny Shway, I worked with acouple different people and they
, you know, wanted us to puttheir logo on and help us out
with one of our events, sure,and we've been trying to see
what else we can do in thefuture.
And then you know, I mentionedTunnels to Towers.
(19:43):
And we have a few others, likeReviven, who donated laptops to
us which we've forwarded on tosome of our veteran families to
help them out, because some ofthem have kids, they're in
school and whatnot.
And we also have Idaho AsphaltSupply and Spolly Specialized
Products and Logistics, who havehelped us out with stuff for
(20:04):
events, like either merchandiseor equipment that we needed for
some of those events.
And then Warrior ReunionFoundation.
We're trying to work with themon our future April events for
the reunion.
So what they do is they sponsorreunions for veterans.
(20:25):
What they do is they sponsorreunions for veterans.
So whether it be a hike, youknow a brewery or you know some
other kind of activity, theyhelp put it together and sponsor
that.
Scott McLean (20:34):
Wow, okay, all right.
Well, if you know any of themthat might want to come on the
podcast, let them know, givethem my number, for sure.
I think the more people thatcome on on, the more people will
know about this.
So let me ask you about this.
So now we're going to get tolike a foundation thing, like
and we kind of touched on thisbefore the episode the ask right
(20:59):
?
James Jackson (21:00):
the ask what?
Scott McLean (21:01):
what was your initial take on being, you know,
the foundation and asking fordonations, as opposed to where
you are now?
James Jackson (21:10):
is it?
Scott McLean (21:11):
is it any easier, is it?
James Jackson (21:14):
um, it's kind of uh I guess, uh, not, you know
it's.
um, it is depending on theperson, I guess, depending on
who you're asking, you know,especially if they understand
your take on it and you knowwhat we're all about, that's
(21:36):
definitely easier.
But as far as trying to sellwhat we're doing and helping
some people understand that youknow what they donate is going
to make a difference, that'sstill somewhat of a challenge.
A lot of people are fully onboard, but then it's trying to
(22:03):
get into and figure out how wecan get there just because of
you know, little donations help,of course, and that gets us
rolling.
But you know, if we can getbigger eyes and ears on what
we're doing, then that'll helpus continue our mission.
Scott McLean (22:25):
Absolutely.
The ask doesn't get easier.
You just get better at it.
Sure, yeah, that's what I'vecome to that conclusion.
It's never easy.
You just gotta get better at itand eventually I guess it all
just what's the most they cansay is no right.
Absolutely.
(22:45):
So let's go back to what wetalked about earlier other
foundations and collaboration,what we talked before, the show,
the episode, and we'redefinitely you, one man, one
Mike Foundation, and there's acouple others that I spoke to
that we're kind of going to tryto work our own coalition and
(23:06):
help each other out organically,get to know each other, and I
think more foundations should dothat Absolutely.
I agree, 100, I think it's.
You know, a lot of foundationshave business, business and they
and they, they're lookingforward and they're like you
know, hey, we met this place,but you know, life goes on and
things happen.
But I think foundations have tomake a conscious effort to get
(23:26):
to know each other.
Like I love your cause, yeah,so why would I not want to be
involved with that right?
You know it doesn't run intomine.
It doesn't have anything to dowith mine, it's just.
I just think it's a better wayto work in this world of
nonprofits, and so I lookforward to One man, one Mic
(23:48):
Foundation, and Call on Me and afew others Warrior Golf Academy
.
James Jackson (23:54):
I interviewed.
Yeah, I listened to that.
Jonathan, yeah, I listened to afew of them.
Scott McLean (24:00):
And I appreciate that.
James Jackson (24:02):
You know, I didn't know?
Scott McLean (24:03):
Oh, you were those three Donros I got.
James Jackson (24:06):
I did not know about a lot of them and the
resources.
I know there's a lot ofresources out there, but I've
done a lot of research and theones that you interviewed I
never even came across Right.
