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By Marissa Vogel, November 1, 2011

As a culture, we are becoming increasingly disconnected. Busy parents are searching for ways to spend quality time with their children while exposing them to opportunities to make a difference in their communities. Little Helping Hands has inspired a huge demand for family-friendly volunteer opportunities in the Austin area. We are thrilled to let you know that the G-Team, Groupon’s charitable arm, is sponsoring a campaign beginning today, November 1^st, through November 3^rd to help support Little Helping Hands Kids Cooking for Charity volunteer activities.

With just a $10 donation, you can help fund two cooking activities on Family Volunteer Day this year and future Kids Cooking for Charity activities. The exciting news is that H-E-B will match all donations dollar for dollar, up to $600!

Our Kids Cooking for Charity program provides food and meals for people experiencing hunger or traumatic times AND an opportunity for young children to become engaged in their community in a meaningful way. In 2010 alone, Little Helping Hands family volunteers assembled and served nearly 3,000 meals to those in need – that’s a lot of work done by little hands! We are thankful for our contributors, who enabled us to purchase food for these activities, helping reduce the burden on our partner agencies that are facing increased demand during the economic downturn.

There’s one catch: to receive 100% of the proceeds raised through Groupon during this campaign, 30 people must donate to Little Helping Hands between November 1st and 3rd. Can you help us?

Here’s how to help:

1)      Go to: http://www.groupon.com/deals/gt-little-helping-hands

2)      Click “Buy” and select quantity, e.g., 1 = $10, 2 = $20, etc.

3)      Complete Order

4)      Spread the word by sharing our Groupon link to your network of family and friends via email, Facebook, and/or Twitter

This will be our third year to participate in Family Volunteer Day, celebrated annually the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Scheduled this year on Nov 19, the day “kicks off” the holiday season with giving and service and is designed to demonstrate the power of families volunteering together. We have 13 activities planned that day, providing many Austin families and children with an opportunity to come out on this national day of service.

We are continuing to work hard to meet increased demand for meaningful, family volunteer opportunities that connect children with our local community. As one mom commented, “We always have such a great time! I appreciate the kids learning more about their community and understanding that we all play a role in helping others.”

Your participation in this campaign will make a difference, with both our children and Central Texans in need. Thank you for your support and helping us spread the word!

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By Courtney Clark, September 16, 2011

For my graduate philanthropy thesis, I’m reading a LOT. Obviously. But this one book had me stopping every dozen or so pages and saying “Man, I wish EVERYONE could read this book.” So instead of a regular blog post, I’m just going to let you hear what the author, Robert Wuthnow, says in his own words. I couldn’t conceive of a way to say it better.

From “Learning to Care,” by Robert Wuthnow (1995). Oxford University Press.

The central argument of this book is that kindness needs to be reconceived if it is to contribute to the public good in our society. The problem is not that Americans – even Generation Xers – are lacking in kindness. Contrary to what many social critics have argued, we are not so controlled by selfishness that we must teach people from scratch what it means to care. Virtually all of us already know what it means to care and be cared for, because we have learned this elementary kindness in our families. We have witnessed parents, siblings, and other role models showing kindness to friends and relatives. We even have a primordial understanding of why caring is a good thing. The problem is that this elementary understanding of kindness has remained idealistic, naive, private. What we often have NOT done is to learn how to translate these caring impulses into behavior that makes a difference in the ordinary lives we lead as adults. In order to be responsible citizens, we need to relearn the caring impulses of our childhoods and to understand what kindness means in an adult world.

The reality of American life at the end of the twentieth century is that complex social institutions have been established to do much of the business that our society requires. Despite their obvious shortcomings, these institutions actually work quite well most of the time. And because they do, each of us can get along in our personal lives by treating these institutions with relative indifference. But this indifference seems to contradict the ideal of being devoted, caring, and concerned about the common good. Thus, we live a kind of schizophrenic existence, having a primordial impulse to be caring but knowing that we are indifferent much of the time.

