In this episode of The Best Dam Podcast, Jill sits down with the Magon and Shawn Peuker, the strategic masterminds behind The Rae of Hope Foundation. Together, unpack the world of nonprofit advocacy and explore how a basic plan of infrastructure and personal persistence can transform a chaotic, high-stress environment into a highly manageable roadmap for bringing next-generation support and community to special needs families.

The discussion dives deep into the high-stakes world of modern nonprofit operations—from turning a personal 10-year passion project inspired by their resilient daughter Raelynn into a fully realized foundation to adapting to massive operational changes like expanding from a single recipient model to serving multiple beneficiaries across Southern Nevada. Magon and Shawn also break down the eye-opening results of their unique community-building methods, sharing how they balance customized care packages and personal vetting with helping beloved local families thrive right here in Boulder City and beyond.

DISCUSSION

1. The Evolution from a Personal Dream to a Growing Network: Magon explains how a deep passion born out of navigating their daughter's seven strokes quickly scaled from a 10-year vision into a fully realized, multi-beneficiary network built to safely meet the region's growing support demands.
   
   
2. The Core Philosophy of Structural Inclusion: Rather than allowing rigid age limits or condition criteria to disrupt a family's access to help, the foundation operates on a strict blueprint of open qualifications, allowing families dealing with any physical or mental needs to establish a foundational sense of stability.
   
   
3. The Funding and Seed Money Advantage: Drawing on their extensive background managing family resources, Magon and Shawn bring a deep understanding of financial commitment to their daily operations, and establish the foundation before community events dramatically scale their capabilities.
   
   
4. The Vetted Family Reality Check: Shawn highlights how connecting with a client's real-world environment dictates successful care package distribution and long-term interaction.
   
   
5. Integrating Custom Care Packages and Commerce: To break down financial barriers, Shawn shareas how their digital store allows donors to purchase merchandise or actively sponsor a child's customized monthly supplies to improve efficiency.
   
   
6. The Structured Lifelong Connection Routine: The foundation facilitates a strict cyclical routine of keeping beneficiaries connected to all future social gatherings and community events.
   
   
7. The Mentorship Power of the Parent Network: Magon points out a heartwarming shift in company dynamics where experienced special needs parents naturally step in to teach, share trusted medical resources, and resolve complex care issues for new families in a real-world environment.
   
   
8. High-Stress Rehabilitation via Healthcare Guidance: For overwhelmed families who cannot safely access clear guidance or handle complex insurance systems immediately after a diagnosis, Shawn and Magon implement specialized peer advocacy to effectively redirect parental energy into productive, stabilizing focus.
   
   
9. The Light-Hearted Sense of Humor Standard: To ensure every family dynamic remains healthy and completely resilient, the household conducts an unfiltered routine of inside jokes and shared laughter, figuring out that embracing funny moments establishes a positive path toward overall family health.
   
   
10. Collaborative Main Street Alliances: Emphasizing that there is no true competition when supporting local development, Magon highlights her seamless, on-the-ground collaborations with neighboring businesses like Celeste from Lady Lux Cleaning to orchestrate large-scale regional initiatives.
    
    
11. The Unbeatable Value of Community Trust: Jill, Magon, and Shawn highlight how vital earning and maintaining the trust of devoted subscribers and local donors is to the community, reinforcing that when individual local organizations adapt and support one another, the entire town elevates together.

LEARN MORE

The Rae of Hope Foundation: Explore their full lineup of customized care packages, beneficiary sign-up forms, and online merchandise donation options. https://raeofhopefoundation.org/

Boulder City Chamber of Commerce: Head over to the Chamber website or stop by the office to discover how joining the local network can help jumpstart your business marketing and connect you with trusted industry experts. https://www.bouldercitychamber.com/

RAE OF HOPE FUNDRAISING EVENTS

• Boulder City Community Garage Sale, July 17-19
• Southwest Diner Fundraiser for The Rae of Hope Foundation, July 25 at the Southwest Diner
• Craisy Daisy Fall Market, September 11-12, 10am-6pm
• First Annual Rae of Hope Benefit Dinner at the Boulder Creek Golf Club Pavilion, October 9, 2026
• https://raeofhopefoundation.org/upcoming-events

KEYWORDS

Magon Peuker, Shawn Peuker, The Rae of Hope Foundation, Special Needs Advocacy, Nonprofit Operations, Community Care Packages, Family Support Networks, Boulder City Chamber of Commerce, The Best Dam Podcast, Podcast Interview

#MagonPeuker #ShawnPeuker #RaeOfHopeFoundation #SpecialNeedsSupport #NonprofitAdvocacy #BoulderCityCommunity #SmallBusinessAlliances #TheBestDamPodcast #PodcastInterview

Podcast Transcript 

Jill: Listeners, today we have a treat. We have Miss Magon Peuker, as well as her husband, Shawn. So very grateful to have you guys on the show today. And, Magon has been here before, so this is like old hat to her, but Shawn, this is new for you. And so welcome, and, thanks for joining us.

