Creating Everyday Magic

So much of what makes our lives work comes from people we'll never meet.

The teacher who stays late with a struggling student. The volunteer packing food boxes on a Saturday morning. The donor who quietly helps a family through a difficult season. The neighbor who steps up when someone needs a hand. Communities are held together by countless acts of generosity, many of them unseen.

We created the Fellrath Cohen Ward Foundation in 2026 in recognition of that simple truth and with the belief that we all have a responsibility to show up for one another.

Throughout our lives, we have been fortunate to benefit from the support, guidance, and generosity of family, friends, mentors, and community members. We know that none of us gets through life entirely on our own. We also understand that stability is not something everyone can take for granted, and that a small act of kindness at the right moment can change how someone experiences a difficult chapter of their life. The foundation exists to help create more of those moments.

Before formally establishing the foundation, we worked alongside local organizations serving children and families facing difficult circumstances. In 2025, those efforts helped provide more than 100 students with fully stocked backpacks for the school year, fulfilled holiday wish lists for more than 80 children, and supported fundraising events for community organizations. More importantly, they reinforced a lesson we had seen again and again: when people come together to help one another, small acts can have an extraordinary impact.

We have learned that most people will never know the names of those whose generosity helped them through a difficult moment. What matters is that someone showed up when it counted.

We believe every child deserves the chance to feel confident walking into school, knowing they have the same tools and opportunities as their classmates. We believe parents who are working hard and doing everything they can for their families should not have to choose between paying the bills and creating joyful memories for their children. And we believe every person deserves to be treated with dignity, regardless of the circumstances they are facing.

A backpack, a winter coat, a grocery gift card, or a holiday gift may seem like a small thing. But often what people remember is not the item itself. They remember the relief of one less thing to worry about. They remember feeling included instead of different. They remember seeing their child's excitement on Christmas morning. They remember the feeling that someone cared enough to help.

Sometimes the most meaningful forms of generosity create a kind of everyday magic, not because they solve every problem, but because they remind people that they are seen, valued, and not alone.

The foundation takes its name from the families whose values inspired its creation, particularly Wayne and Patty Fellrath and Jim and Denise Ward, whose examples of generosity, service, and compassion continue to guide our work. They taught us that helping others is not about recognition. It's about showing up, doing what you can, and leaving your community a little better than you found it.

That spirit remains at the heart of everything we do.

Through partnerships with local organizations, volunteers, and donors, we work to support children, families, and individuals in need and to strengthen the communities we call home. We believe that meaningful change rarely happens because of one grand gesture. More often, it is the result of people consistently showing up for one another.

We invite you to join us in that work.