The solution to this dilemma is not to replace all our indifference with valorous deeds of kindness but, rather, to find a new understanding of kindness that is effective in the institutional reality in which we live. We do not need to learn from scratch what it means to be kind, but we do need to relearn how to put our caring impulses into practice in effective ways. We need to bridge the gap between the idealistic images of caring that we learn as children and the more nuanced understanding of kindness that we must have as adults. One of the best ways of making this transition is by becoming involved in community service and other volunteer activities.

Courtney Clark is Co-Founder and Executive Director of Austin Involved which provides young professionals with opportunities to discover, do and donate in meaningful ways as a cohesive group within the Austin community.

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By Marissa Vogel, August 29, 2011

The count is in! We’re excited to announce that this year we will recognize 43 young volunteers ages 3-12 for completing 12 or more Little Helping Hands volunteer activities between September 2010 and August 2011. These children will receive their Little Helpers 12 award at our annual family FUNdraiser event on September 11 at West Lake Beach. And, if you’re a friend of ours on Facebook, stay tuned over the next couple weeks as we acknowledge these children for their achievement.

It has been wonderful to watch these young volunteers and the many other children who have volunteered with us this past year experience the joy of helping others and the sense of accomplishment volunteering offers. Moreover, to see them learning about the important work many other agencies are doing as well as the realization that they too can make a difference has made our efforts here at LHH worthwhile. We commend all our young volunteers and also recognize and thank their parents and family members who have supported them throughout the year.

Last year we honored 19 little helpers and are excited to see that we’ve grown this by 126%! Thank you to the Austin community for supporting family volunteerism and our efforts to give families an opportunity to give back – together.

Our September 11 event is open to the general public and we hope individuals and families will come out for an afternoon of fun in support of our mission. And for families that are interested in volunteering with us, it will be a good opportunity to learn more about our organization. We will also be hosting a special arts & crafts volunteer activity sponsored by Lakeshore Learning, in honor of 9/11 Day, a national service day. We’ll be making and decorating cards to be included in care packages prepared by Military Moms of Texas.

For more information about our Sep 11 event, please visit our event webpage. We hope to see you there!

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By Marissa Vogel, June 29, 2011

In just two years we have seen incredible growth and reached several milestones for such a young organization thanks to the generosity of our community ~ the families who volunteer with us, the agencies we collaborate with, and the many other supporters of our work. While our biggest challenge remains increasing our capacity and establishing an infrastructure to grow family volunteering opportunities here in Austin and beyond, we have seen some positive progress.

Already this year, our average number of activities each month has increased by 11% and the average number of families participating in our monthly activities has grown by 33%. Through March, 349 families and 548 children have volunteered with us, learning more about our community and experiencing the value of helping others. Our families have volunteered about 1,275 total hours in just the first quarter of the year which has an estimated dollar value at slightly over $27,000 using state calculations from a recent study by Independent Sector, a coalition of major charities and foundations. We’re on track to make an even bigger community impact in 2011.

What I’ve discovered about our work over the past two years is that we’re really a social enterprise. We’re about doing something different to change attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors for an overall larger and more positive societal impact. We’re changing mindsets — and not only those of our children who volunteer with us.

I recall when one of our partner agencies commented, “I can’t believe these children can do this activity at such a young age”, or when another told us that our family volunteers were more productive then some of their corporate volunteers. From our parents, I’ve heard on more than one occasion that they never thought their child could do some of the volunteer tasks we do, let alone have an interest in volunteering regularly. From those we help directly, such as individuals and families in need, we often see a warm reaction from them when they see our child volunteers helping and words of encouragement — a positive effect during not so positive times. And, from our children volunteers? You can see in their faces how proud they are of helping and the discovery that volunteering can be fun.

Family volunteerism is the catalyst for so much more. Starting one child, one family, one partner agency, and one beneficiary at a time, Little Helping Hands is helping to make a connection between these players who each benefit differently. We’re changing mindsets for all community members for generations to come.

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By Marissa Vogel, June 16, 2011

Traditionally referred to as a “melting pot”,  America is truly like no other country with its diverse population. It’s really no surprise that the U.S. is a world leader on refugee protection. In fact, it’s the largest resettlement country in the world. Of the almost 75,000 refugees who came to the U.S. in 2009, 9,000 resettled in Texas. (Source: Refugee Services of Texas).

