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Volunteer Testimonials

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New Hope for Kids Volunteer Testimonials

A team is only as strong as all of its members. New Hope for Kids has been truely blessed with so many wonderful Volunteers and Grief Facilitators. Here are the voices of just a few of them… 

Joie

In 1992 I had the pleasure to start volunteering with Children’s Wish Foundation. The experience was empowering and like nothing else. To see the faces of those glowing children and their families and the gratitude they have in welcoming me was amazing. It was a pleasant experience when Children’s Wish and New Hope joined together. To work with other volunteers and staff members affiliated with New Hope for Kids gave me a sense of community. It is great to see how innovative everyone can be when organizing fundraisers and events for the children. The number of programs offered is very diverse and allows for all ages to participate. -Chris

Volunteering at New Hope has opened my eyes to the difficulties of a person’s life after the death of a loved one. I am thankful each and everyday that I was given an opportunity to volunteer for a such a great organization, and able to make a difference in someone’s life. -Nick

 Nick

Joie

Relationships – We learn from infancy how important relationships are and how the closest ones to us form who we are in so many ways. When we lose the ones closest to us not only does our life change but so do we. It leaves emptiness that we tend to fill with sadness, guilt, blame, rebellion, and a lot of the time sheer madness as to “Why has this happened to me?” When this happens at a young age we feel so “different” in so many ways. Not until we realize that it has not only happened to us, but to so many others that we begin to accept the fact that we are not so different. I lost my father at 19 and not until I started volunteering at New Hope did I truly receive the healing I didn’t even know I needed some thirty-eight years later. To have others to talk to and share the same experience with helps these young people in ways that may not even be revealed until they become adults.
-Joie

 

Volunteering as a grief facilitator at New Hope for Kids has added a dimension of humility and gratitude to my life that I could never have imagined. Since being introduced to the program in 2006, the children have inspired me to appreciate what I have today and to live in the moment. The ability they demonstrate to process the death of a loved one with such grace, vulnerability, and heartfelt passion makes me feel grateful to be part of their lives. To think that I might offer some guidance and assistance during that process is an honor for me. I am a better person thanks to all the children who have touched my life. -Christine

 

 

New Hope has impacted my life personally in so many ways that I cannot begin to list them all. However, the biggest impact is that I have had personal friends come to me and ask me about grief related to their own children and themselves. I always refer them to New Hope and tell them that I am not a trained counselor, but I know that New Hope will change their lives for the better.

I am proud to be associated with an organization filled with so many wonderful employees and volunteers who give so selflessly of themselves and do it with joy.

I know that if I search the rest of my life, I will not EVER find a place to volunteer that will touch my heart as much as New Hope’s has!

Thanks, New Hope!! -Ginny

 

 

After losing 4 loved ones in a six year time frame, I knew one day when I had worked through my pain that I wanted and needed to help others through their pain. When a child comes to “New Hope”, you see a child who is lost and unsure of everything, but when they leave that child knows that “New Hope” is a place of acceptance and that they are understood without a single word being spoken. They are at a place where everyone knows their inner pain. That is healing for anyone’s soul. I am deeply touched and honored to be a grief facilitator at “New Hope.” It is good for my soul too! I have been so blessed to have met these families and I pray daily for their healing. All my love to all the families. -Tamara

 

 

On April 25, 1998, Diane’s daughter Becca was killed by a drunk driver. Years later, Diane is now a veteran grief facilitator for New Hope for Kids.

About a year after our 16 year old daughter was killed by a drunk driver, an acquaintance approached me and told me about New Hope for Kids. She, too, was a bereaved mother and was involved with the organization. She said she was finding healing as she facilitated the healing of others. I have always loved working with children of all ages and I knew immediately that this was something I wanted, and needed, to do.

I continue to volunteer because I see the steady progress the children make in coming to terms with their grief and then their ability to move on. It is uplifting to see this process take place over and over again. What could be more affirming to the human spirit than these children, who, having been given more than you would think they could handle, begin to laugh and comfort others?
– Diane G.