Melissa: You are listening to the do something more podcast. And this is episode number 47 with Ivan Gonzalez with best seat in the house providing joy and fun for children during difficult times. Welcome to the Do Something more podcast, a service oriented show where we highlight the helpers who inspire us all to do something more. I'm your host, Melissa Draper. Thank you so much for being here. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. And today I'm really excited about this organization that we'll be learning more about called best Seat in the House. And they provide experiences and opportunities for children that are experiencing difficult situations for a variety of reasons. But I'm really excited to invite our guest, Ivan Gonzalez to the show. Ivan, welcome to the show.
Ivan: Thanks so much for having me.
Melissa: Why don't we go ahead and start off with you introducing yourself and then going into just telling us the basics of your nonprofit, best seat in the house.
Ivan: Yeah, so my name is Ivan, obviously, I'm originally from Pennsylvania and moved to Utah about ten years ago. This is home now, and I started the best seat in the house. This is our 7th year, and it's blown by. I can't believe we're seven years in and been in the charity nonprofit world for most of my career. Just noticed a need. I would volunteer or worked at all these amazing organizations that worked with kids with cancer, medical conditions, refugees, kids in poverty, special needs, and they did great services, but there wasn't many opportunities for these families to just enjoy each other, enjoy opportunities to be out in the community, do things. And a lot of these kids can't afford to go to simple things like a ball game or theater or whatnot. And that really fueled me to start best seat in the house. And I grew up very poor as well and didn't have these opportunities that now I love as an adult. But I was like, man, if I knew about this as a kid, maybe I would have went there or this or that. So that's really what's pushed me to continue to do the bestie now and provide these opportunities and experiences so kids can kind of have their eyes open to things they didn't even know about.
Melissa: Yeah, it's so true that so many of those things, they seem like simple entertainment, but those experiences can really help give children a well rounded childhood. That's great. Well, what are some of those experiences? Do you mind just explaining some of the things that you have done?
Ivan: Yeah. So we have three programs, and our main one is called bringing joy to children. And basically it's the events that we host. So a lot of our events kind of are carnival based. We have some awesome carnival games because what kid doesn't like playing games and winning a prize? I mean, most of the adults that are volunteering with us play the games. They're really fun. But with those events, too, there's a lot of holidays based events. So coming up, we'll have Easter egg hunts, summer pool parties, back to school carnivals, Halloween trucker treats, and then December holiday dinners and Christmas gifts.
Melissa: That's great.
Ivan: Kind of a, kind of broad statement of all the events we do, but we really work with our partners and the families to do stuff that they want to do. And then our night of Dreams program is basically our night out. It's our ticketing program. So this program is what we use to buy tickets or get donated tickets to sporting events, theater concerts, museums. This weekend we have, Discovery Gateway is a new partner of ours, and they're letting us bring as many families as we want for free Saturday to Discovery Gateway. So that's just a new partnership, which I'm excited about.
Melissa: And then children's museum. I remember taking my kids there when they were younger.
Ivan: Yeah, I've heard about it. I'm going Saturday, so it'll be my first time there, but that kind of stuff is awesome. We serve more kids with our main program just because, as, you know, tickets are expensive, so we're not able to use that program as much. But as we grow and as we raise more money, we'll continue to provide these opportunities for families. And then next week, monster trucks. We have a partner who buys all these tickets and lets us bring families as part of his organization. And that's always a great fun time as well.
Melissa: That's fun. Yeah. Going back to what you said, those first events you do, I was reading on your website that that's kind of how you got started, was you threw your own birthday party for these.
Ivan: Yeah. Yeah. That's our origin, I guess you could say. I was working at the local Ron McDonald house, and I just kind of noticed. I'm like, it sucks being in the hospital for whatever reason, but with cancer and some other conditions, they're there for like, six months, nine months a year. And video games are great, but video games, movies get pretty old after a couple of months of just. That's all you can do. So a coworker of mine, we were just talking, and my birthday was coming up, and I was like, do something for the kids. Get them out of the beds, get them. Just some excitement. So I decided to do a carnival for my birthday. And give them birthday presents instead. And it was amazing. I loved it. And I love if the kids were kind of confused because they're like, wait, it's your birthday and you're giving me a gift? Yes. That's how I go. And after a month or two, I was like, man, I want to do something else. So for a year, I just kept doing these different events, the Ronald McDonald house and primaries. And then I was like, oh, we can do these events for all kinds of kids in need. But I was like, I can't keep doing this on my budget, right? So that's when I formed the best seat in the house and actually took me a good month to come up with a name because I was just like, I was doing it already, but now formalizing it, I was like, what do I call it? Because it's very important. This is what you build it off of. And we were actually doing an event. It was the following year, birthday carnival. And I was just seeing a kid. He was battling cancer, so his head was shaved, and then he had kind of a little tube in his nose, and he was just playing his heart out on this whack a mole game, like trying to really win a prize. And looking at him, I was just so happy. But then I noticed the mom kind of tearing up, but happy tears, and she was just loving it because she's like, I haven't had my kid out of the bed in two weeks. And she was just happy. And I just thought to myself, I'm like, man, this is the best seat in the house right here. And I'm like, oh, that's it. That's what we're going to call it.
