How One Final Hug Became a Mission to Save Kids | Todd Lingel, CARES Foundation

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Welcome everyone to Doing Business with a Service Art Podcast. I'm your host, Steve Ramona. I'm thrilled to have you join us today. This podcast is dedicated to exploring the idea of doing business and living life with a purpose, serving others and yes, achieving success. And boy, my guest today is going to rock your world in such a great way. We believe that when we approach our work and our lives with a servant's heart, we truly can make a difference. We created this show for you because I want everyone to be motivated, inspired, educated to make an impact in your world. Whether you're an entrepreneur, community leader, or simply someone looking to bring more purpose into your daily life, this podcast is here to support you. While you're listening to this incredible guest today, I want you to think about how you're going to serve today and what impact you'll create today. It doesn't have to be a big impact, but do it today. Let's help some people. And I want to thank my sponsor, uh, incredible sponsor by Pantheon Alliance. You know, picture yourself with a highly successful, highly income-earning community of people that want to change the world. Uh be part of that community, uplift your business by doing good. That's what the Pantheon Alliance does. If you have any questions at all, please reach out to me and I'll get you more information and get you connected with the right people. With that being said, I I just met my guest today and I got goosebumps talking to him because this guy has so much passion. He's been through a lot himself personally with family, but he still moves forward, even though it's slower than he wants. But that's what a servant's heart does. Always looking at ways to make a difference. Todd, so I want to so welcome you to this great show.

SPEAKER_03 2:40

Oh, thank you for having me on. Uh Steve, it's just it's a it's it's wonderful to be here and uh be able to share my story.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

There's so much to talk about, but cares foundation. I want to start there. Why does it say cares or why do you have that logo that you had, babe? You could show the people if you want.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

Okay. So here's the the logo here. And it's Cares Foundation, and I'll talk a little bit about it and then I'll bring it back up again. So when I started, I've been speaking for probably 20 years, off and on. And uh when I started this up, I didn't know what I knew I wanted to be cares because my mom's name was Karen, K-A-R-E, my sister was Shelly, um, and they both were killed by a drunk driver. And I grew up in Idaho, and I wanted to speak at a church down there that my dad and stepmom were going to, and people there knew my mom when she was alive. So I went down and I don't know, I got to talking to the minister, and my dad was there, and I'm not sure how it all came about, I don't remember, but we figured out that the minister's wife's grandmother was a first responder to my mom's wreck. And I was three years old. This was in 1975. Wow. And so I'm I'm like, my first question is, is she alive? And they're like, Yeah, she lives like 30 minutes from here. And I said, Well, I can I call her, absolutely. So I called her and I was able to spend a couple hours with her. And um, I said, Will you please tell me about the scene when you came on the scene? And you know, at first I was skeptical whether she really was on the wreck or not, but she goes, Yeah, I knew your uncle who worked as a deputy coroner in a neighboring county. So she goes, I knew your family. I'm like, Oh, okay. So she told me when she got on the scene that there was an older lady there that had, she goes, I'm guessing was uh trained in 4-H group or something like that, because she had tons of gauze on everybody. Uh, of course, except for my mother and my sister, they had passed. Um, and I said, Well, can you please tell me about my mom and sister and how they were? And uh, I don't know if I want to get too graphic here, but uh when they hit driver-to-driver head on and it shoved the the uh hood back in the windshield, my mom was driving a 66 Chevelle Super Spart. And back then, kids stood up in the front seat, and uh it uh took my sister right above the eyes and she was killed instantly. Um the first responder, her name was actually Donna. She goes, Your sister was sitting in the front seat, and the part that was decapitated from her was sitting to the right of her, and she goes, Your mom was giving your sister a hug. And I go, Well, that makes sense because I said my mom's death certificate said she died moments after impact. So I really think my mom looked over and saw that my sister was gone and was able had enough life left to hug my sister. And so that's where my logo comes in. It's a buddy of mine. I came back here to Arizona and was talking with him, and he's his name, company's name is Mindweight Graphics, and he goes, Man, I gotta do something with a K. So the part of the K that wraps around the other leg is significant of my mom giving my sister a hug. Um, and again, my mom's name was Karen, that's where the K-A-R-E, and then my sister was Shelly. That's where Keres comes from.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

To have to lose two people that's a true angel. Is this the inspiration for Kares Foundation?

