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Feature: Creating a family spirit of giving |
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Ages & Stages:
Getting School Ready:
Out & About:
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Voice: Raj Manhas: Committing to public schools Giving Together: Media: View featured media From the readers: |
About this issue
Dear Reader:
“Give as you live.”
—Althea Diesenhaus Stroum
One of the great local elder philanthropists who inspires me personally is quoted with these wise and simple words: “Give as you live.” The goal is to make giving part of our lives and our children’s lives year ‘round, not just when “‘Tis the Season” brings out ringing bells and red tin buckets. It is an exceptional young child that refrains from inquiry when passing a homeless person asking for help on our city streets. How we as parents react to their query is often a reflection of our own uneasiness with hunger, homelessness and poverty. The current state of the world, both at home and far away, gives us daily opportunity to create a family spirit of giving that comes in endless varieties (“Creating a Family Spirit of Giving,”). Perhaps your family has a special kinship with the tried-and-true volunteer work of Campfire, or with the more recent Social Venture Kids (an SVP project) where young people take on the traditionally adult role of grant maker.
Between wrapping gifts, perhaps you will cozy up with your child and this issue and explore some ideas of how to give together.
However your family decides to give this season, we hope you will choose to participate in our annual Giving Together campaign. We select four local agencies that do outstanding work to support families in need, and highlight their efforts throughout the year (parentmap.com/giving).
One of the most benevolent public servants in Seattle wrote our VOICE column this month: Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools Raj Manhas. He continues to live by his words dating back to his hire on October 7, 2003. “I am deeply honored and humbled to be entrusted with this awesome and important task,” Manhas said. “I will bring to this job all my energy and passion for children, and will do everything in my power to ensure their success.” Mr. Manhas will do this until his final day on the job. He steers our thoughts to one of the most important issues facing us as members of a democratic society — the right for all children to receive a high-quality education.
May we see peace on earth in this coming year.
—Alayne Sulkin, publisher/editor