boss becAUSE
Empowering medically challenged entrepreneurs to become a BOSS for a CAUSE.
Our Mission:
Our goal is to empower children who are fighting or recovering from life-threatening illnesses by helping them launch their own nonprofits or business free of charge.
Our Purpose:
Our purpose is to uplift and support those children and enable their unique perspectives about needed products and services that help others. We aspire to guide these young entrepreneurs in their journey to be a boss championing a cause.
Our Vision:
A comprehensive legal and business support system for medically challenged young entrepreneurs to empower them to become a boss for a cause.
OUR FOUNDER
Whether you’re a profitable enterprise or a not-for-profit foundation, achieving success takes people and resources. I’m a business attorney, but I think it is so important to give back. I work closely with successful business owners as well as charitable foundations and pay special attention to opportunities where one group can benefit from the other. Kids are some of the most brilliant entrepreneurs because they see the world differently. Helping kids who are fighting medical challenges and dream of becoming a boss for a cause is our privilege.
- Andrea (Tarshus) Willis, Founder
Donate Today and Become a Boss
Daydreamer
Daydreamer: $25 – You dream of changing the world one good deed at a time. Here’s your chance! You are entered into a monthly drawing to win an exclusive Boss BeCause experience! Your $25+ donation goes towards empowering the next deserving Boss and supporting the Boss BeCause mission!
Comic Book Fan Club
Comic book fan club: $100 – Helps keep our deserving Bosses supercharged. You receive an exclusive Boss BeCause Fan Club sticker as a thank you gift! Along with your 1-year Fan Club membership, you receive early access to our exclusive perks, events, and merchandise. Your $100+ donation goes towards empowering the next deserving Boss and supporting the Boss BeCause mission!
Task Force
Task Force: $500 – $1499 – Includes all the benefits of the first two levels PLUS logo recognition on our website and recognition in our newsletters! Your $500+ donation supports on-going operations of Boss BeCause. It’s BeCause of donors like you that do many with life threatening diagnosis are empowered and become Boss!
Side Kick
Side Kick: $1,500 – $2499 – Includes all the benefits of the first three levels plus helps to continue to power up our foundation! You receive an exclusive Boss BeCause collector’s NFT as a thank you gift for display on your social media or website! NFTs are updated each year so be sure to donate regularly to collect the full set. Your name or business logo and website gets listed on our super exclusive Sidekicks page for 1 year. You get invited to our annual Sidekicks dinner with our Bosses. Your role is to act as an ongoing mentor, supporter, and cheerleader for our Bosses to help them launch their mission and fly high! Your $1,500+ donation sets the stage for your active involvement with Boss BeCause!
SuperHero
SuperHero: $2,500 – Includes all of the benefits of the first four levels plus Funds 1 Boss BeCause, and powers up our foundation so we can keep running our mission! To thank you for your generosity, you receive a framed donation certificate featuring a personalized comic book super hero sketch with your name or company logo and the name of your Boss and their foundation. You are invited to participate in media coverage and events with your Boss. Your Boss delivers a handwritten thank you note. Your name or business logo and website gets listed on our homepage as a Super Hero for 1 year. You receive exclusive Super Hero sponsorship perks, swag, and more! Your $2500+ donation says it all! Way to go Super Hero!
Current Grant Recipients
Sophia
During the summer of 2021, Sophia was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma at the age of 7. She underwent 14 cycles of chemo and 31 doses of radiation. When the family attended a follow-up visit, it was discovered that her cancer had returned. After receiving this heartbreaking news, Sophia asked her parents if she could host a lemonade stand to raise money to donate to four Western New York charities that help fight pediatric cancer. She raised $7,000.
Sophia passed away in May 2023, a few months after starting her nonprofit, Sophia the Fierce. Her family wants to carry forward her passion for giving back and helping other kids like her. Her nonprofit, Sophia the Fierce, will help provide an outdoor getaway experience for kids and their families battling pediatric cancer. When a child is stuck inside undergoing countless chemo treatments and radiation, there is nothing more exhilarating than getting to spend time outside, driving four-wheelers, and feeling free.
Annie
Annie was diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease in 2009. This disease has caused many complications for her and serious medical problems. She lost the majority of her vision, is completely deaf, has kidney problems requiring daily twelve-hour infusions through a central line, has a g-tube for daily liquid feedings and medications, has type 1 diabetes, and experiences regular fatigue. Annie has spent many weeks in the hospital, causing a financial strain on her family.
