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Style Magazine

Family Philanthropy

Nov 30, 2008 04:00PM ● By Super Admin

Each day, hundreds in our community receive a helping hand from volunteers who understand that supporting others is truly one of life’s greatest pleasures.

Yet the delicate balance between ongoing needs and the resources available to help can easily be upset. As we witness in today’s challenging economy, more and more people are being forced into a position of hardship. At the same time, local charities are reporting a decline in private and corporate donations, and fewer volunteers as well.

As a result of an increased push in volunteerism to support our overtaxed community services system, local families are finding that volunteering together can be as rewarding for them as it is life-changing for those they help.

Helping Others is a Family Affair
Volunteering as a family can be a meaningful, shared experience that brings families closer together as well as teaches both children and parents valuable life lessons about empathy, diversity and social responsibility.

Lending a hand to those less fortunate can also help the entire family appreciate how blessed they are to have simple luxuries such as shelter, food, clothing and good health.

Encouraging family philanthropy is the goal of Hands for Hope, a youth-driven outreach program started in March by El Dorado Hills mom Jennifer Bassett. The group, now 75 kids (and families) strong, works with Powerhouse Ministries in Folsom, as well as local schools and food banks to meet various community needs.

Bassett hopes the program’s immediate and growing popularity will have a long-term impact on local families. “The benefit of getting these young kids involved is that they will grow up with compassion for others,” she says.

“We are helping raise a generation of children who are already inspired by knowing what they can do to make a difference. Volunteering will just be a part of their lives.”


For more family volunteering resources be sure to pick up this month's copy of FoothillStyle. Check out the Distribution tab on this Web site for some of our newsstand locations. Or, to order a copy of this issue, please email Gloria Schroeder at [email protected], or call her at 916-988-9888 x116