Shawn: Thank you for having us. We're excited to be here.

Jill: And so today we're talking about Rae of Hope Foundation. Such a special, absolute passion project for you guys. And so thank you so much for telling us a little bit more about this program. we are grateful to now feel like we know Raelynn, and so tell us a little bit more about Rae of Hope Foundation.

Magon: Yeah. So our foundation is obviously, like you said, built on passion. We have a 13-year-old daughter, Raelynn, that has had seven strokes, and we completely understand, the mission and the heartache and the grief and everything that, comes with, having a special needs child. So we decided that we have to do something for the community, that we stand so firmly behind.

And we completely understand what these, these families go through on a daily basis with either their children or a loved one that they're taking care of. And this has been a passion of mine for over 10 years, and my amazing husband, Shawn, made it come true and came to life this year.

And, we are, we're just going headstrong in it right now. I'm ... We have six beneficiaries that have signed up just, over the last couple months, at the different vendor shows that we've been at here in Boulder City. And we just love meeting the families, and, have different upcoming events, which I'm sure we'll talk about.

And we're just excited to get into the community a little bit more and provide those, different services for them.

Jill: So Shawn, Magon talked about community. So there's multiple communities that she's really speaking of, right? So not only Boulder City as a community, your family, your support network as a community, but the community that you are serving by having the foundation.

So many other families that struggle, that don't even know that they need somebody to talk to, but when they do, they're just like, "Pfft, that's what exactly what I needed." I can imagine that so many have reached out to you and that community is growing.

Shawn: Oh, it's constantly growing. Yeah, we're getting people signing up.

As a matter of fact, when we pulled in the parking lot today, we had somebody else that wants to sign up. It's been a constant flood of questions and signing up and people needing that help and support that they're not getting elsewhere, that they can't get. And, it's very difficult for some people to find help when they're signing up for big organizations.

Make-A-Wish is great but it could be very hard to get on that list to be able to do that. We're trying to create a list of where we can help as many people as we can. Anybody who signs up, we vet them, we do a video call with them, we get to know them as a family with whether it's in person or on video, and we find out that, they are who they say they are we do a vetting process to make sure that they're not just making things up and trying to get some freebies. And then from there, we go through with the Rae of Hope care package. We, send them out a care package for their families. We give them things that they need if they like going outdoors, we'll give them, waterpark passes for a year or something like that. And, Yeah.

Jill: I think that is amazing. And so I wasn't sure initially when we first started talking about this, I wasn't exactly sure what your end goal was, what your mission would be. Obviously, to serve special needs or families in support of that. But you're actually, you have an application process. you provide different services.

You provide them with not only just the gift package, but, also support surrounding that as well. And so how hard is it to apply? Let's talk about how simple this really has meant. You have created it so that it is, it serves everybody.

Shawn: It's so easy. You go to raeofhopefoundation.org, and that's R-A-E, and you scroll down the page.

It's right below our family photos, and you it says, "Sign up to be a beneficiary," in big letters. You fill out the form. You can upload pictures if you would like. we prefer that you do, and it helps us when we're reaching out to the community to be able to show who the family is that's signing up.

And it helps us raise money for that family. It really tugs on the heartstrings of the people that wanna donate when they see photos of the family and who they are. And, super easy. Real easy process.

Jill: And so then you spoke about donors. So how do you go about cultivating donors?

Magon: So this is all something new that we're navigating as we go along. Like I said, this is only a couple months into the process. But I just kinda wanna, take a step back a little bit. Like he was saying, it is an easy process. I wanna make sure people know that, as much as, Make-A-Wish and those types of foundations are amazing, they have age limits. They have different, criteria that a lot of people, maybe are too old, or they might not be able to, be able to apply for those types of things. So we are, like, no age limit, adult, child, teenager, different abilities all across the board. And, so we just don't discriminate against anybody.

And, our mission was originally to pick one beneficiary by the end of the year, right around that fall time, and be able to go to that family and to give them as much money as we raised and be able to give them the resources and, you know, give them whatever their wish was for that year.

And it has just become it's tugged on our heartstrings to be like, how do we choose a family? One. You can't choose one.