I grew up in a Midwestern town where there really wasn’t much ethnic diversity. My parents came from the Philippines and got their citizenship in the 60’s. I can still picture in my head the photo of my oldest sister pictured in our local newspaper with a big smile waiving a U.S. flag ~ proud to be an American. Growing up was difficult at times because I looked different from others. I can only imagine how challenging it must be for newly arriving refugees coming to Austin and having to adjust to a completely new lifestyle with different customs.

3-year old volunteer helps set up an apartment for newly arriving refugees to Austin.

I was thrilled when Refugee Services of Texas – Austin (RST-Austin) contacted us to help them set up apartments for newly arriving refugees to Austin. We’ve worked together with them to provide 15 family volunteer opportunities over the past year and the experiences have been truly eye-opening and educational for our children and families. One mom commented that now every time her daughter drinks water she feels lucky after having learned that water is what refugees appreciate most about the U.S. One of the benefits of volunteering with RST-Austin is providing our child volunteers with a “teaching moment” about cultural diversity within our own community ~ to learn about refugees and empathize and respect differences among others.

In observance of the UN World Refugee Day commemorated every year on June 20, Austin is hosting a FREE event on Saturday, June 18, at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum from 12 noon – 3:00 p.m. There will be a naturalization ceremony for new American citizens-to-be as well as live music and performances, children’s games, food, face painting, a fashion show, and more. This is a great opportunity for families to visit with and learn more about our newest Austinites. A few of our family volunteers will be on-hand to assist during the event as well. Hope to see you there!

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By Jenny Hodgkins, April 15, 2011

My daughter and her grandparents kicked off National Volunteer Week by participating in a Little Helping Hands activity that involved shoveling gravel and improving the Relief Nursery of Central Texas playground.

During National Volunteer Week, as always, it is important to recognize the many volunteers who give generously and tirelessly to help others and improve our communities.  We celebrate the extraordinary impact that they, collectively, have on our communities.  We should each look to volunteers around us for inspiration and encouragement.  Most importantly, we must each challenge ourselves — to find new ways to serve others, engage in our communities, and be better citizens.

Regardless of how you feel about President Obama, please read these parts of his recent presidential proclamation to kick off National Volunteer Week 2011 and think about how you can help:

America’s story has been marked by the service of volunteers.  Generations of selfless individuals from all walks of life have served each other and our Nation, each person dedicated to making tomorrow better than today.  They exemplify the quintessential American idea that we can change things, make things better, and solve problems when we work together.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our schools and shelters, hospitals and hotlines, and faith-based and community groups.  From mentoring at-risk youth and caring for older Americans to supporting our veterans and military families and rebuilding after disasters, these everyday heroes make a real and lasting impact on the lives of millions of women and men across the globe.

Today, as many Americans face hardship, we need volunteers more than ever.  Service opportunities tap the energy and ingenuity of our greatest resource — the American people — to improve our neighborhoods and our world. . . .

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By Grace Ingram-Eiser, March 11, 2011

Dr. Jenny Friedman, author of The Busy Family's Guide to Volunteering, presents at Little Helping Hands March 6 Special Event on the topic of reflection.

I had the pleasure of joining fellow moms and Little Helping Hands advocates for an interactive discussion with Dr. Jenny Friedman, Founder and Executive Director of Doing Good Together, a Minneapolis-based non-profit that also inspires and helps families volunteer.

The topic that afternoon was reflection — reflection in the context of family volunteering.  Why were we spending a beautiful Sunday afternoon talking about this?  Because, as Dr. Friedman pointed out, the very act of volunteering does not always have a lasting impact on the lives of children. It is the volunteer experience coupled with reflection that can make a difference.

Before Sunday’s discussion, I had always thought of reflection as something you did after an experience.  I understood the importance of talking to my children about the lessons they had learned through their volunteer experiences. But Dr. Friedman opened my eyes to the role of reflection throughout an experience. Specifically, in order for an experience to be most meaningful, it is important to reflect before, during, and after it. What does this mean in the case of family volunteering? It means that as parents or caregivers, we need to talk to children before heading out to volunteer. Then we need to check in with them during the experience to answer questions and offer insights about what they are doing. And of course, we need to follow up with them afterwards to talk about the experience.

