Resilience and Remembrance in Susan Combs' Story

Imagine growing up in a quaint Missouri town and then taking a giant leap to start your own business on the bustling streets of New York at just 26 years old. That's the remarkable journey of Susan Combs, our guest on the Kindness Matters Podcast, who not only built her insurance brokerage from the ground up but also penned her experiences to inspire others. Her life, infused with the discipline inherited from her father's illustrious military career, is a testament to the resilience and spirit of those who serve. Susan's stories highlight the influence of her upbringing and the values instilled in her by her multifaceted father—a Marine, an Army officer, and an Air Force member.

The complexities of the veterans' legal system are daunting, but we navigate these intricacies on this episode, emphasizing the invaluable support provided by veterans' legal clinics. These organizations are lifelines for navigating VA claims and appeals, and our conversation shines a light on the University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic, exemplifying the kind of guidance available nationwide. This chapter is not just an informative segment; it's a beacon for those seeking a path through the legal maze that often overwhelms our veterans and their families.

At the heart of our episode lies the story of "Pancakes for Roger” a campaign that embodies the essence of turning sorrow into joyous community action. This global movement, which began with a simple yet profound memory of Susan's father, demonstrates how the love for pancakes can unite people across borders in remembrance and support of veterans. The outpouring of pancake photos and stories, the creative ways people have engaged, and the incredible impact of the charity, are vivid examples of how individual acts of kindness can ripple outwards to create a wave of positivity. Join us as we share how a personal narrative evolved into a collective celebration of life and generosity, forever changing the landscape of grief and remembrance.

Do you dread Mondays? Does the thought of another Monday steal the joy of your weekend? Let me tell you about a product I have found and tried that can do away with the Sunday Scaries. Oddly enough, it’s from a company called Sunday Scaries. I have personally tried their products, gummies and tinctures and I can personally attest to their efficacy. If you go to their website and order any product, use the code Kindness20 to receive a 20% discount on your order. 

Do you like good coffee? Are you like me and go to bed in anticipation of a great cup of coffee in the morning (and afternoon, maybe). Then let me introduce you to my newest sponsor, Coffee Bros. They have built their business on the cornerstones of sustainability, quality, consistency, and freshness. From coffee to brewing techniques to coffee and espresso machines, they should be your go-to for all things coffee. And if you order from them, use the code Kind10 to get a 10% discount on your order.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This podcast is part of the Deluxe Edition Network. To find other great shows on the network, head over to deluxeeditionnetworkcom. That's deluxeeditionnetworkcom.

Speaker 2: 0:14

Kindness, we see it all around us. We see it when someone pays for someone else's coffee or holds the door open for another person. We see it in the smallest of gestures, like a smile or a kind word. But it's different when we turn on the news or social media. Oftentimes what we hear about what outlets are pushing is the opposite of kind. Welcome to the Kindness Matters podcast. Our goal is to give you a place to relax, to revel in stories of people who have received or given kindness, a place to inspire and motivate each and every one of us to practice kindness every day.

Speaker 2: 0:53

Hey, hello and welcome to the Kindness Matters podcast. I am your host, mike Rathbun, and a little housekeeping here first, before we get into the show. As a member of the Den Deluxe Edition Network, I am legally obligated no, I do it out of fun, I like to do it To bring up to you the three podcasts of the month for the month of March. The first one is Bacon is my Podcast Also, I Need Some Creep. And finally, the Beard Laws. In addition, go ahead and check out the show notes for my two sponsors for this show the Coffee Bros and Sunday Scaries and when you check that out and go to their websites. You get a discount for just mentioning my name, so go ahead and do that.

Speaker 2: 1:43

Hey everybody, welcome to the Kindness Matters podcast, and my guest today is such an impressive woman. She's an author, she's an entrepreneur, and this is in no particular order. She's an author, she's an entrepreneur, she's a philanthropist, and I have it on good authority that either the Kansas City Royals or the Kansas City Chief are going to draft her number one. I had to throw that in there. You're a huge Kansas City. Oh, I'm sorry. Welcome to the show, susan Combs.

Speaker 1: 2:20

Thank you. Thank you so much, Mike. I appreciate it and you should have run in there world champs.