Jill: Yeah.

Magon: So like I said, we have about six people, I think seven now, after somebody signs up today and instead of, we're like, why instead of flooding somebody with an exorbitant amount of money, why not help everybody obtain what they can, what they need?

Because I feel like that's gonna go a long way, at least for the, the first couple of years. Why don't we just help everybody? Because obviously that's gonna grow the community. We're gonna have more people within the organization, that can show up for these things. And I'm telling you, like these people that have signed up, they're not asking for 20, $30,000.

They're asking help for $3,000. Some of them are like I just, I need to pay back my mom for teeth that I, had to have or I need a wheelchair that's $6,000. So I'm like, why can't that 30,000 be spread or 50,000 or whatever we're gonna, get, be spread between the families, and help everybody?

So to go back to your next question as far as the donors, that's all new to us. We, we're hoping to, raise money and have as many donors as possible. We have, an upcoming event which I'm so excited to talk about. It's gonna be on October 9th. it's gonna be a benefit dinner that we have, with the community, and it's gonna be at the Boulder Creek Golf- Club Club pavi- yeah, yeah, the pavilion. Pavilion. And, we're gonna have an amazing band there from Vegas that, Shawn actually works for, and I'll let him get more into that. But, it's just gonna be an amazing night. it has surpassed everything that we thought of for our first annual benefit dinner, and, I think that's where the donors are gonna come in strongly, I think, for that event.

And, I really don't even to tell you the truth, I don't even really know what that looks like right now, but we're learning. we're learning the process along the way.

Jill: That is awesome. I am super excited. I will absolutely save that date on my calendar, for sure. I love where you've come from, and that you're adaptive, right?

You have to be. You've learned that in life. And so as you make that swing to go from that single to as many as you can potentially afford, I think that is phenomenal, and I think that also drives up the donors' interest, right? When they know that their dollars are going to help as many as, can potentially need it, I would imagine that would drive more interest, the, versus just the one.

It's always great to help one and to provide them everything they need, but I love the idea that any need that's out there, you can address it in some way, shape, or form.

Magon: Yeah. Sharing the wealth, for sure.

Jill: Absolutely. and as a potential donor, I can imagine that would, I mean, that would trip my heartstrings, like you said, and that would be something that I'd be far more interested in.

So I can see that. So how are you setting up the cultivation? Are you, Is there a mechanism on the website? Can they just go to the website and donate? Have you met with wealth managers so that they understand that you have this foundation and what its purpose is so that they can recommend you to their clients?

What is your process in 'Cause that money, getting the money first. Beneficiaries are awesome, and I have a feeling you'll have a lot more, but how do you get the dollars to feed them?

Magon: I think I'll have Shawn kinda touch on the website and how you can donate, 'cause he's the one that set that up.

But I will say a lot of our own personal money to front everything has come out personally from our bank account, just to get this started. Like any business, it's a non-profit, but like anything, when you start out, all of that, all of your own money kinda goes into it before you see any return.

And so we, we've been, putting out a lot of, our own, money for, the care packages and to come up with down payments for certain things,

Jill: So the seed money to get started.

Magon: Absolutely, yeah. So that's kinda where we're at right now. I think this benefit hopefully turns us around. You can go on the website and you can donate. You can be a monthly donator. You can, do a one-time donation. We are really hoping that many people show up for this benefit dinner because I think that's, like I said, I think that's gonna be our turning point where people are gonna see, wow, that's what they do, this is, these are the lives that they are changing. This is very touching. We wanna give to that. 

Jill: Yeah. 

Magon: So when we show our mission that night and we have those people's faces up there and we tell their story, and we, have an amazing dinner and we have an amazing community show up, and, people are just, their hearts are in it, and then we end with this amazing band at the end of the night, I think it's just gonna blow people away.

So yeah, if you wanna add anything.

Shawn: Yeah. like she was saying, on the website, it's super easy to go on there if you wanna be a donor. We do have a pay link on the website where you can do a direct deposit or a card or whatever. Perfect. also on our store, if you visit our store, I don't know if you've seen that yet- I have but we have a store where we sell products, and that we're taking 100% of the money that we make, the proceeds after, paying for supply, the overhead, and that all goes towards the beneficiaries as well. And on there we have a, sponsor a child. So what we're doing with that is, one of the kids that signs up, they could be the child that you're sponsoring.