Melissa: That was great. Those are some great stories about the origins of your nonprofit. Well, and it sounds like that you work hand in hand with a lot of other nonprofits because there's a lot out there that are, like you said, providing the needs or trying to meet some of those basic needs. And then you kind of can come in here and bring the icing on the cake to give them the good experiences.
Ivan: Yeah, exactly. We're kind of the fun charity, and we're still young and small, but, like Ron McDonald House, live your dream. All these other organizations that we partner with, they're great at what they are doing, but we're serving the same people, the same community. Same community. Why don't we partner up? Because they might be able to do something for 50 people, and then we can do something for 50. But if we combine resources, we can do it for 200 well, let's just do that then. And Ronald McDonald House is great at what they do, housing and food, and just, we're really good at what we do. And it's like, why don't we just. And they have a facility. We just bring our stuff to them, and their families enjoy it. And we get to know families. And, yeah, we're really big in our partnerships to really get the best bang for our buck. And then, like, with our ticketing program, our night of dreams program, it's not as big, and it's limited on what we can send families to ticket wise. So then again, we can lean on our partners. Like, hey, we got ten tickets to Disney on ice. Who is the most in need in your organization? And they know. They always know. We don't want to pick if we can. We want to send as many as we can. But when it's limited, we lean on our partners. And to be like, oh, no, this family has gone through a lot this month. It'd be nice for them. And like, okay, that's it. That's the family. So, yeah, we really lean on our partnerships. We have families, too, under our umbrella.
Melissa: Right?
Ivan: To know. But, yeah, I think our best way to make a big impact and the right impact, again, we wish we couldn't choose and be limited, but when we can, we try and reach the most in need families.
Melissa: And that's a great idea that you shared there. We have what we do best, and we bring that and couple it with what they do best. Nobody needs to change what they're doing. We just come together with what we're already succeeding at.
Ivan: Exactly.
Melissa: That's great. Well, I love that sweet story you shared of that little boy, and we love hearing those stories on the podcast. Do you have any others that you want to share that kind of show the human face side to what you do with some of these families and children you've been able to assist?
Ivan: Yeah, probably my favorite story to share. We were doing this event, and I have a lot of friends and connections now and that love the charity. And we were doing this event, and my buddy used to work at the jazz. He was like, hey, I got four, I think, toyota club tickets. So they're like, buffet included. Yeah, fancy stuff. And he was just like, hey, you do a lot of good. Just take these tickets, go to the game tonight. I'm like, sweet. I'm ready. I'm excited. So we're doing this event, and this mom comes up to me and was like, hey, where do I buy? It was almost Christmas time. And she's like, where do I buy a jazz jersey? And I was like, oh, we're just down the road from the jazz stadium. I'm like, just go down to the jazz stadium. It's, like, the closest place to buy a jersey. She's like, oh, great. Thank you. And we're doing this event, and I just kept thinking. I'm like, oh, I got these tickets. I'm like, I really want to go. These are awesome tickets. But I'm like, the whole point of this charity is provide opportunities for family. So I was like, so, I ran up to find this mom again. I was like, hey, I actually have tickets for the game tonight, if you want to just take your family. And she's like, oh, are you sure? Yeah, just take my tickets and go and have fun. And a lot of times, that's the end of it. I might say here a thank you or something, because sometimes I don't meet the families. I just get the tickets and send it to them, right? But I got this card from this mom and kind of blew me away because I had no idea this family situation, except for they had a kid in the hospital. So this is the thank you I got from. I said thank you for the amazing gift that the Utah jazz tickets. It ended up being the only time Asher has eaten in nearly a week. We had a great time. I loved hearing Asher say defense with everyone. It lightened Julie's mood with being in foster care for the holidays and introduced her to a world she never knew existed, with many thanks, wendy. And I was just like, whoa.
Melissa: Wow.