Speaker 2: 2:25

Well, I was going to say that and say, you know, congratulations to the Chiefs and yourself by extension.

Speaker 1: 2:32

Thank you. My husband's a 49ers fan, so he's still licking his wounds a little bit.

Speaker 2: 2:36

Oh, how did that go over?

Speaker 1: 2:38

We were actually in Missouri for the Super Bowl and he the first time we played against each other. A couple of years ago we were in separate rooms, but this time he was allowed in the same room. And you know, he did get some extra love from our four-year-old and six-year-old nieces after he suffered the loss.

Speaker 2: 2:58

There was some comforting involved and hats on the back and oh, that's awesome. Yeah, so I mean you're like small town Missouri girl, right, but currently living in the big city. You started your own insurance brokerage at 26 years old. That just blows me away. I mean because you know the whole New York City thing and starting a starting a business is never easy. A and starting a business in New York, is it just exponentially harder?

Speaker 1: 3:45

I mean, I don't know any different.

Speaker 2: 3:46

Right. So, I wasn't for me.

Speaker 1: 3:50

You know, I think the networking opportunities and I mean, and just also too, I mean we have what Over? I mean it was nine million people in the city.

Speaker 2: 3:59

Right.

Speaker 1: 4:00

So there's a lot of opportunities to sell insurance to people for sure. So, but like I said, I don't know any different, so I can't even tell you if it's harder or easier in New York versus other places.

Speaker 2: 4:12

And we should probably shout out the name of the brokerage it's Combs and Co, correct.

Speaker 1: 4:17

Yep.

Speaker 2: 4:18

We'll have a link for that in the show notes. Thank you, that's so cool, but the reason you're here is kind of your relationship with your dad. I was just and I knew this on some level, but I didn't. Apparently it didn't click with my brain. Your dad was in three branches of the military, wasn't he? Over the course of his career?

Speaker 1: 4:42

Yes, he was, you know, once a Marine, always a Marine, right he Marines and then the Army, and then the Air Force, ultimately, Wow, that's crazy to me.

Speaker 2: 4:53

Yeah, I did eight years in the Air Force and I'm like I can't imagine hopping between it's all the service and to some extent it's all the same, but by the same token. I mean, you have, there are three distinct branches and yeah, and I mean to be honest.

Speaker 1: 5:12

I mean he had such a deep love for the Marines and those you know. I mean he was a purple fox the world one of the world famous purple foxes from Vietnam and helicopter pilots. So he flew CH-46s, so they're known as sea knights. And one of the maybe interesting things for your listeners is that I mean to be honest, the only reason my dad was a helicopter pilot is because he couldn't swim.

Speaker 1: 5:39

He was so back then and I don't know if this is still the same way but back then if you were in the Marines and you wanted to be a pilot, if you flew planes, you went to Navy Flight School. If you wanted to fly helicopters, you went to Army Flight School. Oh really. So if you flew, went to Army Flight School, you didn't have to know how to swim. If you went to Navy Flight School, you had to know how to swim. So that's what he always told me is that was the reasoning behind there. So that's kind of also the reasoning why he segwayed into, you know, army because they had helicopters. So when he did reserve status and then, to be honest, I don't even know why he ended up switching over to the Air Force. That's a question that I guess I wish I would have asked him.

Speaker 2: 6:21

Did he fly helicopters in the Air Force as well?

Speaker 1: 6:24

No, not at all. So my dad. He was more intel at that point. So ultimately he did strategic plans and policies and he was on the Jordan Chiefs of Staff for the Army and Air National Guard and he did a lot of long range planning. He was a J5 and 08 for his ranking and everything.

Speaker 2: 6:47

Major General.

Speaker 1: 6:48

Yes.

Speaker 2: 6:48

Two Star yes, they always drilled that into us in boot camp. Be my little general.

Speaker 1: 6:57

Yes, I was ROTC for a couple years in school, so yes, I learned that too.

Speaker 2: 7:02

Yeah, that's, that's so awesome. It's funny you mentioned not being able to swim. My dad was in the Navy in World War two. My dad also could not swim, like Okay, granted, the Air Force was really part of the Army at that point, but I mean, of all the services Given the fact that you can't swim, why the Navy? I never did get an answer out of him, but we used to teach his, tease him mercilessly about that and he passed that gene on to me. So the, the, I can sink in saltwater, jean, my mom always used to say you are the only man I know that can sink in saltwater. But Anyway, I digress. So and and when your dad was in in Vietnam, he Unfortunately came in contact with Agent Orange. Is that correct?