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Absolutely. This is the this is the one and only only uh you know the the main driving force. And of course, God is is definitely directing every which way we go. Um and you know, I every time I go to speak somewhere or talk to somebody, I always I'm always introduced to somebody that's that has either has a story as well or or or whatever. It's just it's it's just amazing. In fact, my daddy even calls me up weekly and says, Who did you meet this week? So it's it's it's God is good.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Amen. What's the I know you talked about DUI? Obviously, your foundation is part of DUI. We've talked before the show, human trafficking. What's kind of the mission and goal of the foundation?

SPEAKER_03 6:51

The goal and mission is to save lives. That's that's the number one thing. And speaking to junior high and high school age groups, kids, um, you know, depending on where I'm at, depending on what I'll talk about, but but I do, I mean, I always talk about my mom, my sister, and drinking and driving, not doing that. Um, another aspect I talk about is human trafficking. I'll talk a little bit about that. Um, and uh I'm close to Tucson, Arizona, and the the border wall, and there's a lot of human trafficking there. Um, so I talk a little bit about that, and then I can also talk about social media and kids not knowing who they're talking to on the other end. Um, and kids get kidnapped that way. I've got an actual friend of mine that got a story there as well, uh, that uh it happened to their family.

SPEAKER_02 7:36

So do you situation again, your friend?

SPEAKER_03 7:41

No, it was actually social media. Um they uh okay, they uh uh he does a security business and flies to California a lot, so they wanted to get some help for their uh his wife and they have three younger kids, and so they went to their church and got a referral to this gal. I don't know, she's around 20 something, 24. And unbeknownst to them, she was being uh groomed by an online predator, and she took photos of their kids in the shower and bathtub and stuff, was sending those photos to him, and their girl was old enough to kind of understand it, and she told dad, well, then dad got involved, the police got involved, and uh they tracked the IP address down, and it was a guy that was in the military, um, and he's doing 30 years in prison now. Unfortunately, she was supposed to get some time as well, but her family fled to Mexico, and as of right now, as far as I know, they're still in Mexico, and the Marshals were getting trying to get okay with the Mexican government to go in and get her. But uh that's a that's just a you know, you never know who's being groomed, who's been, and that was all by the social media. And so, you know, I talk to these kids, it's like you don't really know who you're talking to. And if you're gonna make the bad decision to even meet them in person, take more than one of you, you know. I'd hope they don't make that decision. But, you know, I tell these kids it's okay to make mistakes in life, that's how we learn, but I want to help you not make those mistakes that are gonna last your lifetime.

SPEAKER_02 9:14

Yeah. What's the you know, plus somebody donates a hundred dollars to the foundation. Um, by the way, Arnold's I'm donating right after this. I'm gonna get his link and donate to his cause because it's incredible. Is it resources? What are you gonna do with the money uh to you're not gonna solve the problem, but help support this problem in a good way?

SPEAKER_03 9:35

Right. Some of the resources that I'll be using is force for me to go speak, but then I also have coming up here is called Camp Cares, and I use the the K for because of the significance of that. And so, what this camp is going to be is I'm having 75 kids from the area that have been affected by drugs or alcohol. Um, we're gonna have them up at an Elks camp out of Globe, Arizona, and uh we're gonna have some group counseling. I have a friend of mine that is a um trauma counselor, uh child trauma counselor, and have some counseling in the morning and afternoon group counseling, giving the kids some more tools to help them in their daily life. And we're gonna have just a lot of fun. Uh the the theme is survivor, so we're gonna have some survival skills and we're just gonna be kind of like the TV show Survivor kind of uh you want to have a little, a little like adventure on the last day and do a luau the last night. Um, and so these 75 kids, I'm gonna have 25 volunteers as well. So we're gonna just have a good time, just allow them just to be kids, give them those extra tools, and when we come back to the area, um, I want to keep in touch. I'd love to keep in touch every quarter, get this all together and to be able to continue the growth with these kids and hopefully getting them those tools to help other kids in their area and their their friends and their in their realm. And this is the the first one here in Arizona. Um, but I want to do this, I would love to do this in every state. Um, my next one, I'm actually headed to Oregon here tomorrow. I'm speaking at a uh high school uh church camp. And uh I have a friend down there that directs camps, and hopefully uh the second one will be in Oregon, and then we'll go to Idaho. So uh the plans are there. We're just raising funds. It's $300 per child uh to sponsor a child. Um and uh it's gonna be a great time, you know. Uh yeah, and it's all all about the kids.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

