Nick Thiele of Spanish Fork is passionate about helping people, and he said that his dream would be to spend his day doing just that. Service has long been a way of life for Thiele, and each day, he is actively thinking of ways to not only help others, but to allow others the opportunity to serve – particularly those with childhood cancer.
Serve Daily first met Thiele in the winter of 2023 when he started a nonprofit organization called Youth-led Charities where his goal was to find ways for children to help other children simply by doing things that they were already doing. His goal was to have children create art and showcase talents in an effort to bring awareness to children with cancer, with the hope of teaching children that they, too, have the power to make a difference.
Thiele said that while the idea worked and he learned a lot, he realized that he wanted to allow everyone the chance to make a difference in the lives of children with cancer. He wanted to show that Utah cares, which just so happens to be the name of his new organization that is doing just that.
“We changed it to “Utah Cares,” and the idea is that we want to give people the chance to help others just by supporting local businesses,” Thiele explained. “My real passion is giving everybody an opportunity to make an impact. I do a lot with the community and I would say 99.5% of people would love to support helping kids fight cancer, but 99% of them don’t or they can’t. They either can’t because they’re not in a financial position or if they are, they’re already donating to other great causes.”
Thiele said that he understands firsthand that money is tight for many people, and that there is often a guilt factor when someone is asked to donate money. This guilt is something that he said he wants to eliminate simply by working directly with local businesses who will build the donation into their services.
“I just thought that there’s a lot of potential out there where money doesn’t have to be the determining factor on whether or not we can make a difference,” he said.
Thiele explained that Utah Cares teams up with many local businesses that have agreed to donate a portion of their earnings to children with cancer when someone mentions the Utah Cares organization.
“Trapnell orthodontics in Springville will donate $50 each time someone gets a free quote and mentions Utah Cares,” Thiele explained. “It’s the same thing with Farmers Insurance in Springville. If somebody calls to get a free home and auto quote – really, any insurance quote – and they mention the nonprofit, they’ll donate $10. Simplex Pest Control in Payson will donate 15% of the treatment. The Fellas Barber Shop will donate 10% of online sales if a customer uses promo code UTCARES at checkout. I just want it to be a standard thing. If there’s a local business that you could support and it doesn’t cost you a penny, you’re supporting a great local business and you are going to help kids fight cancer.”
People helping people
Thiele said that every day in his line of work, he sees people on the receiving end of service who want to be able to be on the giving end. He said he knows the joy that being able to serve other people has brought to his life, and he wants to pass that opportunity to everyone.
“Today I did three junk removal jobs for free for the community. One was a single mom, the other one was just the lady who had some needs and the other one was an elderly lady who had a construction project and the construction crew for weeks and weeks and weeks never showed up to clean up their mess,” he recalled. “So, my son and I went out and we took care of all three of those projects, and I got to talking to one of the women who expressed a desire to help others, but not being in a position to do so. When I told her about how the Utah Cares program works, she lit up when she learned that all she has to do is support businesses that donate to Utah Cares. I want to give every single adult an opportunity to really make an impact and it doesn’t cost them money, and it doesn’t cost them time. All they have to do is support great local businesses that are doing a little extra.”
Utah Cares is in the beginning stages, but Thiele said that it is gaining traction, and he hopes it will only grow from here so that he, too, can spend his days serving others.
“I’d eventually like to be at a place where every day I’m out serving the community,” he said. “I want to help make an impact on a much bigger scale by getting businesses to donate to Utah Cares and locals to support those businesses.”
For more information on what Utah Cares is doing and how to be a part of it, go to utcares.org.