Speaker 1: 8:01

Yeah, I mean, like most of the guys did. So you know, I mean, and that that's. I think one of the things that's kind of a misconception that a lot of people don't realize is Maybe you have a family member that served during the Vietnam era but they weren't deployed over there. They still probably were exposed to it. Wow, because a lot of times when they came back they brought a lot of Things with them and sure it was on everything.

Speaker 1: 8:28

Yeah, and, and they had. You know, they had barrels of it and people that were unloading Cargo ships and and cargo planes and they came into contact with Agent Orange, even though they weren't even over there when they were spraying it. It's one of those things that there's actually a lot of active agent orange claims for people that serve stateside as well as being deployed. Wow.

Speaker 1: 8:52

Wow, and, and Agent Orange, that was a Defoliant was it Just basically cleared, cleared jungles, um so and so. And to be honest, like a lot of the, I mean, my dad was a farm kid. There were a lot of farm kids that were drafted during that time. Yeah, I think a little bit of the methodology was man, if you have to clear a field Before harvest, what easier way to do it than this stuff? That worked really slick. They just didn't know all the repercussions later on that they would. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 9:20

Unfortunately, and and yeah, that that's. That's crazy, yeah, it's. But, and like so many things you know, it's like well, roundup, right, hey, this works really well. It kills everything. Oh, yeah, maybe even me. Yeah, that's, I say that, and it sounds flippant when I say it like that, but I mean, you just don't know. You don't know what you don't know, right. So you, you and your dad had a pretty good relationship though, right?

Speaker 1: 9:50

Yeah, we were. We were very close, very very close awesome awesome.

Speaker 2: 9:55

So After he's retired and did, I see I'm I've got the brain of a golden retriever puppy. I'm sorry. I saw a picture of him on your website in a helicopter and there's a, there's a sticker and reelect. Combs yeah homes for yeah what was it?

Speaker 1: 10:17

House of Representatives, so the Murray, missouri State House of Representatives. So my father's uncle, my great uncle, served in the Missouri House of Representatives and during the Vietnam War he was up for reelection.

Speaker 1: 10:29

So they sent a bunch of bumper stickers and one of my dad's care packages to him, and so then he took the bumper sticker and went and put it on all the helicopters yeah, there were like eight of them that had them on there and so we had always seen like one picture. But then, after my father passed and we were just going through some boxes of things, we found all these pictures of him in different poses with with the helicopters with the bumper sticker on it.

Speaker 2: 11:01

He sounds like a really fun guy.

Speaker 1: 11:03

Yeah, he was a good guy and he just he had a real dry sense of humor. You know, if I brought in any friends of his to talk to you, he would. They would just say you know he, he'd sing you, but you wouldn't know he sings you for about a week. Yeah just, they would hit you and you're like, oh man, he got me good.

Speaker 2: 11:20

Yeah, you're sitting around playing cards or something. Go wait a minute. Yeah, I've been there before, so how long after he was out did he have? Was he diagnosed with cancer?

Speaker 1: 11:38

I'm pretty much right away. To be honest, his discharge papers were, I believe, 2007 and then he was diagnosed with Agent Orange really throw cancer in 2008. Oh, wow. So he actually had aspirations. He was, he was going to go into contracting for the government and my dad had also been in the civilian world. He had been a circuit judge and he had actually won an election to start being prosecuting attorney again and that was one of his favorite roles.

Speaker 1: 12:06

He just enjoyed it and a lot of people, once you've been judged, you don't go back to practicing. But he just, he just loved that position and it was kind of a part-time job. He wanted to keep his mind active, he was looking forward to it. But then he was in DC and he was trying to swallow a pill and it got stuck and it was enough to scare him that something wasn't right and, and after they checked things out, they they saw that there was a tumor growing at the base of his tongue, and so that was in 2008. He was treated at the Mayo Clinic and in Rochester, minnesota, and he had a very major surgery. I mean, he was cut ear to ear. He looked like a, you know, like a mob hit, gone wrong.

