Utah is full of people quietly doing remarkable work, from a high school student building a flower business to small town ranchers learning new ways to steward the land they’ve worked for generations. None of them are waiting for permission, and most of them aren’t asking for attention.
That’s exactly the kind of hard work the Schultz Foundation stands behind.
Our approach has never been about writing checks from a distance. It’s about noticing the efforts already taking root in Utah communities and helping them grow. Our founders, Mike and Melissa Schultz believe that legacy isn’t what we do for ourselves—it’s what we’re doing for the next generation.
Below is a look at several of the organizations and causes we’ve been proud to support, watch, and cheer on. Every organization and cause we support at the Schultz Family Foundation aligns with our values and is making a real difference in Utah.
5 Organizations & Causes the Schultz Foundation Supports
1. Western Ranch Management Academy at Utah State University
Ranching in the Intermountain West is getting harder. Land pressure, water constraints, shifting markets, and generational transitions all land on operators who are already stretched thin. The Western Ranch Management Academy at Utah State University exists to meet that head-on.
Launched in 2025, the Academy is a series delivering high-quality education to ranchers and industry professionals across the region. It covers the practical business of running a modern operation alongside the conservation practices that keep rangeland healthy for the long haul.
For a first-year program, the impact has been significant. We consider it a genuine game-changer for Intermountain ranching and conservation, and it reflects a central belief of the Schultz Family Foundation: that the best help is empowerment through education. Give capable people better tools, and they’ll take it from there.
2. Groovy Flower Farm
Groovy Flower Farm is a family-owned flower farm in Tremonton, Utah, run by a young, enthusiastic entrepreneur, Lily. She grows and sells fresh-cut local flowers in Tremonton, selling them out of a restored 1974 VW camper bus filled with memories of her childhood. Lily sells custom bouquets, seasonal arrangements, boutonnieres, and corsages for the school dance, as well as unique flower subscriptions for locals who want a little beauty on the counter every week.
What makes Groovy Flower Farm special isn’t just the blooms. It’s watching a young person learn business ownership in real time, including pricing, customer service, seasonality, marketing, and the discipline of showing up when the flowers need cutting, whether you feel like it or not. Lily also sees her farm as a way to give back to the surrounding agricultural community and as a symbol that you’re never too young to pursue your dreams if you have the grit to follow through.
That’s the entrepreneurial spirit the Schultz Family Foundation wants to see multiplied across Utah.
3. Second Flight Thrift Shop at Weber Innovation High School
In Ogden, Weber County students opened a thrift shop inside their own school, and the idea behind it is sharper than most business plans we’ve seen from adults.
Second Flight Thrift was founded by students Hudson McFarland and Conner Newton at Weber Innovation High School. Before launching, they circulated a petition around the school to gauge interest. Nearly everyone said yes. The shop opened in fall 2025 after the founders spent their fall break arriving at 7 AM to set up.
The model solves two problems at once. It makes clothing genuinely affordable for students, with items priced from a couple of dollars to $20 to $30 for nicer pieces. And it reduces waste by keeping clothes in circulation rather than feeding the fast-fashion cycle. Inventory comes from donations, other thrift shops, and the founders’ own closets.
The students aren’t pocketing the profits. Money goes back into the club to keep the shelves stocked, with the hope of funding a scholarship program and sending their Future Business Leaders of America members to the national competition.
4. Columbus Community Center
Since 1968, Columbus Community Center has worked toward a mission that’s simple to state and hard to execute: supporting the growth, development, and independence of people with disabilities.
The Schultz Foundation was honored to sponsor the 20th annual Heroes at Work event, which recognizes the community partners and employers who work alongside Columbus to create meaningful employment opportunities. At the Schultz Foundation, we know meaningful employment isn’t just about income—it’s the self-esteem, structure, and dignity that come from doing work that matters and being valued for it.
Columbus continues to expand its reach. The organization is hosting AutCon SLC in October of 2026, bringing together more than 300 participants, including nationally recognized speakers, educational workshops, community resources, and networking, all built specifically for the Wasatch Front’s neurodivergent community.
We’re glad to stand behind a center that continues to create opportunities, strengthen our community, and empower people with disabilities to build meaningful, independent lives.
5. Mule Deer Foundation
Conservation is a personal passion area for the Schultz Family Foundation, and the Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) is where much of that passion lives.
MDF is the only national conservation organization in North America dedicated solely to the restoration, protection, and management of mule deer populations and their habitat. Its work spans habitat restoration, shrub planting, wildlife-friendly fencing, water development, and the protection of migration corridors mule deer have used for generations.
The results are measurable. Over 37 years, MDF and its partners have invested more than $275 million directly on the ground, improved or removed over 1,000 miles of fencing, and benefited more than 2 million acres of key mule deer range. Eighty-eight cents of every dollar donated goes to mission delivery.
In February 2026, the Mule Deer Foundation recognized Mike Schultz with its Private Lands Stewardship Award for his support of the mission. For a family with deep roots in Utah’s land and livestock traditions, from a grandfather’s cattle farm to Sawmill Ranch in the mountains of Croydon, that recognition means a great deal.
What Connects These Causes
Look across this list, and a pattern emerges: education over handouts, young people building something real, work that strengthens our communities and cares for the land, and opportunities that foster independence through meaningful contribution.
These aren’t coincidences. They reflect the values that have guided the Schultz Foundation from the beginning—values shaped by a family that learned the importance of hard work milking cows before sunrise and building homes from the ground up.
If you’re leading an organization that shares these values, or know of one making a meaningful difference, we want to hear from you. Explore our funding priorities to see if your work aligns with our mission, or reach out to start a conversation.
The people strengthening Utah communities are already doing the work. Our role is to help them go further.