Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Charity league members (left to right) Kay Ralston, Ashley Ralston, Lynn Bernardo and Kate Bernardo
cook lunch for residents of the Family Living Center.

League offers time for each other while serving in the community

By Sarah Lombardo

A group of local teenagers and their mothers have discovered a way to make time for each other and those less fortunate in their busy, typically '90s schedules: they volunteer.

Members of the SaratogaLos Gatos chapter of the National Charity League, a service network for mothers and daughters, work weekly at a variety of shelters, food banks and community service centers.

"In our busy lives, we're running in 10 different directions, and it's hard to coordinate schedules," Saratoga resident Kathy Kroll said. "[NCL] carves out specific time that we must spend together."

Kroll is a member of NCL with her daughters, Kami and Kari. She and Kari joined when Kari was in the seventh grade, the minimum age requirement for teens; she's now a senior at St. Francis High School in Mountain View.

"I thought it would be fun to go into the community and meet all these different people. I was really excited about it, and since it was with my mom, I thought that would be a good chance to spend some time with her," Kari said.

Kami, who was in the fourth grade when her sister and mom joined NCL, said she couldn't wait until it was her turn. She said that she was excited about being able to share the experiences she had been hearing her mom and sister talk about for years. Kami said she also learned she could have fun with her mom.

"I didn't think it could be fun to do things with your mom," she laughed, "but it is."

Kroll said she has enjoyed watching her daughters mature and learn with the responsibility that comes with being a member of NCL.

"It's helping the needy and watching my daughter grow. It's fun and rewarding," Kroll said.

Originally called the Charity League, the group was incorporated and became national in Los Angeles in 1958. It was locally founded in 1988 and chartered in 1990. Jan McMains, the local chapter's current president, is also one of the founding members. She joined the group with her first daughter, and, three daughters later, is still involved.

McMains said she has also been witness to the change that philanthropic work has brought to her daughters, Susan, Mary and Katie.

"It really makes a difference," she said. "Your daughter may not know it, but it does."

McMains said that it hasn't always been easy to keep up with the work in the NCL. With homework and after-school activities, it is hard to keep teens motivated, but the effort is always rewarding .

"[Sometimes my daughter] is leaning against the car door, telling me all the reasons why she should not be going today, and then we do our deed and on the way home, we're leaning together talking about what we've just experienced," she said.

According to McMains, teens in NCL are required to donate a certain number of hours each year based on their grade level. Students in the seventh, eighth and 12th grades are required to volunteer 10 hours to a philanthropic cause and 10 hours at the league. High school freshmen, sophomores and juniors must give 15 hours to a cause and 15 to the league. Causes are different for each grade level and approved by the league.

McMains said the hours are required for each grade level's chosen cause to ensure that charities and shelters can depend on receiving a certain number of hours' help from NCL teens. Otherwise, McMains said, the teens would only volunteer at the shelter or for causes that were their favorites, such as working in the soup kitchen at the Santa Clara Family Living Center.

The 12th-graders and their moms sponsored a lunch at the Family Living Center on Dec. 15. "Through the years," McMains said, "that has been a favorite with the girls."

At the center, about 15 teens and their moms prepared and served a lunch of soup, tossed salad, bread and, for dessert, brownies. Kari said the girls also did face painting for the kids at the center, read stories and prepared food boxes for families to bring with them when they leave.

For more information about the NCL, call McMains at 741-5859.