Through her journey, Annie met a close friend at the age of 13. She fondly remembers having “a day of fun” with her friend, where they did simple every-day things together, that many people take for granted, like going out to eat. Shortly after their day of fun, her friend passed away.
Annie started making and selling bracelets to raise enough funds to provide a “day of fun” for other kids battling lifelong severe medical illness. Through the Annie Leeds Adventure Foundation, Annie will provide free, accessible adventures to families with a member with a chronic illness. As she knows from first-hand experience, a day of fun without financial or medical stress is a priceless memory. When individuals with chronic disease experience so much from a young age, it’s a gift to be able to bring them a day of joy. Now at 18 years old and a freshman in college, Annie is more passionate than ever about making sure her foundation helps as many as possible, in memory of her friend.
Reagan
During the summer of 2022, Reagan was experiencing bad headaches that wouldn’t go away. She went to the ER thinking she had just a bad migraine. She never expected she would hear the words “brain tumor”. Reagan spent the first half of July in the PICU and underwent two surgeries to attempt a biopsy. She had another surgery in August, and a fourth surgery in New York City in November.
Reagan and her family are so thankful for the blessings shared by family, friends, health care teams, and child life specialists. Reagan was understandably disappointed when she learned she would have to spend the holidays in the hospital, but she shares that the comfort items gifted to her helped make the stays a little better.
Reagan knows what a difference gifts of comfort and care can make to a child when they are fighting for their life. Through her nonprofit, Reagan’s Rainbows of Hope, she plans to deliver hope and joy to as many inpatient kids as she can, by gifting them gift bags filled with comfort items like blankets, socks, squishmallows, and room decorations. Please help Reagan get her nonprofit off the ground and support Boss BeCause today!
Colt
12-year-old Colt Matz needed a bone marrow transplant for leukemia in 2021. His younger brother donated, and he had a successful transplant. Unfortunately, Colt relapsed this past Feb. and continues to fight for his life. While he is working on getting better, Colt is equally focused on helping other kids. He shared with me that running his nonprofit will “give him something to think about” while he is in the hospital.
Colt’s mission is to provide transplant bags to inpatient kids to make their long stays more comfortable. Items in the bags will include comfortable and colorful bedding, satin pillowcases (Colt explained to me Satin is the least bothersome when you are losing your hair from chemo), a fun pillow/stuffed animal, decorations for their room, and a personal letter from Colt encouraging them and giving information about his podcast. He estimates the bags will cost $250 each. In his podcast, Colt will provide tips and tricks to other inpatient kids for how to pass time, bond with friends, socialize from a distance, support their siblings, etc.
Riley
Meet our 6th boss to join the ranks, Riley. Riley is 15 years old. He was diagnosed with Burtkitt’s Lymphoma a few years ago, and after several rounds of chemo and surgeries, is in remission. Riley was hospitalized during the holidays and was severely downtrodden. His dad got the idea to decorate Riley’s hospital room for him with Christmas lights, and Riley’s attitude and levels did a complete turnaround to the point that he was able to be discharged. Riley is a firm believer that a little holiday cheer can help kids who are inpatient during the holidays smile, feel a little bit better, and can even help them heal.
Riley’s nonprofit, Riley’s Warriors, will help deliver bags of holiday decorations and lights to all 40 of the kids in the pediatric wing of the hospital where he was treated. He has been collecting and donating bags for the past 2 years in a row on his own. We are gifting him a nonprofit so he can have access to grants and funding to spread his mission.
CURRENT GRANT RECIPIENT
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Organizations we support
Are you interested in starting your own nonprofit or business, but do not qualify under our grant program?
We can help! Head over to Tarshus Law Firm to speak with a competent experienced nonprofit attorney.
Check out this helpful blog post to learn what it means to start a nonprofit, how to form a Board of Directors, the procedure for applying for and receiving tax-exempt status, and more helpful legal tips.
Are you interested in starting your own nonprofit or business, but do not qualify under our grant program?
We can help! Head over to Tarshus Law Firm to speak with a competent experienced nonprofit attorney.
Check out this helpful blog post to learn what it means to start a nonprofit, how to form a Board of Directors, the procedure for applying for and receiving tax-exempt status, and more helpful legal tips.