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A Doggone Good Family

Johnjay and Blake Van Es Talk About Family, and the Evolution of #LovePuP

It all started with a chihuahua.

Although, really, it is the essence of who the Van Es family is that turned what could have been a one-time call to help into a mission that, years later, is not only an integral part of the Valley, but spreading to other states.

But back to the chihuahua.

It was 2014 and Johnjay Van Es—of The Johnjay & Rich Show, which first launched in 2001, moved to KISS-FM in Phoenix in 2006, and is now syndicated in select markets nationwide—received a message from a listener that they had found a chihuahua in the area of Van Es’s home in Arcadia.

Since he was on the air, Van Es reached out to his wife, Blake, to ask if she could go outside and catch it.

“The listener was in the middle of moving and saw the dog and asked if we could pick it up since they were about to leave,” Van Es explains. “So I said, ‘Blake, I’m on the air, can you pick it up? And so she picks up the dog. She takes a picture of it and it’s so cute, so I put it on my Instagram page and asked if anyone wanted it. So many people did.”

Van Es went through the social media profiles of everyone who was interested, and picked someone he thought would be a good match.

“When these people saw the chihuahua, and when the chihuahua saw them, it was like magic, like it was meant to be,” Van Es shares. “I had goosebumps.”

After that, listeners began reaching out more and more often when they saw stray dogs. The couple quickly educated themselves about the laws of strays and stray holds, and soon, found themselves continually taking in dogs and then finding those dogs forever families. The couple also began working with other local rescues.

By 2018, they made the venture formal, creating the LovePup Foundation (#LovePup), a 501(c)(3) dog rescue organization. For seven years, they ran it out of their home.

“We had 30 something dogs in our home at all times,” Van Es shares.

Seven of those dogs are the family’s own pups.

The rescues were all taken in and cared for by the Van Es family—Johnjay, Blake, and their sons Jake, now 18; Kemp, now 17; and Dutch, now 15—living with the family, and even sleeping in the kids’ beds. Blake was instrumental in caring for the dogs and running the rescue, as were the boys. It’s become a true family calling and passion.

In 2019, the couple decided to move the rescue out of their home, realizing that it was time for an actual shelter. So, through donations, one was able to be built. Now completed, the shelter is currently open by appointment only. Dogs are housed both at the shelter and foster homes, and the organization has grown to also include a staff, a board, and volunteers.

While many may find that having a well-known, full-time radio job and running a dog shelter—as well as raising three boys and being involved in their lives and sports pursuits—is enough, it wasn’t for the Van Es family.

“The dog shelter is a program, but we’re a small shelter,” Blake says. “So, we wanted to help get to the root of the problem, which is stray dogs.”

Their foundation teamed up with Maricopa County Animal Care & Control to microchip every dog that gets adopted, and they provided officers with microchip scanners so they can scan stray dogs they come across for microchips in order to get them back to their owners quickly.

The couple also found that people were surrendering their dogs to them because the dog had a tumor or other condition, and they couldn’t afford the needed care. In response, they created a program that takes care of a dog’s medical bills so that the dog can stay with its family—all for free.

Speaking of free, every #LovePup dog is seen by a vet, is up-to-date on shots, and is altered and microchipped before being placed with a family, and there are still no adoption fees. It’s simply up to the adopter if they’d like to donate to the organization.

Always looking for bigger ways to give back, a few years ago the couple launched the #LovePup Family Fest.

“There are a lot of rescues in town, and we provide food, leashes, and more, and we raise money for them,” Van Es explains. “We are very community-oriented and it’s not just about #LovePup. So, we created this event where we team up with iHeart radio, we have a musical guest, interactive stations, dog adoptions, and more.”

The first event was expected to draw 3,000 attendees. Ten thousand showed up.

Today, the #LovePup Family Fest is in five cities, with others potentially entering the mix as well.

Beyond the Pups

Beyond #LovePup, there’s the Johnjay & Rich #LoveUp Foundation, created by Van Es and Rich Berra, to promote the #LoveUp Movement of spreading love and kindness. Just a few ways they’ve done that is by granting Christmas wishes where they give presents and pay bills (something they also try to do all year), partnering with Safeway to give away $25,000 to foster families, partnering with Lerner & Rowe to give away 5,000 turkeys in Tucson and Central Phoenix for Thanksgiving, helping foster children, and so much more.

“With #LoveUp, we just try to remind people to do nice things for others,” says Van Es.

Family Time

The Van Es family themselves are just, well, nice. Big-hearted, they work together to give back, but also have plenty of interests of their own, as well.

“Our oldest, Jake, just graduated from high school and is going to the University of Arizona,” Van Es says. “He loves MMA, and he works at a movie theater here in town. He comes home from work every day with a smile on his face. He loves fast cars, Star Wars, and is just a beautiful, incredible human being.

“Kemp is a junior in high school and plays basketball for Phoenix Prep. He travels all around the country playing basketball and trains two-to-three times a day. He hopes to play in college.

“Our youngest, Dutch, is going to be a freshman in high school, and he also loves basketball, as well as video games. He will be playing basketball on the freshman team this year.”

As for Johnjay and Blake, the couple met in 1992 and will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary this September. They enjoy spending time together when the kids are at school, after Van Es signs off the radio for the day, often taking time for their Taco Tuesday lunch date at Protein House (other local favorite spots include Tokyo Joe’s, Steak 44, and Rosati’s Pizzeria).

Why Giving Back is So Important to Them

Asked why they spend so much time giving back, Blake says, “We’re blessed. We’re blessed with a platform, we’re blessed as a family, and we were sitting in church one day and a pastor from Denver was speaking. He talked about when you die, what are people going to miss you for? For us, as a family, it’s important to give back.”

Van Es nods in agreement.

“When you die, will you be missed in your community?” he reiterates. “It’s about making an impact.”

For more information, visit LovePupFoundation.org, LoveUpFoundation.org, and find Van Es on all social channels at @johnjayvanes. For those interested in helping, #LovePup is always accepting donations and can utilize volunteers.

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