 Jill: Oh, that's cool

Shawn: You can do a $75 one-time sponsor or you could do monthly, and we will put your information on there as much as you would like to put. So just say Jill wanted to do it, we would put that this is from Jill, and this is her. She's the one that's sponsoring you. We give you the information of the child we're sponsoring and show you photos, and we'll send you pictures of, them receiving their care package for that month

Jill: Oh, cool

Shawn: and everything. and we're hoping that will be, like, a- another way for the family to receive, products and medical supplies and things that they need. And the $75 does seem. It seems high, but it also seems low. what can you 

Jill: Yeah 

Shawn: get for $75? Not a lot. In today's world, you can't get a lot for $75.

But with connections that we're making with people, we should be able to get things at cost which will make that $75 go a lot further.

Jill: A lot further. Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, that is such a cool concept because then you feel like you're... There's a lot of buy-in. You feel like you're a part of that family.

Shawn: Yep.

Jill: That is very cool. 

Shawn: Absolutely. 

Jill: Yeah, I want to do that. So I will go on for sure and sign that up. That is really cool. I, so I don't know if you know this, but Magon and I have shared, we have a daughter with special needs, but I have one in, every sibling in my family. And so the... You are right.

The medical costs, the additional training, the, different programs, the different, apparatuses that they need. there's just so much, and I don't think people really realize it. I think they just get very comfortable in their own lives and they don't see that. So having those stories, having that visual, for people to witness, I think you're right. That's really what's it's going to take it to the next level. 

Magon: Absolutely. 

Jill: So you're actually right.

Magon: One other thing I wanted to add is that once you become the Rae of Hope, or once you become a part of the Rae of Hope Foundation, you are a part of the family forever. It's not just a one and done, here's your wish or here's, here's the money that we raised for you.

Thank you for, being a part of this foundation for the year. You come back to our events throughout the year for years to come. So once you're connected with us, you're always connected, and it just grows. And I love the idea of always staying connected because not that they're gonna be the beneficiary every year, but we have seen some powerful things even within the families that have been able to say, "Hey, you know, we go to this therapist," or, "Hey, we use this doctor."

And so there's just so much power in the numbers of people in the special needs community families that can connect with those other families. So we believe that once you're in. You're in it for life. So 

Jill: Yeah 

Magon: this is gonna be, it's gonna be an amazing adventure, and you're always gonna have those resources, and you're always gonna be able to tap in, with our community.

Jill: Yeah, you're providing that interconnectivity that they, a lot of times they feel like they're all alone. They feel like they don't have a resource, they don't have a champion, they don't have somebody to help. Okay, when this door shut, what other door do I go to? And yeah, that's amazing.

Magon: The advocacy is a big piece for them, for sure.

Jill: Absolutely. And I can imagine that's just gonna roll right into the foundation as well. So before I ask you about other events, tell us a little bit about the band that'll be performing.

Shawn: They're a band. Ben is one of my very best friends. He was in my wedding. He was one of my groomsmen.

And he is from big bands like Lifehouse, Savage Garden, Tal Bachman Brett Young Vertical Horizon and many more. he's huge in the guitar world. He was born in '75. He's been on this earth for a while. He's really good at what he does. He's from Australia. He puts together bands in Vegas, and he supplies music to different venues and that in Vegas.

He's got a business for that. And his bands that he puts together, he makes sure that he has the best of the best. He's very picky on who he has in his bands, and he does a very good job at doing a great lineup of artists for different style of bands. The band that we're gonna have, their style is, it's softer.

It's not as rock show, lights flashing, strobe lights going off, people getting drunk and throwing things.

Jill: Over sensory.

Shawn: Yeah. it's not a hard metal band. It's more soft, but they're going to play songs that everybody loves. Everybody grew up with these songs, and the singer is phenomenal.

He's one of the best singers I know.

Jill: That's cool.

Shawn: And Al, the drummer, he's amazing. He's awesome.

Jill: That's very cool. My nephew is Dave Navarro.

Shawn: Oh, wow.

Jill: And so nice the whole guitar concept and all of that is just that talent and skill, how it all can go into one little body just blows my mind.

Shawn: It's unbelievable.

Jill: Yeah. Isn't that crazy? I think that's awesome that you have that connection, and that they're willing to come and do this, because I'm sure that they also sense your passion in this, and they want to be a part of Crop Finding a Solution.

Shawn: Absolutely. Ben's always been there for me. Yeah.

Jill: That's cool. very exciting.

Shawn: Very supportive.

Jill: It's the people you know, right? It's back to that network.

Magon: The connections are big.

Jill: It makes a huge difference. Okay. So what level or, as far as the special needs, do they, are you determining a level that helps you determine who a beneficiary will be?