Speaker 1: 12:48

But he we found out when he was, when he was being treated, when he had that surgery, that four other helicopter pilots all had the same cancer. Oh, from his, from his unit and so we thought that was just too much of a coincidence for it not to be related, because, of course, when he put in his claim, the government said oh well, did you smoke or drink, sir? And he's like yes, like everybody did that yeah like 99 percent of.

Speaker 1: 13:16

Exactly and so the first claim is denied and wow. But then after we found out that the four other service members all had this cancer, we were like come on, it's just, it's too too much related. So since my father had a legal background and he knew, had the right legal documents and worked with his doctors, his Agent Orange related claim ended up taking about about three years to be paid.

Speaker 1: 13:41

And my family, we thought that was horrendous and we thought it was a really long time, but if you go on the VA website they'll tell you right on there. Average claims take about seven years process and 14 percent of our service members pass away during that process.

Speaker 1: 13:57

Wow 14 percent yeah, so it's just, it's one of those things that it's like you, just you don't know until you get in there and and realize this stuff and you know I mean my dad was like you said, he was a major general and he also had you know, he had the legal mind and could write things properly and it still took him three years so I and he knew where to go. And there's so many people that just don't. They just don't know where to go. They, they take that paper that they got that said that hey, your claim was denied, and they think, okay, that's it. And they don't realize that there's, there's help out there. So there's a lot of veterans clinics, legal clinics all across the country that they're set up to help men and women that are that are dealing with this. So if somebody has a VA claim or an appeal or discharge, upgrades or something like that, a lot of times a lot of these claims come back to just hey, this box wasn't checked or you missed this one form.

Speaker 1: 14:53

And especially if you're a sick service member, you know a lot of time with the man with, or I mean, think about if your child's trying to deal with this for you, because, because you're so ill, I mean a lot of the kids aren't in the service. They don't understand what a DD 214 is, they don't understand all these forms that have to be available. I mean, I was fortunate enough that before my father passed away he's the last year of his life he and I sat down twice and and we spread sheeted everything and my dad told me who to talk to. I mean, my dad told me who the plumber was. You know where the passwords were. You know who to sell the Winnebago to. Things like that. That you, just you. You have no way I know it if you don't ask those questions.

Speaker 1: 15:35

But one of the people you put me in contact with is with another general friend of his that was also. He had actually been former Jag and he was an attorney says Susan, any questions you have about the VA, about the pension, about the claim, about anything for your mother's benefits, after I'm gone you go to George White and you know, and I did, and George helped me navigate a lot of things, just like. A prime example is you know, one of the things George told me is you know, susan, when your dad passes I mean this was a week before my dad passed he said you make sure to get on the death certificate that it was age and orange related throat cancer, because it because it that's that helps the other guys coming down the pike, because they need to know those statistics, they need to see that that was, it was the reason, because, you know, my father passed away at 73 years old and he was somebody that was still working out all the time.

Speaker 1: 16:31

He was cutting it, you know, cutting wood at our timber and things like that, until the last year of his life, and you know his life was cut down too short. And so there's, there's things that you know military families especially need to make sure that they kind of cover themselves, because it just, you know it helps the other people, not only you yeah, oh for sure, and, and I don't know why, but somehow, for some reason, it seems like that military makes it more difficult than it needs to be, it's just government.

Speaker 2: 17:02

Government makes everything hard although I will say my dad got had a rheumatic fever when he was in World War two in the Navy and they they said it was a service related disability.

Speaker 1: 17:16

He'll be right back with my conversation with Susan right after these messages from another deluxe edition podcast in a world where podcasts have become bland and stale, one podcast dares to stand above barrel age flicks podcast. We're reviewing drinks, breaking down movies, busting each other's ball, and we're big in Hong Kong. Barrel age flicks season four. It's in the bottle.

Speaker 2: 17:47

yeah, available on Spotify, apple Music, audible, I heart radio tiktok, youtube, patreon family fans, you and they did a valve replacement on his heart because of it, which was pretty awesome. I was still young, maybe 15, 16. And I remember him and my mom went out to some place in the Bay Area in San Francisco to a VA hospital that was the closest one that could do it and, yeah, they stepped up. But you often hear the horror stories about the VA and how long it takes to get things done.