So the idea of the foundation is camps. Let's get camps all over the United States, maybe internationally, if it grows that big, just to educate them, have fun, show them different ways besides social media and meeting strangers and all those different things. I I love that. How important is education for kids?

SPEAKER_03 11:49

Oh, it is so huge, you know. And I it I would say is the number one thing because the kids, as we all knew growing up as we get older, that man, we made some mistakes and wish we'd had somebody to guide us there, or even someone that we could call and ask. I give every one of these kids my cell phone number, my personal cell phone number. And I tell them if they're in trouble, I don't know if it's clear if it's two o'clock or three o'clock in the morning, give me a telephone call because I would rather be a buffer between you and your parents if you're afraid to even call your parents if you're in trouble. Because I would rather you call me than take a risk on doing something and getting hurt. And it's it's better that than having a police officer knock on your parents' door saying, hey, I'm sorry, your son or daughter's dead or they're in jail.

SPEAKER_02 12:36

Yeah, that that's I I love that. And and I'm assuming a part of this will be parents' education too, because that's important as well, right?

SPEAKER_03 12:44

Absolutely. And I I think the the big thing for parents is build that relationship with your kids to where your kids aren't afraid to call you if they're in trouble. Um, that's the huge thing, right there. Um, I know you can't, you know, you want to be a parent, not just a friend to your child, um, but at least have that relationship built and know that they're and if they make that mistake, drinking and or something like that, or drugs, that they will call the parents. Um, you know, and uh and of course there's consequences for every action.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

And I tell those kids that, you know, yeah, no, and that's good, yeah, because it's like anything that I'm a big sports guy, a coach that comes in screaming at you, uh yeah, it gets you crazy, but doesn't really sink in. But the coach comes in, hey, you made a mistake. Here's what you did, here's how to fix it, and you can do it with a strong same with the parent. I mean, it's yeah, you don't want them calling their friend or their parents' friend. I mean, you want to call somebody, but it's important. Yeah, let's dream big. Let's because I I love what you're doing. I've said this story three or four times on this show. Let's dream big. What do you see happen in 2025 with the Keras Foundation?

SPEAKER_03 13:57

2025, you know, definitely that's when our this uh the camp takes place in 2025. Um dreaming big, you know, if I had the funding, I would have all three camps going next year in all the states, and just fully driving this. Um, I will go, I will go all over the United States. I will come and speak to anybody that wants me to come speak. And I don't need a hotel room. I got a sleeping bag, I can sleep on the floor. I don't care what it is, I will do whatever it is to spread the word. Um, and uh, and so I really that's where I would see 2025 for now. I I do have a dream of opening up a treatment facility uh for teens or uh sober living homes as well. So uh there's there's a focus, but we know we there's stepping stages to to get going, unless we had a someone that was had that healthy pocketbook and said, hey, let's just go do it.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

You know, a million bucks, yeah, exactly. Or a hundred thousand dollars. Yeah, and audience, by the way, if you do, reach out to them. Uh absolutely if you want to help, you know, and and and again, I'm gonna donate, but donate to what you're comfortable doing. I mean, every little bit counts to get him closer to his goal, and and it's such a cool, awesome goal. You know, one question you gave me, and we talked about a little bit was how does somebody decide which foundation to donate to? They're inundated with direct mail and emails and all that. Hey, do this, do this. How do you decide?

