Bell Employee

Aaron Cooper, commercial lender

Chandler, Ariz.

Recipient

Chandler-area homeless population

The Need

Aaron and his family were in their car when they passed a homeless man with a sign asking for help. Later, Aaron’s son, Levi, asked why the man was holding a sign. Aaron and his wife, Jill, explained that the man didn’t have any food to eat or a home to sleep in.

That’s when Levi asked if they could go home and make him some food.

“That’s what we did,” Jill explains. “We went home, and as a family, we packed lunches, and we went back and we shared with this person in need. That day, we had a full, packed schedule, but my boys had more enjoyment doing this for him than anything else we had done.”

The Impact

Levi’s simple question inspired the Coopers to start a project called “Hope Packed from the Heart.” They pack meals for the homeless on the first Sunday of every month and have partnered with local churches to do some larger-scale group packing projects.

“They need to eat. They need to drink water,” Aaron notes. “But they also need compassion. They need to know that people see them – that they’re not just invisible – and I think that’s part of what we’re trying to teach our boys is that you don’t just look past someone or think less of someone because they don’t share the same status as you do.”

Aaron plans to put his future Pay It Forward funds toward Hope Packed from the Heart, and one of his co-workers, commercial banker Douglas Hawes, donated some of his funds to the program this year. The Coopers have formed an organization so they can expand the program’s outreach, and are working on establishing 501(c)(3) status.

Through the Pay It Forward program, Bell gives employees money each year to donate to people and causes they care about.