Former BYU basketball guard Nick Emery and his wife, Jenna, are giving back to their Idaho community through the company they own.
Kaitlyn Hart of EastIdahoNews.com shared the story of how the couple, who started a phone-case company called Walli Cases, donate one day’s worth of sales each month to a family in need.
Through the Walli Gives Back Foundation, they have given more than $85,000 in donations to families over the past year, Jenna Emery told EastIdahoNews.com.
The idea of donating to other families came after Jenna’s best friend, Kim Olson, lost her husband Ryan in a car accident in May 2021, and they have dedicated one day’s worth of sales to others in need ever since, according to the article.
Hart reported that among the recipients of the Emerys’ decision to pay it forward have been the family whose mother passed away this year on Easter Sunday, as well as a family whose 4-year-old daughter was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
The Emerys have had their share of struggles as well, Hart explained. In 2016, Jenna became a widow with an 8-month-old son, while Nick — the former Lone Peak High standout who played at BYU from 2015-19 — was going through a divorce to his first wife around the same time.
Jenna later lost her mother to cancer.
“I was given to when my husband passed away and I had a new baby, and so many people helped me out and donated or raised money for me, and the same with when my mom passed,” Jenna Emery told Hart.
“A lot of people reached out and helped her out, so that’s why we want to give back now.”