Friendship Circle Los Angeles Family of the Year Awarded to Mommy Blog Expert & Family

Community Service

Since I advocate the importance of teaching kids to give back to their communities by volunteering, I am honored and proud to share that my husband, four teenagers and I have been named Friendship Circle of Los Angeles Family of the Year.

Our official FCLA Family of the Year Award Portrait

When it comes to community service, normally we maintain a low profile, working quietly behind the scenes simply because donating our time is the right thing to do -- not to mention immensely rewarding and satisfying to my entire family. By stepping briefly into the limelight tonight to accept this award we hope to inspire many other kids, moms, dads and extended family to volunteer as a family block because it takes more than money to run an organization like this one that does so much for so many. An added perk is that I'm a believer of the family that volunteers together, stays together.

Our family's volunteer experience and commitment to life-long service is definitely multi-generational. Both my husband and I were raised in homes that were deeply involved in assisting others in need and both of us began volunteering when we were young kids. So, when we became parents ourselves, it was only natural for us to pass that love of helping others on to our four -- triplets plus one more born within a year -- who all began volunteering with us when they were just toddlers. 

Non profit Friendship Circle of Los Angeles (FCLA) is a unique organization that is equally fulfilling for those special needs children served as well as for the huge corp of teenage volunteers who cumulatively donated many thousands of hours of time during the 2012-2013 school year. In fact this year's FCLA 's Annual Evening of Recognition spotlights 392 teen boy and girl volunteers -- including my own children -- from dozens of schools in the L.A. area.

My 4 kids with some of the other volunteers

If you'd like to help, too, I encourage you to check out the FCLA website where you'll not only find all kinds of information on what they do but how you can get involved either by volunteering or donating. You won't want to miss tonight's Chinese Auction fundraiser, either, where you can support a great cause while also getting the chance to win some great prizes like an iPad, vacation trips to Hollywood and San Diego, fine jewelry, shopping sprees, a Four Seasons hotel stay, a baseball signed by Shawn Green formerly of the New York Mets and lots more.

FTC Disclosure: My family and I volunteer for and are supporters of the Friendship Circle of Los Angeles. I did not receive payment or other compensation for this post and all opinions here are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.