Find out more about the Arizona Pain Foundation.
By Kevin Whipps
When Drs. Paul Lynch and Tory McJunkin began Arizona Pain in 2009, they wanted to give something back to the community in a philanthropic way. But they didn’t want to just keep things small and focus on their immediate surroundings, they wanted to reach out further both nationally and internationally. It was then, on their very first day of business, that the Arizona Pain Foundation was born.
One of the great features of the Foundation is its ability to be flexible in the projects that it funds. The Arizona Pain Foundation board takes some of the tasks, requests and missions of the people involved and considers all of them equally, which then allows them to make charitable contributions to the areas and organizations that can make the most impact. “We’re trying to help those people in the greatest need,” says Dr. McJunkin. This makes sense, as pain management is such a broad field that encompasses so many other treatments and conditions, a foundation based on that premise should also think just as wide.
Flexibility and the ability to move quickly is key to the success of the Arizona Pain Foundation, something that Arizona Pain CEO, Joe Carlon, recognizes. “We had an employee that made her department aware that she was going to go deliver water to the Phoenix Rescue Mission,” Carlon recalls. “She was taking her time and her money and giving those dollars and that time on Saturday morning to deliver water to the homeless with the Phoenix Rescue Mission. I saw that email, and came through her department and [explained] what a perfect opportunity for the Foundation to support something that is important to one of our employees — and, by the way, recognizing something incredibly generous and compassionate behavior on behalf of one of our employees.” The Arizona Pain Foundation then went on to purchase several boxes of water for the Phoenix Rescue Mission, and made sure they were delivered properly as well. Again, the ability to move quickly and easily is a definite advantage of the Foundation.
There is a spiritual component of the Arizona Pain Foundation as well. “The goal of the foundation is to share the love of God by bringing compassion, healing and resources to those in need,” says Dr. McJunkin. Both Drs. McJunkin and Lynch feel that giving back to the community is something they should do as Christians, and the Foundation gives them a way to do that effectively and systematically. That commitment is also backed up by their business. “Arizona Pain contributes a piece of their profits every month to the Arizona Pain Foundation,” says Arizona Pain Specialties CEO Joe Carlon. “It’s about the Arizona Pain Foundation, where the success of Arizona Pain and the quality of the services we provide for Arizona Pain will allow the foundation the ability to then support activities in the community locally, activities nationally [and] also organizations all over the world that are trying to do good work.”
There’s another event that the Foundation does regularly, and that directly affects people in the Valley.
As it turns out, there are quite a few people from other countries — often political refugees — that live in the Phoenix area, and often they go through the holidays without any food to eat or reason to celebrate. The Arizona Pain Foundation wanted to change that by hosting an event and providing food and the Christmas story to a huge crowd. “To give Christmas to 1,000 people that otherwise wouldn’t have it is a very fun and gratifying opportunity for us,” Carlon says.
As the company grows, so will the Foundation. Recently, Arizona Pain expanded from the seven locations they hold in the Phoenix-Metro area, and added two more in Nevada: Henderson and Las Vegas. Whether or not the name will adapt to the location is still to be decided, but their commitment to the cause is as strong as ever. “At least right now, the branding will stay the same, but the Arizona Pain Foundation will support cities all over the country,” Carlon says.
What does the future hold for the Arizona Pain Foundation? As it expands from the Southwest out, there are limitless possibilities, which is exactly how the group wants it to stay. Whether it’s a local or national charity, if the Arizona Pain Foundation can help out, it wants to do its part. To find out more about the Foundation or to make a donation, visit Arizonapain.com/about/foundation.