Finding Healing Through Service

Finding Healing Through Service

I’ve always believed in the power of service. It’s not glamorous, it’s not loud, but it has a way of grounding you, humbling you, and reminding you that even on your worst days, someone out there has it harder than you. Maybe it’s self-serving, but helping others has always made me feel connected to people, to purpose, and to something bigger than myself.

That love of serving started long before life handed me some of its hardest moments. When my kids were really little, I volunteered with Meals on Wheels for six years. I’d strap them into the stroller, load meals into the basket underneath, and walk door-to-door delivering food to elderly individuals. Sometimes I felt like a circus act balancing babies, bags, and hot meals, but the experience became a quiet teacher. Every visit taught the same lesson: life can always be harder, so choose compassion where you can.

Over the years, those experiences let me into countless nonprofit projects. One of the most meaningful was serving on the board of Haitian Roots, an organization focused on providing education for kids in Haiti. I traveled to Haiti every year, my camera in hand, heart wide open, and helped raise funds for children to go to school. Those trips shifted something in me. When you see a child’s entire future hinge on whether they can attend school, you don’t come home the same. You come home more grateful, more aware, and more determined to keep showing up for others.

But nothing prepared me for 2017.

That year, my 14-year-old son, Gage, passed away. There are no tidy words for that kind of loss. There’s no way to package it neatly or make it feel any less devastating. But what happened in the days after his passing were equally sad and beautiful.

We started getting knocks at our door. Then more knocks. One by one, his friends showed up. They were lost, confused, grieving, searching for comfort in the only place that felt connected to him. I watched these kids try to make sense of emotions too big for their age. And something inside me knew immediately: We have to help them. We have to give them something to hold onto.

One of my favorite Tony Robbins quotes says, “We only suffer when we think of ourselves.” Those words took root in my heart, especially during those dark early days. If these kids were overwhelmed with pain, the best thing we could do was teach them how to channel it into purpose rather than letting it consume them.

That seed of an idea became the Gage Schroeder Compassion Foundation.

Over the next year, with a lot of tears, a lot of brainstorming, and a whole lot of heart, we created a compassion-based curriculum designed specifically for teens and elementary aged kids. The curriculum includes lessons, quotes, and hands-on activities that build character, encourage service, and give young people an outlet to connect, contribute, and heal. It became the blueprint for starting Compassion Clubs in schools. It was meant to be a safe place for kids to serve, grow, and support one another.

Over the last eight years, we’ve helped start Compassion Clubs across the United States and have awarded nearly $80,000 in scholarships. Every club, every project, every scholarship carries Gage’s legacy forward. And every young person who participates becomes part of a ripple effect he never got to see but absolutely helped create.

Then, a couple of years ago, life shifted again. I went through a divorce and moved back to Utah, where I grew up. As much as I love Utah, it took a minute for me to find my footing again. Starting over isn’t glamorous, no matter how many inspirational quotes you pin on your wall. I wanted to start clubs in my new community like I always had, but I was rebuilding, and everything felt a little heavier than before.

And then one of my daughter’s friends decided he was done waiting on me.

He kept nudging, gently at first, then with the persistence of a teenager who had clearly made up his mind, that it was time to start a Compassion Club at the high school. Eventually, I said yes.

Since then, we’ve completed several service projects: homeless kits, first-aid kits for a women’s shelter, gratitude journals, and more. With every activity, I’m reminded just how much I love serving alongside kids. Teenagers get a bad reputation sometimes, but when they serve? They are powerful. They are thoughtful. They are full of heart. They carry a kind of raw honesty that adults often lose along the way.

What they probably don’t realize is how much they help me. Being around them reminds me of Gage. It reminds me of what mattered to him and what continues to matter to me: compassion, contribution, and connection. Serving with these kids doesn’t just strengthen them … it helps me heal.

This time of year naturally brings gratitude to the forefront. Everywhere you look, you’re reminded to be thankful, to give back, to slow down, to help others. It’s beautiful, but I often wish we carried this energy with us all year long. The world changes when compassion isn’t seasonal.

As we close out the year and step into a new one, my hope is simple: don’t get so swept up in the hustle of business and life that you forget the power of small acts of service. Look for opportunities, big or small, to lighten someone’s load. Smile at the person who looks overwhelmed. Donate if you can. Volunteer when possible. Teach your kids by example. And most importantly, let your personal values spill over into your work, your business, and your everyday routines.

The Gage Schroeder Compassion Foundation was born out of heartbreak, but it has grown into something beautiful, something healing, something hopeful, something that continues to change lives one act of service at a time.

And if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s this: compassion doesn’t cure everything, but it makes everything more bearable.

Here’s to carrying it with us, not just during the holidays, but every single day.