This made sense to me though I was a bit unclear about how I was to reflect on something before it happened. Certainly I could prepare my children for a volunteer experience by talking about what we were going to do and whom we were hoping to help. But preparation is not reflection. In order to help with reflection, Dr. Friedman suggested introducing children to the important idea that everyone has something to contribute and that everyone needs help. She suggested dinner table conversations built around questions like “Who did you help today?” and “Who helped you?” This type of reflection, Dr. Friedman believes, helps make children’s volunteer experiences more meaningful.

So earlier this week, when I sat down to dinner with my boys, I did not start the meal with the usual, “How was school today?” (And as such I didn’t get the usual conversation-ending “Fine” for a response!)  Instead I asked each of them if they had helped anyone during the day and if anyone had helped them. It was amazing. I was met with endless stories from school. They talked about helping those they knew and those they didn’t. One of my sons shared how thankful he was when a boy in his class helped him with something. By the end of the conversation, we were reflecting on how it feels to be helpful and how it feels to be helped. And we were strategizing about ways to be more helpful in the future. I think we are ready for a Little Helping Hands activity.

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For a copy of Dr. Jenny Friedman’s books on family volunteering, please contact Marissa Vogel at marissa@littlehelpinghands.org.
The Busy Family’s Guide to Volunteering – $10
101 Great Family Service Projects – $25

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By Marissa Vogel, February 18, 2011

I recently connected with Dr. Jenny Friedman, Founder & Executive Director of Doing Good Together, a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization that also inspires and helps families volunteer, and was thrilled when she decided to come to Austin in March to see what we’re doing here at Little Helping Hands.

Dr. Friedman is a  former teacher, clinician, and author of several articles and books on family volunteering so I snapped at the opportunity to put together an event where she could share her experiences and expertise with Austin families. Thankfully, she agreed.

Now, what should the topic be?  I often get asked by parents who participate in our volunteer activities how they can help make their experiences more meaningful for their children. That’s it — reflection. Seems straight forward, but what exactly does that mean and how is it done?

So grab a friend or family member, or come solo and join us for an informal discussion with Dr. Friedman on March 6 over at Covenant Presbyterian Church here in Austin. Click here for event details including ticket information.

This event is open to the community so feel free to spread the word to those you know who might be interested in attending. Hope to see you there!

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By Nicole Basham, December 16, 2010

Now that we have completed three volunteer activities with Little Helping Hands and delivered a Thanksgiving meal to a small shelter for immigrant women and children, I wanted to think of a way to involve my four year old son in our family’s year-end charitable giving.

As a writer for the local parenting site, LiveMom, I wrote an article on the subject. In it, I talked about my plan to introduce giving to my son, and received some advice from Little Helping Hands’ Board President Kim Scheberle and I Live Here, I Give Here’s Mackenzie Martin. After a lot of thinking on the subject, I was ready to put my plan into action!

Over dinner on a Sunday in December, my husband and I talked to my son about how he was going to have an important decision to make: how to direct money towards several nonprofit groups. Since names of organizations meant nothing to him and I didn’t want to overwhelm him with choices, I chose a few broad categories:

• books (we visit the library almost weekly and were regulars at infant and toddler storytime)
• animals (he has always loved animals)
• homeless (we see the homeless asking for money by the side of the road, so we’ve had several conversation about what life would be like without a roof over our heads)
• parks (same as the library — something we use often and he can identify with)

For each category, I printed out a small image on cardstock. I had hoped to have twenty one dollar bills for him to use, but I wasn’t prepared, so I used cardstock to design “bills” with “$1” on them with a circle around it. I laid out each card, explained it and handed my son the “money”.

After only a moment’s thought, he said “I know what I’m going to do. I love animals. I love Jakey (our dog). I will give all the money to animals.” I told my son he could change his mind if he wanted. My husband and I praised him for his decision, and we continued on with dinner. After another five minutes or so, he took three dollars from the animals pile and put one each on books, homeless and parks, so that “everyone could get some money”. My husband and I were both surprised. After imagining possible disastrous scenarios, I think I was also a little relieved at how much he seemed to “get” it.