Speaker 1: 18:26

Yeah, and there's a lot of gray areas, and if there's a gray area, they're going to try to push that gray area. So that's why it's important to have an outfit for yourself. And so I run an annual fundraiser for the University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic that provides free legal services for veterans and their families navigating the VA claims and appeals process and the discharge upgrades and a whole lot of other stuff. But they're not the only ones out there. I mean Yale actually has the largest veterans clinic.

Speaker 1: 18:53

Anybody that I talk to I always say if you have a veteran in your life that's having trouble with a claim or you think that they might be eligible for some benefits, go to, like, start with the closest largest university in your area, because a lot of times they'll have a veterans clinic that can help you.

Speaker 1: 19:09

So, like you know, michigan has one, syracuse has one, you know there's just several out there, but a lot of times people don't know that they're out there. So that's what I always tell them Like, and I will say that even though there's one in the University of Missouri, you don't have to be from Missouri to get their help. So a lot of times there's a misconception that you have to be an alumni from the university clinic that's helping you or you have to live in that state, and that's typically not true. So even if, say, you have a contact with one of the clinics or say one of your listeners is having problems, I mean I'm more than happy for them to reach out to me and I can make a connection for them and if they can help they'll help. But they might steer you more towards if there's a clinic in your area that they know would be able to help you. Just because it would be easier if you wanted to travel and see them. Yeah, it could be easier as well.

Speaker 2: 20:01

Is there like a one website or something that you can go to and find out where the nearest one to you is?

Speaker 1: 20:11

So that's actually one of the things that we're working on for our website now, probably by the end of March we'll have a page on there that has legal clinics, veterans legal clinics, that by state. So that can be a resource. But if you, if you just Google veterans clinics, you know, but make sure you Google veteran legal clinic, because if you do veterans clinics, a lot of times you'll get the VA lists or things like that. But if you put the word legal in there, you can usually get a couple of websites that will pop up that will give you some information. The VA website actually. I mean anybody listening that's had to try to poke around the VA website knows that it's pretty arduous, but there is. There is a list on the VA website too.

Speaker 1: 20:55

But like I said that's going to be something that we have on our website in the near future as well.

Speaker 2: 21:00

Well, since you brought up the University of Missouri Law School and their help with veterans, that means seems like a really nice segue into your philanthropic work, and I love how this ties in. So you are I'm struggling for the word, which is not an unusual occurrence the person who founded the website. The charity Pancakes for Roger. Correct so how did that come about?

Speaker 1: 21:39

So pancakes for Roger. I mean, to be honest, it started out as a movement before it was anything else. So, you know, my father was on hospice and I moved back from New York City to my small town, king City, missouri. There was 986 people on my left, I think it's a thousand, 13 now, booming yeah. But I moved back home to help care for my dad when he was on hospice. And you know, I have a brother that's a nurse and my mother is still living too.

Speaker 1: 22:10

But when it comes to personality, my dad and I just really thought very similar, and so I was the one that could kind of get him to do what he would never, which the other ones couldn't get him to do, because I would just my dad, you could use logic and I'm logical, and so I'm like dad, if we do this, this happens, let's not do that. He's like OK, and then my mom will be like I've been trying to get him to do that for three days, you know. So we kind of had a cadence and my dad and I. Probably one of the things that you and I did us mostly was we were regimented people, we were very scheduled, and so I'd get up in the morning and I'd check on him. If he was good, I'd go to the gym, I'd come back, I'd check on him again. If he was good, I'd get ready for the day, and then I'd come get him ready for the day. And so the last year of my dad's life he had a feeding tube.

Speaker 2: 23:02

Oh.

Speaker 1: 23:04

And he was also on auction towards the end, and so one morning we had gone through the whole cadence and then I'm coming downstairs to help get him ready for the day. And we were very fortunate enough that we had a long-term care policy that would provide hospice services at home, so my father got to remain at home, which was very important to us.

Speaker 2: 23:24

Cool.

Speaker 1: 23:25

And so I went to his hospital bed and he wasn't there. I went into the living room he wasn't there. I went to the bathroom he wasn't there, but I got to the kitchen.