Ivan: And I got to know this family after this more. And they foster parents. They had ten foster kids, and most of them, they take the ones that no one wants or has a lot of medical conditions. Like Asher, he had heart and brain issues, and no one really wants to adopt that kid, sadly. But, yeah, that last line is why we do it. It's open to the world that she never knew existed. And I just love sharing that story because it's just mean. I didn't even know the extent of it. I just knew, like, hey, let's send this family. Let's have them some. Get them out of the bed. Let's get Asher some fun. I didn't know he didn't eat for a know because he just had surgery the week before and obviously feeling crummy, you don't want to eat, and blah, blah. But he was there eating like a bandit, apparently. So, yeah, I love that story, because that's why we do what we do to provide these experiences for families and these kids and just give them some joy. Joy is a big word we like to use at our charity, joy and hope.
Melissa: Right. That is such a sweet thank you. And that was the phrase that stuck out to me, too. Like you said, the world she didn't know existed. And I just think so many of us, I grew up in a big family. We didn't always have the money to go to fancy things, but I did have parents that valued those experiences and found ways to make them work and happen and to realize that so many kids do not have those opportunities to do that. And it might seem silly, it might seem just like a jazz game to somebody else. Right?
Ivan: Exactly.
Melissa: To be able to go somewhere like that and see all those people gathered and just enjoying and having fun. And it truly can be a cultural experience and just really eye opening in a good way.
Ivan: Exactly. Yeah.
Melissa: Well, any other stories you want to share?
Ivan: I guess I'll share the most recent one.
Melissa: That'd be great.
Ivan: Again, it's one of those timing just kind of works out. So I had a single mom reach out a month ago, I think, wanting to bring some joy to her son. I think he was nine or ten, loves sports, but she, as a single mom, can't afford very much. And he was kind of acting out in school, but it's more like just his environment, his life, noticing he has less than others. Anyway, so talking to this mom, I'm like, and he loves the U of you. So that same week or a week before or something, the U of you men's basketball team, one of their admin people heard about us and reached out, and we're starting this new pilot program with us and another charity. They notice a lot of their season tickets. I mean, if you have season tickets, there's like, a lot of games, and you probably don't go to every game, so they notice, wait, we have a lot of season ticket holders, but I'm not going to every game. Why don't we provide this vehicle to allow seats and ticket holders to donate their tickets to a game to best seat in the house or this other organization. I think it's called vet ticks. They give tickets to veterans. Yeah. And I was like, oh, yeah, I've been trying to get that for years with people like, hey, if you have a season tickets, you're not going to go to every game. Send me a couple of games and I'll send some family. So within that week, then this mom reached out, and then we got our first set of tickets from them. It was awesome because the mom's like, I got to on Christmas, tell my son that we're going to a u view men's basketball game. And he was so excited, and I was excited because I'm like, the timing kind of been better. And then this is what she said. My son was so excited, and so was I. We truly had so much fun. Our seats were amazing, and actually, because the game wasn't too full, the usher said we could sit anywhere we wanted to. And we picked a couple of seats close to the front row near one end of the court. My son enjoyed every second of the event, from seeing how big the stadium was to how close we got to sit to high five in the players after the game. He loved the nachos and souvenir cup, and they even gave us a free poster. And he loved going home and seeing the red you lit up on the mountain afterwards. Please tell your donors we are so beyond grateful for that experience and so thankful for the memories we got to make.
Melissa: That's great.
Ivan: So that literally just happened a couple of weeks ago. So again, why we do what we do, right?
Melissa: So many hard situations, you see? But then it just sounds like it's fun what you do. You just bring fun. As you've gone through doing this. You said for about seven years, you've kind of talked about this already, but I'd love to hear you just go a little more on that. What have you found is your biggest why for why you keep doing all that you do with best seat in the house?
Ivan: I guess there's a lot of whys because there's a lot of kids. But something I always reference over social media is the smiles that we get, all the joy that we see at our events and see the kids just light up. That just keeps me going. And why a lot of volunteers love volunteering with us and just seeing the joy, the excitement they see walking into the room with the prizes or walking into the room where Superman, Spiderman princesses are at or going to dinner. And it's a really nice dinner that they don't normally get. Just seeing their eyes and their smiles. It never gets old.
Melissa: Right? And why do you think. I guess you said you grew up without some of those opportunities yourself. Why do you think it is that they make such an impact for these kids and these families?