Do they have to be on the spectrum? Do they have to have physical? Is it psychological? Is it behavioral? What type of, disability do you feel like you want to serve?

Magon: Any and all. Okay.

Magon: And that's why I was saying a lot of these families get turned away because they don't fit the criteria. And so when these families come up and they were like, "Oh my gosh," "I'm, 25," or, "I'm past the age limit of, being able to sign up for these types of services," "Are you able to take somebody like that?"

I'm like, "Yes, sign up." We want to be any and all. We have kids on the spectrum of, autism spectrum of all levels. We have, somebody that's blind. we have, a couple of people in wheelchairs and, not just medically, but, Or not just physically, I should say, but mentally as well.

We believe any type of physical or mental need that you are needing services or that you are needing, resources or supplies, medication, all of those things add up and you don't have this normal living a normal life is already expensive enough for a person, but I feel like those extra expenses for anybody, that falls under that category, just needs that extra support.

So we, like I said, we will not turn anybody away.

Jill: I love that. That is awesome. And so do you foresee an educational component that comes from this? I, know you as a speaker, you're out there sharing this information, but I almost feel like there's an educational element that comes along with the foundation that, in order to enlighten people, in order to talk about accessibility, in order to provide families with the information that they might need, maybe the, a child's just being diagnosed, they don't know what the future looks like. It almost feels like there's a whole educational series here that could come of this.

Magon: I think you're right, and I think you're onto something because with the book, with Raelynn's Flower Garden it set me up, that foundation alone set me up then to become a speaker. And then after becoming, having some speaking opportunities, it then allowed me to have this platform with the Rae of Hope Foundation.

And so I do utilize, the book. I do utilize going into classrooms and hospitals, and I've always told Shawn, too, that why can't we go in when a family gets the diagnosis And they know about our foundation. Why can't we be one of the first people in there and be like, "How can we help?"

not only by just signing up, but how can we direct you to the next, path of life that you need to go on? I remember being in the hospital, not know you're dealing with your child, you're dealing with that loved one. That's the only thing you should be dealing with.

You do not need to, you should not be needing to understand the logistics of Nevada's healthcare or the insurance part of it or, what resources your loved one can get.

That should definitely come into people like us that can say, "Here's a couple of opportunities. I think let me help if you need help. let's do this together."

Jill: I love that, and I think you're right. I feel like that is the number one thing you could do is set them down the proper path and reassure them that there have been so many other people who have felt exactly like you have, and there is light at that tun- end of the tunnel.

Magon: Correct.

Jill: That's the rae of hope, right?

Magon: Correct.

Shawn: And building that community, too. it really helps if in that community that we're building, we have people that can help with that. If somebody wants to be a phone call away for these families and be like, "I'll help them with the medical side of it, with the insurance side of things," when we have somebody there that can help with that in our community, then that helps the families not stress.

They don't have to stress while they're in the hospital about that, They're, like Magon said, they're dealing with family with the problem that their child or their family member's having. They don't wanna deal with insurance. They don't wanna deal with all that crap. It's hard enough.

So when we have somebody there that can be a phone call away that they can be like, "What do I need to do next? I'll deal with it for you. Give me your information. Let me help you out." So 

Jill: Oh, that's awesome ...

Shawn: we're really trying to build that community.

Magon: And to touch on that just a little bit more, our families have provided some really good information as well.

So it's not just us giving the information, but like he was saying, like, when people sign up and we get that community going, those families have directed us to resources that we didn't even know about that we can now give to other families. So it, it really 

Shawn: Absolutely 

Magon: Yeah, it really does full circle around.

Jill: I love that. And so share some other events that you guys are planning. Are there educational, you know, more trade show type stuff? What are you looking to do besides just the benefit?

Magon: Right now, the only other event that we have coming up is we're gonna do a Boulder City community garage sale in July. And that's gonna be the 18th and 19th, I believe, of July.

Jill: Okay.

Magon: And it has gotten a lot bigger than we originally planned. We were just gonna do it at our house, and we were just gonna do, if people wanted to donate some items for the Rae of Hope Foundation, they could bring it to our house, and we could, spread it out on our lawn, and we could have this garage sale, and all the proceeds would go toward the families.

However, word has gotten out. People are like, "How can we help? How can we volunteer?" let me help you with a bigger space," because we actually got involved with the Ronald McDonald House. 

Jill: Oh, wow. 

Magon: And now the Ronald McDonald House is "We want you to come tour, the house, and we actually have a garage sale around that same time, and we get loads and loads of stuff from people," because obviously they're a big organization.