Speaker 2: 23:32

That's got to get your pulse racing.

Speaker 1: 23:34

Well, I'm like where is this man? You know, I mean, luckily for me, our house goes in a circle, so it's just like I just kept going from one room to the next. And then, when I went to the kitchen, he had his placemat out and he had set the table and he was sitting there and he looked at me and I said Dad, what are you doing? And he said well, I want pancakes for breakfast. And it just I broke my heart because it just wasn't possible. And I, you know, I looked at him. I said you know, dad, there's just nothing more. I want to give you pancakes for breakfast. But I said you're on hospice, we have a DNR. I said if I give you pancakes and you choke, we're done here. And I don't think we're quite ready to be done.

Speaker 2: 24:12

Right.

Speaker 1: 24:12

Of course he said oh, yes, I can. Matt said I could, and Matt's my brother and he's a nurse, and he wasn't there that morning. So I knew we were dealing with some oxygen deprivation and some confusion. Oh, okay, so you know, a few short weeks later my father would pass away and when I came back to New York I took one day off of work and my husband said why don't we go to the diner and have some pancakes for your dad? And I, just I love that idea. And so my husband took a picture in the Bel Air diner in Queens, new York, and I told about the story and I said you know, it's, our lives can all change in a blink of an eye and at the end of the day, it's really the little things that make such a difference in our lives.

Speaker 2: 24:52

Yeah, for sure and so.

Speaker 1: 24:54

I said if you're so inclined, why don't you go have some pancakes for Roger and remind yourself of all the blessings you have in your life and all the things you have to be grateful for? And it was just like me sharing part of my heart, part of my sorrow, and that's it. Like I, I never thought it'd go anywhere. And then people started having pancakes and they started sending me pictures. And then people started texting me and saying I can't have pancakes and not think about your dad and talk about the military and talk about service with my kids. And so then what we decided to do is his birthday was February 22nd. So then we started doing every single February we started running a picture campaign in benefit of the University of Missouri School of Law Veterans Clinic, and so we said, for every single picture we get, we'll make a donation to the clinic and my dad's honor. So it just was something fun. I didn't realize how much work it would be like.

Speaker 2: 25:51

Oh, really, it turned into a lot of work.

Speaker 1: 25:53

Well, you know, if you have to count pancake pictures multiple times a day on, like what? Linkedin, facebook, instagram, take care, good God, there's a lot, and I don't have an intern, I'm counting all those pictures myself. But you know, it started out as, like the first year, like I think we got like a hundred pictures Right, and so this year was actually our. So Pancake Star Roger incorporated then as a nonprofit in December of 2023. And then, prior to that, I actually wrote a book called Pancake Star Roger and part of the proceeds of the book go to the Veterans Clinic in Proportuity. So the book came out. So it was like a request from my dad. Then the book came out, then it became a keynote speech and then now it's a nonprofit and then we just completed our biggest campaign ever and because now we're a nonprofit, we can actually have sponsorship dollars to help support the efforts, and so we actually we collected 857 pictures from all over the world.

Speaker 1: 26:59

We got all 50 states. We got all seven continents, including Antarctica, because McBrido came through for me and, force, I reached out to them and I said, okay, guys, somebody got me Antarctica last year, I can't fail this year. And so I reached out to the post down there, the base down there, and the guy got back to me. He's like we don't have any pancakes. But he's just like, but we have a shipment coming on Sunday, so hopefully we're good and they did. And so they had the pancakes and it was great.

Speaker 1: 27:28

But so we got all seven continents and then in 29 countries, wow, yeah, so it's been really, really cool and it's just, it's heartwarming. It is. I'll tell you, I've done a lot of things in my life, but it's just. Nothing touches me, like, like this has, because now there's kids that are growing up on pancake Sriracha and there's kids that look forward to February every single year. Yeah, we run contests. I mean we actually were closing out our voting on Thursday for our contest and with, like, the most creative pancake, the most patriotic pancake the craziest place to have a pancake.

Speaker 1: 28:09

I mean, we had somebody that owns a dry cleaner, that she had one of her staff members. She got into a dryer, a massive dryer, and had pancakes With pancakes, yeah, with pancakes. So it's just, you know, it's just kind of funny. These were not begging people for money, we're just saying hey hey second, to reflect on all the great things.