SPEAKER_03 15:26

Well, I would say the first thing if you're a believer is pray about it. Um, for one, uh, first thing. And there are a lot of great things to donate to. And I would say by me above others, I think the big thing for me is I talk with the kids, not at the kids. And I'm willing to get right in the trenches with anybody and everybody. I'm not better than anybody else. And you know, I'll do whatever it takes. Like I said, give me a sleeping bag, I'll sleep on the floor, whatever I have to do to get the word out and save a life, I will do. So I guess as far as to donate to me, is I'm gonna do whatever it takes to make this work, and your money is not gonna go just fly by the night.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

You live in ritzy hotels, driving private plane. Yeah, thank you for saying that. And that's the important thing, too, because there are nonprofits that have abused the money, and it's we're not gonna get into that, it's not important. Um, your nonprofit foundation is faith, church and God is a big part of your life, and I love that. How has it kept you going? Because I want to talk about you've had some challenges the last few months with you and your dad health-wise. How has faith helped keep you going?

SPEAKER_03 16:44

Oh man, that's the only thing that's kept me going. Um, I'll kind of go back to it a little bit with my story. Um, when my mom and my sister were killed, it was June 14th, 1975. I was three years old, and I was in that child development stages. And back then, you know, you didn't go to a counselor. Um, you know, the attitude was buck up buttercup and just kind of move forward. And that's kind of what my dad did, just kind of shut her and shut him up. We didn't talk about my mom and my sister. Um, I saw my grandmother once a year uh on my mom's side, and my uncle lived like 15 minutes from us, and I didn't see him, but maybe once every couple years. Um so growing up, I always felt like there was something that I didn't know what was there. It was, I know I was a good, pretty good foot sport athlete in in uh in football and basketball growing up and stuff. So I was in that in crowd, if you'd say. Um, but there was just something that bothered me. And about 30 years old, 31, so it came up. And there was a point where I was depressed, and the doctor's like, well, let's get you on some medication. Well, the medication made me worse, and I had a shotgun in my mouth, and I almost committed suicide at one point. And uh, I honestly I don't even know where my head was mentally, and it was definitely God that brought me out of that. And it was like, Okay, what's going on? So I called the on-call doctor that weekend. They're like, be in the office Monday morning. I said, Okay, so I was, and I said, you know what? I'm done with medication. I don't like taking the medication. I said, I'm a church-believing gentleman. I said, I want to go to a Christian counselor, and between Christian counseling, God, and I was coaching basketball at the time, I said, between the three, I said, I'll get through this. I don't know how it's gonna take, but I'm gonna get through it. So I went to about four years of counseling um and learned I have general anxiety and separation anxiety. And of course, at the time I had depression, but I, you know, that was over pretty quickly. So I've learned how to deal with the anxiety for the most part. There's still days that it gets me, you know, and you tip your hat and say, Okay, you know, I'll go for a drive or something. And so, you know, I talked to these kids about my kind of my whole story and let them know that you know I've been through it, and so I can talk to you about it if someone's going through that type thing. Um, so uh and and then my dad almost died uh just a little bit after I started this up, and so I went and helped him out, and then I had emergency gallbladder surgery, and my gallbladder was entangled in my liver, and so it's been a rough last couple years, but you know, hey, God is that's the one thing that's solid is God is there. When I was going through my tough times, sometimes I didn't know where rent was coming from, I didn't know where food was coming from. Um, and it's like church family, it seemed like it was always there, especially when I had my recovery from my gallbladder. Um, because it threw me into I have gout too, and it threw that gout into jet disarray. And there was sometimes I was crawling to the bathroom, um, and I had a couple people from church family that brought me food. Um, that's the only way I would have been eating, um, or the only way I ate, not would be, and that's the only way I ate. And so, you know, God is good no matter what you're going through. Open the Bible, read the Bible, um, and rely, and that's the other thing. My dad always said this one comment to me, see if I can say it right. Don't deny someone else blessings from God. And his meaning in that was ask for the help, allow church family people to help you because you're stopping them from getting their blessings from God. And so I've I've always remembered that because it's been hard for me to ask for help. Um, and so you know, that's one thing I would encourage people that uh they're going through a tough time.

