ICAN Scrappy

Henry Salinas was called to service throughout his life – helping to tend farms with his parents as a boy, joining the Army as a young man and raising a family of his own. Then, he found an even greater mission: devoting his time, energy and passion to helping children in his hometown of Chandler, Arizona, find a better way forward than with the drugs and gangs that were destroying their neighborhoods and stealing their futures. He became a staple of his community and devoted himself to building a better path for countless kids. Henry passed away in 2017, but his legacy lives on.







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Full Transcript







Chris Straigis – From AAC Studios, welcome to Scrappy, the podcast about small companies doing big things. I’m your host, Chris Straigis.







Chris Straigis – Henry Salinas, embraced and embodied the idea of service – service to his country, service to his community, and service to his family. He passed away in 2017. But his son Fernando, speaks of him with reverence and legacy.







Fernando Salinas – A lot of the kids that were going to the Boys and Girls Club, you know, they were showing up with their bandanas and different colors, and there was a rival gangs showing up and, you know, in an effort to try to keep the peace, you know, so that the younger kids were not involved in any violence or affected by any violence from these teenagers. You know, he is just thought like I need to I need to do something I need to, I need to help these kids, they need it.







Chris Straigis – Today we’ve arrived at Episode 10, the final episode of our first season. And I’d like to thank you for coming along to meet these incredible and inspiring people, each, in their own way are trying to make the planet a better place in ways both big and small, because they all have the drive to build a better world.







Chris Straigis – You know, every so often, if you’re lucky, you may get a chance to meet a motivator like Jennifer Lynn Robinson, or innovators like Julie & Scott Brusaw of Solar Roadways, or a game changer like David Katz of Plastic Bank. Our goal here at Scrappy is to give you the chance to meet lots of these kinds of folks. If you haven’t yet, please go back and listen through the rest of the season to learn more about what makes the people tick. Then connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to hear updates about Season Two, which will be coming out a bit later this year. And it’s not too late to drop us a note if you know someone who might be a great fit to feature on an upcoming show.







Chris Straigis – As a young boy, Henry Salinas left school to help tend farms with his family in the American Southwest. His tack towards service was evident, even way back then.







Fernando Salinas – My father was born and Lubbock, Texas, his parents were migrant farm workers. They used to migrate, his family, his parents used to migrate working in the farms and the agriculture, migrating to California, Texas, Arizona. And they settled in Arizona when he was about four years old and then he started growing up and Chandler, going to the schools. He spoke Spanish first, you know and even though he was a proud American, never forgot that story where he went to kindergarten and he didn’t ...