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Doing Good Together Newsletter )
Helping strengthen kids and communities through family volunteerism... Sept 2005
in this issue
  • How Your Family Can Help Katrina Evacuees
  • Your Kids and the Hurricane
  • When Kids Do Good ... Does It Take?
  • Be Inspired ... Family Focus
  • News From DGT
    •

    Greetings from Doing Good Together! We appreciate your patience while we have been planning our newsletter format. We are excited to connect with you and share ideas and news on how to engage families in volunteerism to strengthen family bonds, bring communities together and inspire kids to care. Expect to hear from Doing Good Together on a monthly basis and don't be shy about letting us hear from you!


    Jenny Friedman, Executive Director

    		How Your Family Can Help Katrina Evacuees
    Kits for Katrina Evacuees

    Make a Difference... provide badly needed items to Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Whether you do it with a group or as a family activity in your own home, you and your children can put together basic health and school kits for those in need. It’s fun to buy and pack these small items (soap, toothbrush, paper), which make such a big difference in people’s lives. For information on what to include in the kits and where to send them, contact Church World Service at 1-800-297-1516 or check their web site:

      Photo: Rick Augsburger/CWS

    		Your Kids and the Hurricane

    Talk About It ... If Hurricane Katrina is a topic of conversation in your house, be prepared to reassure your children and answer their questions.

    • Be aware of your children’s ages, personalities and maturity levels. Don’t provide too much detail about issues they can’t understand.
    • Let your children tell you what they already know about the hurricane (“What have you heard?”) and listen carefully as they voice their ideas, questions and concerns
    • Talk about the natural world – both its beauty and its challenges. If your child is interested, learn more about hurricanes by reading Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole, Hurricanes by Seymour Simon or Do Tornadoes Really Twist? Questions and Answers about Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Melvin and Gilda Berger.
    • If children ask whether such a thing could happen where they live, be honest but reassuring, and let them know that you’ll keep them safe.
    • Talk to your children about the fact that all of us are in need of aid and comfort at times, and that when we help one another, the world is a better place. Ask about when they’ve needed help and share with them the times when you have both given and received assistance.
    Learn About It ... Read books with your children about the importance of caring and kindness. For books that match your child’s age and reading level, check out our resource list.

    		When Kids Do Good ... Does It Take?

    A report by Independent Sector and Youth Service America finds that adults who volunteered as kids and whose parents volunteered become the most generous adults in giving time. For the full report:

    		Be Inspired ... Family Focus
    Picture of Jenny, Josie and Ben

    Five-year-old Josie Barnabee, of Libertyville, Illinois, and her 3-year-old brother, Ben, have more “honorary” grandparents than they can count. Since they were babies, they’ve spent one morning a week at Winchester House, a local nursing home, where they exchange hugs, sing songs, play games, and talk with the elderly residents. “When they walk out of the elevator, the residents come to life,” says their mom, Jenny.

    		News From DGT

    Jenny Friedman, the Executive Director of Doing Good Together, has been speaking about family volunteerism to parent groups around the Twin Cities of Minnesota, including Temple Israel in Minneapolis, Hope Lutheran Church in Rosemount and Blake School in Hopkins. For a reasonable fee, we will present ideas and how-to advice on family volunteering to your business, faith community, school or organization. To learn more about our presentations ...

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