Speaker 1: 28:27

These are something that any single person can be thankful for today. They could be in the worst, you know, headspace that they've ever been in, and there's one thing that they can be grateful for, and so that's what this is all about.

Speaker 2: 28:39

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 28:40

You know, since we're a nonprofit, I mean the plan is we're building an endowment right now because in 2025, what our hope is is to start giving grants to veterans that want to do projects. So our mission is to unite veterans with funding opportunities to do good in their backyards and beyond.

Speaker 2: 28:58

Oh, that's so cool.

Speaker 1: 29:00

Yeah, so we'll always continue to support the veterans clinic through our annual picture campaign. But now that we're an official nonprofit, we can I can actually do things outside of February, and so we do a weightlifting competition.

Speaker 1: 29:13

In February there was the dragon slaying competition. There was a lot of fun. We're going to do a virtual walk run this this September, I believe, and then we're going to do another virtual weightlifting competition, just for fun. I think there might be a challenge in there that we throw in. I don't know we're still kicking it around if it's going to be like pushups or or sit ups or something like that.

Speaker 2: 29:31

Just for fun. Oh, I'm out.

Speaker 1: 29:33

I'm going to need to get out, yeah.

Speaker 2: 29:36

That's great. That is so cool, and it just started off with your dad asking for pancakes. Wow.

Speaker 1: 29:45

That's it.

Speaker 2: 29:45

That is so cool.

Speaker 1: 29:46

Yeah, I mean. So it's just it's. It's one of those things that it's like, you know, a lot of people think that you know that they can't make an impact, and you know, so it's just been so fun and I'll tell you, like on social media I mean because when we're trying to get all the states of Wyoming is always my bone, it could be is always my hardest state. Well, it's like there's only about 500,000 people in that whole state.

Speaker 1: 30:12

So it's hard to get. But that's always the state that just gives me a little bit of heartburn, until until we get it, because it's always like the few, few days left and we're like, come on Wyoming, pull through, and then we get like seven Wyoming pictures in one day. I'm like, oh, I'm like you guys can come out. So I told my husband, I said we're going to retain this information, we're going to go to the Wyoming people first next year, so I don't have to stress out about Wyoming.

Speaker 2: 30:36

So what was the most unusual place? Was it the dryer this year?

Speaker 1: 30:42

So that's one of the. I mean because we're letting the public vote. Oh okay, and so those all get announced on Friday. But there was, there was Antarctica, there was so that was a creative place. There was somebody having pancakes in a dryer. There's an Air Force veteran that lives in Colorado and he hiked up an 11,000 feet elevation mountain on his lunch break to just have a pancake for Roger. So it's-.

Speaker 2: 31:11

On his lunch break, as one does right.

Speaker 1: 31:13

Exactly exactly.

Speaker 2: 31:15

Wow, that is so cool. So you finished the campaign for this year. Yeah yeah, and so many big plans for next year.

Speaker 1: 31:24

Yeah, so I mean, it's just like we're always trying to grow in a ball, I mean. So the the week, like I said, we collected 857 pictures throughout the world. The donation to the Veterans Clinic is going to be in excess of $10,000 this year.

Speaker 2: 31:37

Holy buckets.

Speaker 1: 31:39

Yeah, and that's I mean, that's almost double what we did last year on on our donation. So our donation last year was a little over 5,000. And so one of our sponsors is actually matching the donation up to $5,000.

Speaker 1: 31:51

So it's pretty cool, yeah. So I mean we'll, we'll see. I mean I'll tell you the contest have been fun. What are the other things that we did, since we're having sponsorship now is people were able to sponsor states and put put their logos on the states, but then also, too, if somebody doesn't have a business, we were letting them shine a spotlight on maybe a cause that they're.

Speaker 2: 32:12

that's near and dear to the crowd.

Speaker 1: 32:14

So there was a woman from Montana that she wanted to sponsor Montana and she's very big in supporting women of indigenous tribes. So there was a logo from an organization she's a part of that she sent. That's what we put on Montana. There was one woman that she's a pretty big speaker for five under 40, which are is a breast cancer charity and so that logo on one of them. And then we also just designed some logos for people that wanted to do that as well, and that was just kind of fun for us.