People know them very well, and they're like, "We can't take everything in. It's only one day, so anything that we don't sell, we want you to have it." So I'm like, "Okay, how is this all gonna fit," right? At, at our, in our cul-de-sac. So we actually have, Celeste. She's amazing. I just met her at one of the community groups.

She is from Lady Lux Cleaning. She's helping me. Oh, that's in Toronto? Yes. Yeah. she stepped up, and she's "Let's do the space, in that, the parking lot- Oh over there. She's "I'll get the okay from the landlord. we'll talk to the other tenants, make sure everything's good, and let's just have it here."

And I'm like, "Awesome," 'cause we need a parking lot because of how much stuff we're gonna have.

Jill: So let me know if you outgrow the parking lot. I love Celeste. She's amazing. But if you outgrow the parking lot, I would be happy to have the chamber sponsor one of the parks for you and pay for the insurance. So if you want it to be on city property, spread out in a park, I will, we'll make that happen for you.

Magon: That would be amazing, too. Yeah. 

Shawn: That would be great. 

Magon: We'll see how big it. Yeah. We'll see how big it goes.

Shawn: We might hit you up on that park thing later too 

Magon: Yeah 

Shawn: because we're talking about maybe doing like a fun day at the park type event for, not only our families that have signed up 

Jill: Oh, yeah

Shawn: but anybody in the community that wants to come, bring your kids, have a blast, do games 

Jill: What a great day ... 

Shawn: and jump houses, and just make it like a fun day at the park. 

Jill: Yeah. 

Shawn: We wanna do something like that. We haven't gotten there yet on what we're gonna do, but we do wanna do something like that.

Jill: And so this is going down a very specific tangent, but so do they have bounce houses and other, activities like that are adaptive for kids with special needs, physical special needs?

Magon: They do. I would love to use the people of Boulder City and use as many of our vendors locally

Jill: Yeah 

Magon: as we possibly can, so I can definitely reach out and ask. obviously there's different abilities, and it wouldn't just be bounce houses, but maybe we would do a splash pad, or maybe we would do something 

Jill: Yeah

Magon: to where there's enough activities for each person 

Jill: Yes 

Magon: depending on their abilities to do.

Jill: I know Joyful Moments would love to help with that, but I can imagine there's, she only has so much stuff, if some way to kind of compensate or maybe have it down at the splash pad and then have bounce houses along with that. I've seen that down at the park before so that 

Magon: Yes

Jill: all family members can participate. That's a great idea.

Shawn: Yeah, that would be great, and then you have horseshoes, and you have the big park 

Jill: Yeah 

Shawn: you can go play in and stuff.

Jill: And yeah. And, pickleball and basketball right across the street, volleyball just down the way, so there's something for everybody.

Shawn: Yeah. Yeah,

Magon: that'd be great. Yeah, that'll be, yeah, that'll be amazing. 

Jill: What a fun day. I can imagine that. Rae of Hope has fun.

Magon: Yes.

Jill: That's awesome. I'm loving it. yeah, let me know how that all works. I'm happy to help if I can. So I would imagine that some people might think it's offensive if you laugh at some of the funny things that do happen with people with special needs.

But as a family member, have you ever had a funny experience or a funny moment that you're just like, "Oh my gosh," you just gotta laugh at it, and, and hope that other people see that there is also you've gotta have a sense of humor, and it's okay to laugh. Have you had an experience? 

Magon: 100%, and almost on a daily basis.

Shawn: Yeah. 

Magon: I mean, we do not you know, we're not uptight when it comes to, certain things that we laugh about or joke about. We are doing it all in good fun with Raelynn. Raelynn laughs along with us. it is not making fun of her. But yeah, you've gotta enjoy those moments and be light on your toes for those types of things, 'cause if you're uptight, then, that's no way to live.

So I often feel like the people that are uptight don't have, special needs family members. So they're just like, "Oh my gosh, that's not the correct term," or, "That's not the correct way we would do things." And I'm like, "Well, that's how we do things." So 

Jill: Yeah.

Shawn: We have so many inside jokes in the house that when we get out in the public and I'm saying those things to Raelynn, she thinks they're funny. We know the joke behind it, but other people do give you looks like, "What are you saying?"

Jill: Yeah.

Shawn: It's fine.

Jill: Yeah, totally. 

Shawn: We have fun. 

Jill: That is our household 100%. I just spent the weekend with my nephew on the river. We canoed, and we have a few of those different things, and I think, "Oh, crud, hope nobody heard that," because it's light-hearted, and it just relaxes the moment, but other people are probably like, "Oh my gosh, so offended." But anyway, That was one of those things I Popped into my head. I actually have a really funny story.