Ivan: That's a good question. I think it's just the excitement of the unknown that they didn't know about or things that they imagine or dream about and actually being there just that excitement really gets to the kids and the families. And these parents are going through a lot with their kids and they're trying to do their best, and we are providing things for them to help have their child have more of a well rounded childhood. Yeah. And just thinking about things or dreaming or wanting stuff and then it finally happening really connects with them. They're like, oh, it's happening. We're at a jazz game finally. Whatever it is as simple as the biggest request we get is, can we help take a family to the movies? I can go to movies every time I want, but some of these families can't afford it. The excitement the kids have, kind of our motto is, so kids can be kids regardless of their circumstances.
Melissa: That's great.
Ivan: They just get to be kids. And what's more fun being a kid than being at the fair or the carnival? Just playing these games and trying to win something. That's what we bring to them and they get to pick the prize. Our games aren't as rigged as the fair. So, yeah, I guess a better experience than the fair because we're not taking your money.
Melissa: Yeah. Well, I love that. I love to hear that reminder of why it's important to provide these experiences. So we have listeners that listen to the podcast from all over. So I would love to also, Ivan, hear you give any general advice or encouragement to anyone that would like to support families in their community in a similar way. Or organize an event like you've done. Or you can also even share those that are local, how they could get involved with. Best seat in the house.
Ivan: Yeah. If you are local to Salt Lake City, Utah county, we would love to have you volunteer with us. You can go to our website, bestseatslc.org. You can just fill out a form or email our volunteer coordinator. His email is volunteer@bestseatslc.org we do allow families to volunteer with us, which is a big thing. We want to make sure everyone knows that it doesn't have to be adults that just volunteer with us. Your kids can volunteer with us as long as they're with their guardian is our only stipulation. So those know Salt Lake and community and you're trying to come up with ways to know. I encourage you to look at local organizations in your community that you love and support and then see what you can do event wise with them and provide some fun activities for those families. And I tell you what, working at these organizations and stuff, if you ask what they need, they will let you know, right? A lot of times they're like, hey, people are telling them, take our blankets, take our this or that, but not as many as like, what do you need? What can we do?
Melissa: How can we actually help big things? That's great. How have you been able to make sure you get the word out? Do you just continue to go through other nonprofits? How do you get the word out about what you're doing?
Ivan: With our partners and social media, mostly me and my board, we go to networking events and just share our story, keep sharing it over social media. And then we have a fundraising event, a gala in March. Continue to grow that as new partners, new sponsors, donors come on board and they share it. We just have everyone share our story. To have people connect with us and want to support us, that's great.
Melissa: And that's coming up in March, so that's pretty soon. Well, do you want to just finish? You mentioned your website there. Do you have social media channels as well that others can find your organization?
Ivan: Yeah, you can find us on Facebook or Instagram with the tag at Bestseatslc, and you will find us on both of those platforms. Again, our website is ww, bestseatslc.org, and you can get more information on any of those platforms.
Melissa: That is great. I will share links to all of those in the show notes. And Ivan, I just want to thank you again for being willing to come on the podcast today and help us learn more about best seat in the house.
Ivan: Thanks for having me.
Melissa: That was my interview with Ivan Gonzalez, the founder and director of Best Seat in the House. And I loved learning about their mission with their nonprofit, the desire to bring joy and fun and even life changing experiences for these children that are going through hard things or in difficult situations for a myriad of reasons. And as he shared those stories, one thing kind of struck out to me as well, that I loved hearing about the joy these children were experiencing and even how their eyes were opened or perspectives changed. But in each of those stories, he also shared the perspective, thoughts, and feelings of their parents and their guardians. Being able to watch their children feel that joy and experience that fun and how much that means to a parent to be able to watch your child just enjoy and have those experiences. So their nonprofit really is serving the whole family and serving these families that can use these fun and joyful experiences. I know, as I said in the interview, sometimes to us we might take them for granted, being able to just go to the movies or go to a game or do something fun and simple like that, but it can mean a lot to a child that is walking through hard things. Or as he told in the one story, for a child that never knew that world existed and they get to experience it for the first time, it really can help to bring a well rounded childhood and good experiences that everyone deserves to have. So loved learning more about that nonprofit if you're interested in learning more about best seat in the house, I will include links in the show notes to their website and social media pages. And they do accept donations for the events that they put on themselves. And then also, as you can see, they try to find tickets in the community that they can donate and give to others as well. So I'll have those links there if you're interested in learning more about them. And I also loved the reminder there from Ivan that if this is something that means something to you, go find these organizations yourself. You can partner with them and ask them what do you need? Or how can I help and find those opportunities as well. So good reminders, good stories all the way around. And one last reminder for you. If you enjoyed this episode or if you are enjoying the podcast, show us some love by leaving us a review or sharing this episode with a friend. Thank you so much for being here. I'll see you next time.