Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Learn The Ropes

On May 20th, the Daily Herald wrote a great article on Help Me Grow.  We are pleased to share it with you!  Please pass it on to any and all that may be interested in learning more about us!  


Thanks!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Supporting Parents

I was honored to attend the first "Help Me Grow" networking breakfast today!  I had a great time and enjoyed meeting professionals in all areas, trying to better the community.  I am always in awe of the amount of good that people can accomplish if they put their mind to it.  All of the people I spoke with today (all women) balance family and work tirelessly for their cause.  Early intervention, adoption, fostering, child care, and health care were only a few subjects these great leaders work on.  I was invited as a parent advocate and it is my job to listen and give feedback on how I feel about whatever subject comes up.  I am not a professional in the same sense of the word as they are, but I bring to the table  my own set of experiences with children in many areas that are talked about.  

The goal for these get together's is for all of the different organizations to work together.  "Help Me Grow" itself is a hotline *211* for parents to be able to call in the be directed to the services they need.  How powerful the outcome if we can all work together to benefit all.  I am always amazed at the countless free services that are already available in the community that aren't being used.  I think one main reason is because parents don't know about them and THAT is exactly what we are trying to change.  

The topic today was on "Supporting Parents".  I was so impressed by the input I heard.  We all sat at tables with four people at each.  We bounced ideas and feelings back and forth in a brain storming fashion, with the goal of coming up with some answers.  Everyone that attended had something to add, and it was all positive.  They really care about helping the community, right down to investing countless hours with each family they come in contact with.  I think as a parent, I sometimes take for granted all the organizations in the community and don't think enough about the individual people and hours that goes into offering it to me.  I won't ever do that again.  Nothing that changes lives happens on it's own.  Much blood, sweat, and tears goes into making this world a better place.  My hat's off to you...thank you.  

Barbara Leavitt, the organizer of the event had a quote written on the board that I loved.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

Monday, May 3, 2010

A Raging Success


We are so excited to report that the first annual "Help Me Grow" event was a raging success! We had kids from all over the area come to celebrate with us! We ran, we played, we jumped, and read. We enjoyed the beautiful blue skies and yummy pancake breakfast.


I would love to introduce you to the mastermind behind the project! Her name is Barbara Leavitt. She has a long history of helping in her community in many ways. She is such a bright light to those around her. She says that one of her goals in life is to teach the next generation of leaders. I believe she took a great step in that direction with this event. She oversaw many people that were interested in helping.












And of course, we would have nothing to plan without the precious faces of little ones running all around!  The kids had the time of their lives enjoying:




A moon bounce blow up toy....




A balloon man...









A yummy pancake breakfast...












A parachute game...














An interactive bubble story time...












The classic game, red light green light...




and of course, face painting!













Nothing is as important as taking the time to play with our kids and teaching them through new experiences.  I loved watching each parent interace with their kids in their own way.




A great big thanks goes out to all that were involved with the coordinating this event!  We plan on having an even bigger and better party next year, so stay tuned!  Help me grow is having great success with parents starting to call and use our free service hotline.  Just call 2-1-1 to ask any questions you have about the development of your child.  We will do everything we can to either answer your questions or direct you to someone that can!