So when my, daughter was very young, she has no social filter, and everything just comes right out, right? And so we're in a public restroom in an airport and we were the only ones that were in there at the time, but then somebody came in and just happened to go right next to us. There's I don't know, 50 stalls, and she's right there.

And so she passes gas and Abby immediately goes, "Oh, mom, that's gonna stink. Gross." And I was like, "Okay, I've got wipeys in the, in our diaper bag. We'll just wash our hands when we get out of here," 'cause I couldn't get out of there fast enough. But, little things that they're hysterical to us now and we laugh about that stuff, but I know that poor lady was super offended, and I felt horrible, but I could not face her, so I just took my kid down to the other end of the airport.

Anyway, but little things happen, and you have to laugh about them. They have to be your family jokes. Those are those inside joke too that they bond your family, right? There's, bonding moments that come from some of those things, and I think people dismiss it. So anyway, I appreciate to know that I am not alone. See? This is our community. It's making us all feel better.

Shawn: Some of the things that make Raelynn laugh the most are the really bad things like that, you know

Jill: Yeah 

Shawn: like the funny things. 

Jill: People farting

Shawn: Yeah 

Magon: or bad words. 

Jill: Oh. Bump,

Shawn: bad words, yeah. If some bad words

Magon: are said, then

Shawn: she'll- If we need her to smile during photos or something, we'll, start saying bad words 

just to get her to laugh,

Jill: That's awesome. 

Magon: And people are looking, giving side eye like, "Really? This is how you talk?" I'm like, "Hey, whatever." you don't know. It takes, two hours she's to get pictures, like the one good picture. So if I have to say one bad word to get the picture for our family, that's what we're gonna have to do.

Jill: I love it.

Shawn: Okay. You walk by a table and bump your shin, oh, man, she cracks up at that. And, and- She loves the pain in other people

Magon: a little sadistic humor. 

Jill: Yeah. I know. And isn't that interesting? 'Cause that is the same way with my other two nephews as well. I don't understand what that is, but or if somebody gets, somebody yells at somebody, he just starts laughing, and sometimes it gets out of control, and you have to, then you have to step in. But yeah, I find that fascinating that is something that trips them up which, makes me laugh.

Magon: Yeah.

Shawn: Yeah.

Jill: Makes me giggling It's funny even more.

Magon: Exactly.

Jill: Okay. So I know a little bit about Magon's behind the scenes and what people don't know about her, but Shawn, what is something people don't know about you?

Shawn: Oh, man, that's a hard one. Something that people don't know about me. I don't know. I'm an open book. I usually, I'm very open with everybody,

Jill: What do you do for your day job?

Shawn: My day job right now is the nonprofit, and then I work for the band, and that is, here and there doing shows. I just got back from Nashville last night, actually.

Jill: Oh, fun.

Shawn: doing a show for JBL in Nashville. So we went and drove out there, set up the gear, and then I flew home. They stayed there to do the show. so I would say work with the band, but that's it could be once a week. It could be once a month,

Jill: And I don't even, it doesn't sound like work. It sounds like you enjoy it too much.

Shawn: It's fun. Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

Jill: That's awesome.

Shawn: Yeah.

Jill: And they must be really great guys for you to be willing to hang out like that.

Shawn: We're a family, for sure.

Jill: That is so cool.

Shawn: Yeah.

Jill: And they're all based here in Vegas?

Shawn: Yeah.

Jill: Oh, that's even better.

Shawn: they have residencies in Vegas at the Cosmopolitan, they have a residency.

They have a residency at the Caspians in Caesars.

Jill: Oh, very cool.

Shawn: Yeah.

Jill: Okay. I know you don't necessarily read books often, but what are some of your, what are your pastimes? What are some of the things you like to do?

Shawn: I do the stock market. I like working on the stock market for, as more of a hobby than a job. That's, I've been intrigued by that since I was probably early 20s. Really? And I started reading books on that, on the stock market that, my books that I like are the books that I learn. So stock market, psychology, books like that. Other pastimes would be probably I just, I love, this nonprofit we're working on, really.

That's been, like, my night and day, and I really love the logistics behind it, building the website- 

Jill:Yeah 

Shawn: and doing the store, and doing the shop, building clothes for the store, things like that. So I really enjoy that.

Jill: On the stock market side, are you utilizing AI as an assistant, 

Shawn: No 

Jill:or are you a purist? 

