Giving Back

Several years ago, I joined my local MOMS Club.
It is a Non-Profit Organization and there is one in every state and even a few other countries -

Here are the goals and principles of MOMS Club.

Goals:
To provide a support group for mothers who choose to stay at home to raise their children

To provide a forum for topics of interest to mothers

To help children in the community

To perform at least one service project yearly helping needy children


Principles:
That women must be free to choose their personal path to fulfillment

That, for women who choose it, raising children is an important and fulfilling full-time job

That a family's decision for a mother to stay at home to raise the children often involves considerable financial sacrifice

That there is no one right way to raise children, but our members have a common concern in raising their children in a healthful way



Along the way, I met a lot of friends-
Friendships formed and our children made friends. It was great that other moms knew what you were going through and if you needed advice you could get it!

Last year I was AVP for MOMS CLUB Riverside East-
Part of my job was fundraising for our "Service Project"

We had selected Carolyn E. Wylie Center for Children and Families, Foster Care and Mother to Mother Fund as the charities that we supported that year. The Carolyn E. Wylie Center for Children, Youth & Families improves the quality of life and enhances family relationships by providing programs for children and the community with compassion and commitment. For Foster Care we made care kits for children in Foster Care. We also did an event called "Baby City" where at risk youth that were in the system had children of their own. We provided them with Blankets and toys for their children. Mother to Mother Fund is a trust established by The MOMS Club® to help any member in financial need due to an unexpected tragedy such as death of a spouse or child, serious illness, or major accident.

Our service project was pulling tabs for the Ronald McDonald House.


This year we are still pulling pull tabs for the Ronald Mc Donald House in Loma Linda.

We also are raising money for the Ronald McDonald House because in our chapter, my friend Marina; and if you know her, she would be yours as well....daughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukemia (JMML). It is a serious chronic leukemia (cancer of the blood) that affects children mostly aged 4 and under.

It hit our club hard as we all love Marina and her children. We continue to have her in our thoughts and prayers everyday.

Here is Sarah's Story:

Sarah Poulson is 4 yrs old, her birthday is May 13th, 2004. On May 21st 2008 we were supposed to go to her Aunt and Uncles to celebrate her birthday but instead we ended up in the hospital with swolen liver and spleen which was diagnosed as JMML on May 29th 2008. Sarah has always been a spirited little girl so full of life. She loves to play in her kitchen and dress up. Her favorite thing is having a make believe tea party.

We never imagined she would get sick with this horrible disease. Luckily her little 2 year old brother was a match and she had her transplant on July 22nd. 2008. Not all is well though she is having many complications now from side effects of the BMT and she hasnt left Childrens Hospital In Los Angeles since she was admitted on July 14th 2008. We wish we had a happy ending to share for little Sarah but for now we are just waiting for her liver to start working again. She is loved by so many people and we just want her to come home walking on her own two feet. God please have mercy on these children and their families! September 2008

We held a Charity Fundraiser for the family last night and received donations of $113.00 for the family and over $600 for the Ronald McDonald House.

I would love to thank everyone who donated for the Silent Auction and who bought Raffle Tickets.
Most of all, a big thank you to the businesses who donated!

I really hope to do this again!