I think it was the HerdFoundation that you're a part of
Equine.
Therapy.
Yeah, that's amazing.
I mean I'd love to be a part ofthat.
(24:27):
I mean I think it's really cooland it's a really great way to
help veterans out.
And then the Golf Academy.
Scott McLean (24:34):
Warrior Golf Academy.
Yeah, Very cool.
James Jackson (24:37):
And there were a few others that I listened to.
I know one.
I can't remember the name, butone of the guys owns a gym.
Yeah that's Wade Waddock.
Yeah, so I listened to that one.
And then also the 22 Project.
I listened to that one as well.
Amazing, it is amazing, yes,the resources that are out there
.
I mean, you hear about, youknow, ptsd treatments, you hear
(25:00):
about TBI, but I really don'tthink that there's a huge focus
on TBI, right, and you know,when I was going through my own
counselings, tbi is somethingthat's not really talked about,
and I think there was some placementioned that was on the west
(25:23):
coast of Florida.
It's like that's it, that's allyou have for that condition.
And then these guys are 22project, are doing something
pretty great and, uh, I thinkthe the more of us that can
spread the word and and gettogether, then the better for
our community.
Scott McLean (25:40):
Oh, yeah, yeah, so all right.
When else anything else youwant to talk about, anything?
That you want to get out thereto the podcast universe.
Uh, to the podcast universe.
James Jackson (25:52):
I mean, if you could spread the word.
We really need the help, weneed our voice to be heard and
these families' voices to beheard, and you know there's so
many families out there, justlike the three that we've helped
, and you know there's going tobe a lot more, uh, sadly, um,
(26:15):
you know we, we want this plagueto end, but it's not.
It's not losing any traction,right?
Scott McLean (26:22):
so, um, anything that you know you can contribute
, or even as a share, a like onsocial media we're on facebook,
instagram, linkedin anythinghelps well, I'll do my best to
spread the word because, again,this is a very noble and unique
(26:46):
foundation in what you do and Ithink everybody listening and I
I say this if you like whatthey're doing, if, if you like
what they're doing, if you feelwhat they're doing at the Call
on Me Foundation is touching you, give them money.
Give them money.
(27:07):
That's what helps them, that'swhat helps those families and as
they say every.
It used to say every pennycounts.
Now it has to be a dollar.
James Jackson (27:16):
Yeah, inflation.
Scott McLean (27:22):
I could get political right now, but I won't
.
Every dollar counts and again,this is a great cause.
Help the families and go totheir website, call on me,
foundationcom.
Give them money.
Did I say that already?
I think I did.
I think I did Well with that.
(27:44):
Anything else you want to?
I think that's it All, rightAll right, and James actually
for future podcast guests.
James brought a couple T-shirts.
He's kind of he's giving me aT-shirt, hint, hint.
I got some pretty cool hats too,and he's giving me hats.
Future podcast guests.
(28:07):
Thank you, that's so cheesy.
Well, anyways, again I can'tsay this enough I look forward
to for our foundations gettingto know each other better in
2025.
Any help I could ever give youreach out to me.
I'll do everything I can tohelp you.
(28:29):
Love the cause.
And with that, I just want tosay, as I usually do well, we
built another bridge today.
Very important, all the bridgesare important.
These bridges, and that's thething about these foundations
we're all islands unto ourselvessometimes.
That's why I say we builtanother bridge, because now we
(28:49):
just bridge two foundations.
James Jackson (28:52):
And you're gonna work on bridges right yeah, they
need maintenance, which is arelationship so, uh, we're gonna
make that happen and, as I say,listen to the end.
Scott McLean (29:04):
There's a good public service announcement that
basically covers everything forveterans, family members of of
veterans, friends of veterans,even first responders, even
civilians.
Listen to it.
It's 30 seconds long.
It's very informative.
988-211.
And with that, you will hear menext week with another episode.
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