Want to bring more meaning to your family’s holiday season? Want to give back, but not quite sure how?
Join Generation SERVE on November 17, 2018 to celebrate the impact that families can have on their communities through a day of giving and service.
Austin Families Give Back: Family Volunteer Day 2018 is an opportunity for children and the adults in their lives to learn more about what Austin nonprofits need and how we can help. In addition to having the chance to perform hands-on service activities at this FREE, city-wide event, attendees will receive a Holiday Resource Guide full of ways to support Austin charities throughout the season of giving.
All Austin families are invited to attend Austin Families Give Back. Pre-registration is required, and online registration wis open now. Shifts are available between 10:30am and 4:30pm. Please note that although children of all ages are welcome to attend, service activities are designed for children ages 3 and up.
Register your family to attend at generationserve.org/familyvolunteerday
Here is one families’ experience with Austin Families Give Back:
A NEW TRADITION BEGINS AT AUSTIN FAMILIES GIVE BACK
By Erin Barber
When I was introduced to Generation SERVE by a colleague last fall, I was delighted to learn about an organization that shared my values about youth empowerment and community service, but I wasn’t really sure where to start. Fortunately, the Generation SERVE team was preparing for their first Austin Families Give Back event, and I signed up for a shift for our family to participate! It felt right to begin our holiday season spending time together in service to others.
Our experience at Austin Families Give Back was awesome! It was a service fair full of hands-on activities, a learning event about the needs in our community, AND an opportunity to explore my children’s interests through a different lens. They were exposed to 30 nonprofit organizations and eight different service areas all in one day – What would they be drawn to? What activities would resonate the most with them? Our oldest son wants to be in motion. He likes helping in ways that involve moving, sorting, and making things. He made bird feeders, packed rice for people in need, and filled sensory stress balls to help children. Our younger son prefers to connect. He wants to know others and offer support – for both people and animals. He was energized by discussing the activities with other children and volunteers at all of the stations. I walked out of the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex, where the event was held, proud of our work together as a family and confident we’d just established a new tradition.
We’ve built on this momentum in family volunteering over the last year. We volunteer nearly every month through Generation SERVE – bagging groceries, sorting diapers, tending community gardens, cleaning graffiti, and event reading to kittens! I appreciate the meaningful conversations we have as we plan our volunteering and reflect on our work. I’ve seen our boys grow in their understanding of the range of needs in Austin and the action they can take.
Further, I’ve come to appreciate the team at Generation SERVE and their nonprofit partners in the community. Their commitment to inspiring a passion for youth volunteerism and community leadership is reflected through the thoughtfulness that they put into each event and volunteer activity. I’m privileged to support these efforts as a Family Sponsor, and now as a Board Member.
With national Family Volunteer Day nearly upon us, I’m excited for our family to participate again in Austin Families Give Back! It is truly a joy to kick off the holiday season together with giving and service. I hope to see you and your family there!
Register at generationserve.org/familyvolunteerday
Austin Families Give Back
hosted by Generation SERVE
Saturday, November 17
shifts available throughout the day
Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex
1156 Hargrave Street, Austin
