He wanted to spend his days in the courtroom battling the bad guys. That was the intention. Instead, he is now spending his days fighting for kids and working with local charities at his own law firm.
Arizona State University graduate Jose Leon serves the community through his hard work and charitable efforts with Scottsdale 20-30, a program that assists in raising money for children’s charities.
Leon studied interdisciplinary studies and Spanish at ASU. Following his graduation, he attended law school at Phoenix School of Law.
“I’ve been involved in community service ever since I could remember,” Leon says.
Leon was involved in Hispanic National Bar Association and a Spanish law fraternity when he attended ASU, and he volunteered for The Boys and Girls Club in high school.
Leon’s passion for serving the community continues — he is currently involved in Scottsdale 20-30. Scottsdale 20-30’s main focus is to raise money for children’s charities.
Scottsdale 20-30 provides children’s charities with marketing tools and teaches them how to fundraise.
Leon and others involved with Scottsdale 20-30 go to the community and reach out to their networks and the community at large to try to put together as much money as possible for their objective, which is giving children’s charities some money at the end of the year.
Leon is the chairman for Agents Benefiting Children and Brokers for Kids, for which Scottsdale 20-30 hosts a spring event at the Scottsdale Stadium.
“For the spring event, we basically enlist the commercial and the residential real estate industries through companies that are working in that industry,” Leon says.
Commercial real estate agents are involved with Brokers for Kids and residential real estate agents are involved with Agents Benefiting Children.
Cathy Sherwin, executive director for Care Fund, says Care Fund began Agents Benefitting Children with Scottsdale 20-30.
“Our mission is to pay families’ rent or mortgage if they have a seriously ill child. Our goal is to help families so they don’t lose their home or apartment while they are taking care of their child,” Sherwin says. “In the midst of a medical crisis, bills start to add up and time gets away from you and you can get into a financial situation pretty quickly.”
When a realtor who is involved with the Care Fund’s fundraising endeavors makes a transaction, a portion of it is donated to Care Fund.
“With every home they sell, they make a donation,” Sherwin says. “They help put people in their homes and our goal is to help them to stay there.”
Scottsdale 20-30 assists Boys Hope Girls Hope in raising money for Brokers for Kids, says Amy Caffarello, Boys Hope Girls Hope executive director.
Caffarello says Boys Hope Girls Hope’s focus is serving kids who are very liked, motivated, academically capable youth who have the determination and the potential to succeed through college, but they’re simply lacking the resources.
Scottsdale 20-30 is one of the charity’s largest supporters, Caffarello says.
Leon and his charitable efforts with Scottsdale 20-30 have impacted charities such as Care Fund and Boys Hope Girls Hope.
Leon says he knew 20-30 was the right fit for him when he began his involvement during the spring of 2011.
“One of the things that you realize when you go through years worth of charity work is there are people that are less fortunate than you are in life,” Leon says. “One of the things I think I learned, and have been exposed to, is there are folks that are in need. I’ve learned that I can always help somebody else that is in need more than I am.”