Speaker 2: 32:44

That's so cool, and this is because I should tell my maybe. I just shouldn't tell them. I'll just tell them to go to the website. Do you have a map?

Speaker 1: 32:51

Yes.

Speaker 2: 32:52

Yes, of where every place where you've received pictures from, and I went on there and I went. I wonder if there's one from Minnesota and I looked at the map and I went when isn't there one?

Speaker 1: 33:02

yeah, yeah. So we yeah with all the states and all the countries. I mean it's just in the continents too. I mean it's just been fun. And I do have a friend that's supposed to go to Antarctica for first his vacation next year. So he's guaranteeing me Antarctica. But I'm gonna stay in touch, close touch, with the McMurdo.

Speaker 2: 33:23

How many other people do you know that have a contact at McMurdo?

Speaker 1: 33:27

You know what? I'll tell you. Instagram, like I reached out, I contacted three explorers in Antarctica and I, guys, here's the deal we run a veterans charity and we try to get pancakes, and all you know and all the continents, and I was like I need your help and so you know, we have fun with it. I mean because not everybody likes pancakes, not everybody eats pancakes.

Speaker 2: 33:50

So, since we have the month of year you can eat a pancake and take a picture of it.

Speaker 1: 33:55

Yes, or you don't have to eat it. You can just take a picture, but we don't eat a pancake. No when you can do scallion pancakes like, if you like them, from Chinese restaurants. Oh, we call waffles pancakes with apps. Wow, in Europe they're not pancakes a little differently.

Speaker 1: 34:14

So it's more like crepes, so we'll count crepes as as pancakes. And then there was somebody that that submitted one that was a Japanese. It was almost like a chopped up vegetable flat, just and they called their Japanese pancakes, and so we accepted that too. So it's kind of cool because we had somebody that submitted some from Indonesia this year and they're like these fluffy pancakes that just I don't, I don't, I don't even know how they make them, but I was like that's pretty cool. So just kind of getting creative is a lot of fun too.

Speaker 2: 34:44

So I'm out on the push-ups and sit-ups, but if you need somebody to taste, test some of these order pancakes, I'm your man.

Speaker 1: 34:51

There you go, there you go. I mean, you have issues with the book too. So, since there's the book, so we get people that take pictures of the book and that counts as a as a picture. And then, since we had the weightlifting competition and we have some swag now, but if people bought sweatshirts or things and we had some people that, like, would buy a sweatshirt, they had the book and they had pancakes, and so we would count that as three donations.

Speaker 2: 35:12

Nice, multiple things that we count, count multiple times to oh my gosh, susan, this, oh this has been so much fun. I mean, one of the one of the things I like to do with my show is take something heartbreaking your dad's cancer and and passing and then Show how we can turn into something positive and that's it right there. You are such an inspiration and I absolutely love your program pancakes for Roger. And you know what I should rerun this next January Towards the end, just to remind people to do that in February.

Speaker 1: 35:55

Yeah, it'd be great, we love that I do that.

Speaker 2: 35:59

Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it, susan. It's been just awesome.

Speaker 1: 36:06

Awesome talking to you. That's why we had it right.

Speaker 2: 36:11

I got there sooner or later. It happens every now and then I I glitched. Thank you, I do appreciate it. I wish you so much luck with pancakes for Roger in the future and we will be back in touch. Thanks, what a fantastic conversation with Susan Combs, ceo of combs and co insurance brokerage in New York City. If you're looking for insurance, also the head of the charity pancakes for Roger and you know what.

Speaker 2: 36:46

I don't need an excuse to eat pancakes, but this will be an extra special inspiration come next February to to order some pancakes at any rate and take a picture of it and set it in all of Susan's links. Her Facebook or LinkedIn Instagram will be available in the show notes. I wish them so much luck. It's such a great program for veterans and that will do it for this episode of the kindness matters podcast. We will be back next week, as always. Until then, be that person who roots for others, who tells a stranger that they look amazing and encourages others to believe in themselves and their dreams. Thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate the 30 40 minutes it took for you to Sit down, listen to this episode, and I appreciate you for that as well. You have been listening to the kindness matters podcast and I am your host, mike Rathbun. Have a fantastic week.