During my career at Arizona Helping Hands (“AHH”), I had the opportunity to meet many amazing individuals. I met relatives, aunts, uncles, even great grandparents, who transformed their lives to provide safety and comfort to children. Despite enormous challenges and limitations, they did not hesitate when they were told that their young kin needed them. They took on the responsibility to make those kids feel safe, and to give them the much-needed love they deserve.
I remember well the day that I decided to step up to lead Arizona Helping Hands. In August of 2014 I was volunteering in our warehouse. A 73-year-old lady came in to receive four mattresses for her great granddaughters. Those girls had been fighting over the sofa or sleeping in a pile of blankets on the floor. Many nights one or more would crawl into bed with Great Grandma (“GG”). The challenges GG faced were huge – financially, physically, emotionally and more. She took on those 24/7 parenting responsibilities out of a deeply ingrained sense of purpose. She was bound to surround them with the love and support of a family, something GG didn’t have as a child. She grabbed me in a bear hug to say thank you for those four mattresses. If nothing else, maybe she would have a good night’s sleep for the first time in a while.
I think of the commitment GG and so many others make for children who have experienced disruption, abuse and neglect. Foster parents are truly a testament for the power of love. They change their lives to love a child who needs them.
I went home that night and told my wife that I would volunteer my services to serve as the temporary, part-time CEO of AHH. I felt called to be giving back to support the folks like GG who were doing heavy lifting that was wearing them out. I had no idea how that decision would change my life.
Over my years at AHH I learned the importance of giving back to help others. I’ve seen the heart of so many who seem to have a light turned on when learning about charitable work, and who suddenly comprehend how easy and important it is to help others. They get the fact that there are thousands of children who have faced horrible circumstances in their short lives, and that those kids truly need a helping hand.
It’s so easy to help others. I remember a seven-year-old girl who came to AHH with the $10.25 she collected at her lemonade stand. She wanted to donate it to help boys and girls who were not as blessed. I remember the family who every year on their children’s birthdays would tell their two boys that half of what they receive should be donated to a charity to help kids who don’t have a birthday celebration. These lessons are so important, and often, it’s the children who teach their parents the importance of giving back.
Giving Back can change your life, as it did mine. Helping others provides a satisfaction like no other. As I begin Moving Forward, I take enormous pride in the contribution I made to AHH. Knowing that I gave my heart and soul giving back to our community has changed my life and made me a better man. I encourage you to give thought to how you’re giving back. Believe me it eases the challenges that life throws at you. There is great satisfaction in knowing that you can step up and say that you’ve given a helping hand to someone in need.