Shawn: Purist, yeah. Got it. 100% purist. I read the news online and watch the news, and study, CEOs, and study behind-the-scenes business financials and stuff, and then I base it off of that.

Jill: Watch what Warren Buffett's doing and-

Shawn: Yeah, exactly 

Jill: pattern it. I find that fascinating. It's one of my kinda side things, but, I don't make a lot of money at it, but I do enjoy it.

I think it's awesome. what are some of your side hobbies, Magon? we learned a lot about you on the last show, but are there other things that you like to do? Do you crochet?

Magon: No. I do not. I do not crochet. You know, I have different artistic talents, but I'm not, the I can't draw, and I can't crochet, and I can't, do those types of things.

But I do have a creative mind, I think. So I think my favorite hobbies is probably and you're gonna hate me for this, but house projects. 

Jill:I love To-do lists. Yes. I'm good at to-do lists.

Magon: I love our house projects. We are actually in the middle of redoing our pantry right now, and, we created, a pantry off of the kitchen that used to be a laundry room. So Shawn literally, there's a video on my, on my Instagram of him lowering these huge washer and dryers down the stairs just recently to make our pantry upstairs. So we're right in the middle of that, and I love creating, new spaces in my house. I'm there almost, every single day 

Jill: Yeah

Magon: in what I do, and so I want a beautiful space to look 

Jill: Yeah

Magon: at and to come home to.

Jill: Organized and 

Magon: Yes 

Jill: open space and 

Magon: Yeah. That's exactly who I am. I love organization, and I love clean lines and beautiful spaces.

Jill: I love it. I agree. I'm with you 110,000%. And so are you reading any new books right now?

Jill: The last one you were Hope Muller.

Magon: Yes. Yeah. So that's right.

Yep. So I actually, through Women Supporting Women, which is a monthly little, group that gets together here in Boulder City, I met a wonderful woman. Her name is Sherry Molinatt, and she just gave me her book.

Jill: Oh, cool.

Magon: I think it was last night that we had our It was, another something.

It was not 365, but I think it was Women Supporting Women last night. And, I got her book, and, I'm gonna start reading that. It's Light Versus Dark. 

Jill: Oh. 

Magon: And so it's like the evil and, the good and evil back and forth in the world, and how, how we rise above the darkness. I'm excited to dive into that and support a fellow woman of Boulder City.

She actually has a, book signing on, Saturday the 13th, 

Jill: Oh, very cool. 

Magon: Yeah. 

Jill: That is interesting. I did not know that was the name of it. I had heard that she had written a book, but I wasn't sure. That is very cool, and I'm glad to know that she's sharing that information with everybody through a book signing, 'cause that's the best way to make sure that your locals build that community, right?

Magon: Absolutely.

Jill: That is awesome. Very cool. And so I would imagine, Shawn, you probably have had amazing parents that have led you to be the person that you are today. Have they taught you any life lessons?

Shawn: love. They taught me love. we have a very close family. It's me, my brother, my two parents. And my parents met in middle school, and they've been together ever since.

Jill: Aw, that's sweet.

Shawn: They love each other all day, every day, and they're happy. They do everything together. They taught me the value of family and love for sure.

Jill: That's amazing.

Shawn: Yeah.

Jill: And do they live here?

Shawn: Yes, they do.

Jill: Oh, that's great.

Shawn: They live here in Boulder City, yep. 

Jill: Oh, that's great. 

Shawn: So they I actually moved out here with them in high school from Southern California, and I stayed. I went back to California when I turned 18, got a condo out there, lived there for six months, and was like, "Not doing this. Don't like it." Came back.

Jill: Isn't that interesting?

Shawn: And lived here since. Yeah, 26 years I've been here.

Jill: That is great. And I would imagine that they, too, are such a huge asset to you guys as part of your support team.

Shawn: 100%.

Magon: They're always there.

Shawn: I'm watching the girls right now.

Magon: Yeah. Yeah.

Jill: Oh.

Magon: They're amazing.

Jill: That's awesome.

Shawn: Yeah.

Jill: I really appreciate you guys coming on and sharing a little bit more about Rae of Hope Foundation, and cannot wait to be a part of all the different events. And so July 18, 19 is the big garage sale, A Hopeful Garage Sale. And then October 9 is the Rae of Hope Foundation Benefit. And so I cannot wait to be a part of both of those.

Thank you guys so much for doing what you're doing. Thank you for all of the beneficiaries that are being served, and just the peace of mind that you're providing to so many people. You guys are amazing.

Shawn: Thank you so much.

Jill: Thank you.

Magon: Thanks, Jill