Now, of course, my husband and I have to decide exactly where the money will go, and how we will match it. Next year, I’ll have to decide whether to increase the number of categories, what the categories will be (and whether my son will be part of that decision) and whether to increase his contribution. We have decided to start an allowance when he turns five in March, but I haven’t yet decided how to introduce the save, spend and share concept just yet. I also wonder when and how to talk to him about the other causes we support, so we can show him that giving and sharing — in all its forms — is just something our family does.

Have you encouraged your children to donate to charity? If so, do you have any words of wisdom on what worked and what didn’t? Were your children receptive to the idea? How has your approach changed as your kids have gotten older?

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By Marissa Vogel, November 29, 2010

While the stresses and commitments of the holidays are often overwhelming on family life, volunteer work and holiday giving activities are a great opportunity for you and your children to enjoy the spirit of the holiday season together.

I recently connected with Jenny Friedman, the Founder of Doing Good Together and she put together some great advice on holiday giving and volunteering that I wanted to share. I’ve modified slightly to be more specific to the Austin area, but many can be applied to other communities. Jenny also provides some other ideas on ways to get your family involved in your own community this holiday season.

1.  Adopt a family or child for gift giving. Help ensure that everyone in your community receives something special for the holidays by providing gifts for those in need. This is a great way to teach your child about the value of giving rather than receiving. Turn it into a fun shopping experience for your child by letting him/her pick out the items, find the sizes, or choose the styles or colors of items requested. Let them wrap the gifts themselves and make their own cards (if allowed). This is a great opportunity for your child to use some of his/her charitable savings, too. Many Austin organizations facilitate or provide opportunities to adopt a family or provide wish list gifts, check out their websites for more information:

• Any Baby Can Adopt-a-Family
• Austin Children’s Shelter
• Center for Child Protection
• Foundation Communities
• Giving City
• I Live Here, I Give Here Adopt-a-Family ListSt. Louise House
• Lifeworks Adopt-a-Youth and Adopt-a-Family
• Partnerships for Children Holiday Wishes
• Saint Louise House

2.  Make holiday cards or decorations like tree ornaments or centerpieces/wreaths. Think of all the people who would be cheered by your handiwork! The Internet is full of simple arts & crafts ideas for children of all ages. Take your homemade cards and crafts to a local nursing home or hospitals like the Seton Family of Hospitals and St. David’s Hospitals.

3.  Cook or prepare a meal, side dish, or baked goods. Organizations like Mobile Loaves & Fishes and the Ronald McDonald House are often looking for or accept home-cooked or purchased food donations. Contact them to find out how you can best assist this holiday season.

4.  Host a holiday “giving” party and ask your guests to bring a non-perishable food item(s) for a food pantry. You and your children can deliver the items to organizations like The Capital Area Food Bank, Micah 6, or Caritas of Austin. Or, collect new or gently used clothing for a homeless shelter.

5.  Help with a toy drive. You could pick up and deliver toys, sort, wrap or hand out gifts. Or your family can pitch in to buy toys to donate while you’re out shopping.  There are many successful Toy-Drives in the Austin area, check these out:

• Blue Santa
• Brown Santa
• Family Giving Tree

6.  Deliver a meal. Help our local Meals-on-Wheels program—which is sometimes short staffed over the holidays—by picking up prepared meals and delivering them to the homebound.

Giving City has an amazing collaboration of toy drives, adopt-a-family programs and events benefiting local charities that will make it easy for you to pick a holiday project for the whole family.

Of course, also check out our Little Helping Hands Events Calendar to be part of some of our holiday volunteering opportunities. Get on our waiting list as spots do open up!

Other Doing Good Together ideas:

• Volunteer at a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, nursing home, animal shelter, or other institution. While some may have age restrictions, this still might be a good fit for you and your teenager.
• Decorate a shelter, nursing home or elderly person’s home. Call senior services in your area to be matched with a group or individual who might appreciate help.

• Organize a collection. What would you like to collect? Food? Mittens? Books? Toys? Contact a local agency that could use the items, then call on friends and family to contribute.

• Visit. Three million Americans spend their holidays in institutions each year, and many have no visitors. Even if you only spend an hour or two, make the effort to visit individuals confined to a nursing home, hospital or other institution. For information, call your local hospital or nursing home.