Del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
INVOLVE THE WHOLE FAMILY
Susan and Mike Overton
Emily Myers, 19
Louisville, Kentucky
"When you have an only child, you always worry about her never having to share," says Susan Overton. "We wanted our daughter to connect with other people and to understand what community means."
Susan and Mike had always encouraged doing good deeds as a family, from buying Christmas presents for the needy to working with youth groups. By the time their daughter, Emily, was in high school, she was helping to mentor younger girls in a program called the Ophelia Project. When Catholic Charities (catholiccharitiesusa.org) was looking for volunteers to help settle refugee families, however, Emily and her parents were in for some fresh challenges.
"The first time we met them, it was a huge shock," says Emily of the family of six from Burundi who became their responsibility. The father was widowed—his wife had died in a camp in Tanzania—and there were five children, ages 1 to 13.
"They barely spoke English, so we used sign language," Emily remembers. Susan and Emily visited three times a week. Susan helped the father enroll the older children in school and arranged for the younger ones to attend day care so he could look for work. Mike helped the family hang shelves and stabilize the rickety bunk beds. "We were helping them adjust to life in America," says Emily, "but they also gave so much back to us. They appreciated everything. I'd like my own children to have experiences like that."
INVOLVE THEIR FRIENDS
Virginia Hensen
Emily, 23, and Elizabeth Lieberman, 21
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Virginia Hensen recalls dragging her older daughter "kicking and screaming" to her first meeting of the National Charity League (nationalcharityleague.org), a mother-daughter service organization. Emily was in seventh grade, a time when "kids are beginning to not want you around," says her mother. "But I wanted to have quality time with my kids beyond going to the mall to look for the latest pair of jeans."
One of the places the mothers had selected for their daughters to volunteer was a shelter for homeless teenagers called the Street Light Youth Shelter. Before their first stints, the girls were invited to tour the center during the day when no one was there. "Walking through, we saw these dreary wooden bunks where the kids came to sleep when it was raining," says Virginia. "My younger daughter, Elizabeth, was with us, and she saw a teddy bear on one of the bunks that was exactly the same as one she had at home. It hit her like a brick: I could be that child sleeping in this shelter. It was a 'there but for the grace of God' moment."
Emily, now in her second year with Teach for America (teachforamerica.org) on Chicago's South Side, remembers volunteering with friends at another shelter. "My friends and I would bake cookies the night before and bring bagels for kids the next morning. Peer involvement was what made it fun and cool."
Emily also remembers when she and her friends volunteered at a roller skating event during the Special Olympics (specialolympics.org). "That was my first encounter with people with disabilities," says Emily, who admits she'd have been uncomfortable going alone but was fine with friends.
9 Medical Myths Busted
Video: How to Eat Healthy While Traveling
10 Great Gift Book Ideas
How to Cope With a Depressed Spouse
Joke: I was leading a tour through Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico…
Advertisement 
