Amy and her 4½ year old daughter Lily share their experience volunteering with House Lighting/Donating wish list items for the Kiwanis Family House and Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army on behalf of the Greater Sacramento Kiwanis Club

Your name: Amy and Lily (4 ½ years old)

Cause name: Kiwanis Family House / Greater Sacramento Kiwanis Club

Cause website url: www.kiwanisfamilyhouse.org and www.greatersackiwanis.com

Is this your first time volunteering with this cause? No – I am a member of the Kiwanis Club and have spent 7 years donating money and time to different causes.  Most of the fundraisers we do as a club, the money goes to the Kiwanis Family House.  This is the first year that Lily did bell ringing.

1. Please provide a short paragraph about your volunteer experience.

For the House Lighting, this is the second year but the first time I attended.  We were asked to bring items that the guests of the house needed (like detergent, paper towels, deodarant, etc.).  Lily helped picked out the items and then attended the house lighting.  The ticket money collected all went to the Kiwanis Family House.

For the bell ringing, our club has been bell ringing for as long as I have been in the club.  We take a Friday and Saturday and divide shifts.  Lily and I had a Saturday morning shift.  I explained to her prior to arriving at the grocery store location the purpose of ringing the Salvation Army bell.  I think she understood – as much as a 4 year old could!  We practiced saying “Merry Christmas” and “Thank you for your help” once donations were made.   

2. What were you expecting going into this volunteering event? Did those expectations change at all once you were done volunteering?

I didn’t have any expectations for either event since I have volunteered for both causes before.  However, I was a little worried about Lily not be able to make it through the whole shift but she was a trooper!  I took over the bell ringing duties and she handed out candy canes to kids.

3. What was one thing you saw or did today that you’ll remember from today’s volunteering event?

I will remember the smiles that Lily got and the admiration that she was learning about volunteering at an early age.  Not only am I her Mom, I am a role model and try to lead by example.  Any family friendly volunteering events that I can take part in, I bring along my girls.

4. As an “experienced” volunteer at this cause, what would you tell someone who’s interested in volunteering at this cause for the first time?

Don’t let the ones who don’t say “HI” back or run quickly by you because they don’t want to donate get you down or make you feel like a failure.  Keep smiling, saying hello/merry christmas/have a great day and spread good cheer.  There are giving and caring people out there!

5. Are there any additional items people should know about volunteering at this cause?

Our club always can use help for our fundraisers!  We work together with our sponsored youth (Key Clubs, K-Kids) to help with our different events.  We also partner together to help on different projects – like cleaning up the creek area around the Discovery Museum (Lily worked that with me too).  Non members are ALWAYS welcome to help – of all ages.  The Kiwanis Family House uses volunteers and they could use man power and supplies.

Thanks Amy and Lily – keep making our community a better place!

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