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(Rocket Family Of Companies) Community Challenge
Pollinator Garden Fundraiser/This Fundraiser Has Closed - Thank You For Your Donations!
I'm Jea Santovasco, Jay Austin's mom, the founder and creator of The Jay Austin Simply Be Kind Foundation. But I'm also a remote New Jersey Real Estate Appraiser with Rocket Mortgage, based in Detroit, Michigan, the leading mortgage lender nationally.
Rocket Companies has organized a Community Challenge to run from August 1st through August 25th; rallying around causes and the nonprofits they care about. The Rocket Community Fund is giving away prize money to support this fundraising campaign. The winner of the challenge will be the foundation that has collected the most in donations. My Foundation is campaigning to create a pollinator garden in the Detroit area, Rocket's headquarters; with aspirations of winning this challenge!!!
Bees, birds, butterflies and beetles are among a growing list of pollinator species in jeopardy of global extinction, a trend that could threaten the world's food supply. Pollinators are important contributors to world food production and nutritional security. Wild flowering plants are most at risk; nearly 90% of them depend on animal pollination to some extent. Their decline is primarily due to changes in land use, intensive agricultural practices and pesticide use, alien invasive species, diseases and pests, and climate change. The good news is that a number of steps can be taken to reduce the risks to pollinators; with one of those steps being pollinator gardens. Let's create a pollinator garden in Detroit; as urban areas are most at risk!
As you may know, at 389 days of cycling the globe, after pedaling through 27 countries, beginning his journey in South Africa, while literally on his bike in Tajikistan, a country in Central Asia, Jay, a Washington, DC resident, minimalist and environmental advocate, was intentionally and brutally murdered in 2018 in a terrorist attack simply because he was an American. Jay was 29 years old.
Our Foundation's mission, advocating for Jay, to continue his legacy and inspirational spirit, is to promote positive change through awareness for cultural diversity, literacy, nutrition, the sustainability of our environment, minimalism and the great outdoors, with an emphasis on cycling; all Jay's passions.
My Foundation's Board Members and I are touched and grateful to receive a nomination from my peers at Rocket to participate in the Rocket Companies Community Challenge.
Although I'm not from the Detroit area nor do I currently live there, I have visited Rocket's Detroit headquarters and find the city bustling, energetic, innovative and lovely. A pollinator garden would add to Detroit's already aesthetically-pleasing landscape, while contributing a much needed environmental benefit.
We hope to touch every member of the Family of Companies, but also anyone and everyone from outside of Rocket.
No donation is too small but every donation will help. As we are a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, your donation is tax deductible to the full extent allowable by law.
Please note that the system is not open to accept donations until August 1st, 2023. We thank you for your patience and ask if reading this prior to that date, that you please note your calendars accordingly.
We thank you for your time and for considering our campaign.
Let's do this!
Learn More
This fundraiser is being conducted through Mightycause on behalf of the Rocket Family of Companies. Click/tap the FUNDRAISER button to be taken to the fundraiser. However, the system is not open to accept donations until August 1st, 2023. We thank you for your patience; and hope you mark your calendars accordingly.
'I could die doing what I love, but I could also die never having really lived. To me, that would have been a far greater tragedy.' - Jay Austin
Jay truly lived .. up until the very moment he was intentionally brutally murdered in a terrorist attack while cycling the globe.
Jay lost his life simply because he was an American.
May 1st, 1989 - July 29th, 2018