SPEAKER_02 20:40

Todd, it's that's such a great story, and and I love the ask part because especially us men, you know, buck up buttercup. I love that I think I've heard it before. It's it's such a funny phrase, but it's a dead serious phrase because us men, yeah, that's one of our nut strengths, is hold all that emotion in, and it's not good. Men out there, if you're listening, it's not good. I've been a counselor myself. It's such a powerful pastor, Christian pastor. And whether it's that or anybody to talk to in the field, it's Todd's telling you and showing us with his stories how important it is. I I'm gonna say this with all my heart, Todd. The legacy you're leaving your mom is so awesome. People support him. I don't say this a lot, but this is more than just a business or a non-popular foundation or money, it's a much bigger thing. And this guy has a huge servant's heart. You can see it, you can feel it. Let's help him because I've already gonna help them before the show. I've got some things to do. It uh it takes a community, not just me. Let's help the Cares Foundation. I uh uh Art, I'm sorry you're getting on the soapbox, but uh these are huge things and the world's a crazy place. We just need to have a servant's heart. And help. I wanted to say that. So support them. But let's have a little fun. I want to kind of lower the theme. We're at the end here. I love asking this great question. I'm excited to hear your answer. So talk walking into a restaurant. You've got a table of four reserved. You're in one chair. The other three seats, dead or alive, who would you invite and why? But the most important question is what food would you order?

SPEAKER_03 22:27

Oh, uh, okay. Food prime rim. I grew up on I grew up on a dairy farm, so it's like, yeah, bring bring the state.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

Five seats. You got me at it. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:38

All right. Well, excuse me, I'm gonna take a drink real quick.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, prime rib guy. Uh can't beat a good prime rim. Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_03 22:51

So the first one is gonna be God. Okay, God, let's have a little discussion here. You know, um, yeah, yeah, yeah, a lot to ask. Um and then of course, my mom and my sister. Um, you know, I don't have one memory of them. So uh that would absolutely be so I guess if four seats myself and those three, that would be probably probably that, um, for sure. Um, and if I didn't have my mom, my sister, you know, I would uh I would probably have um, you know, Abe Lincoln would be an interesting person to talk to, you know, um, just to see what it everything was about back then. Um and uh um let's see trying to think who else one other person would be. Probably my grandpa on my dad's side. I never ever I mean he was eight years old when he died, so I never really got to to know him. Um and uh uh I died of a brain cancer. So probably probably that.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

We'll add those two extra seats because those two are need to be added. Hey, these are not die rule, you know, set rules, they could be changed. So we're gonna get a table of uh six.

SPEAKER_03 24:09

That works.

SPEAKER_02 24:10

Um how can people reach out to you, Todd, and support you?

SPEAKER_03 24:14

They can go to our website. It is KS with a K, K-A-R-E-S dot org. Um, you can go on there, look at the website, you can donate uh on the website, and you get a uh we are 501c3, so it's tax deductible. Um and you'll get a receipt right there when you donate. Um, you can go to the about me page, about us section. You can read about me, and there's a picture of my mom and my sister there.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

Awesome. Like I said, I'm gonna say it again. I've said it twice already. I'm gonna go right after this show and donate. If you can't, that's okay. There's other ways to be a servant's heart, but if you can, and they're a little every little bit counts, especially something this could be huge. We could talk in a year on my podcast, and this guy be a rock star. I don't think I think he will. I know he will be, because God's behind him and God always does great things. Todd, thank you so much for being on the show and being very transparent about your story.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Thank you so much, Steve, for having me. And uh, you know, you're doing great things. Keep doing it.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

Thank you so much. Uh everybody, don't forget about my TV show, Together We Serve. It's every Friday at 2 p.m. Pacific, 5 p.m. Eastern. Um, as I always say, me and Todd, thank you so much for watching or listening to this podcast. And we look forward to seeing you all in the next episode of Doing Business with a Servant. Sorry. Talk to you soon.