Katie Flynn, A Mother's Day Conversation
It’s Mother’s Day weekend and we are celebrating mothers who volunteer!
The visionary behind our Volunteerism program is Katie Flynn, who has a deep passion for giving back as it runs deep within Katie’s roots. Katie is the daughter of Jane Seymour and granddaughter of the inspiration for the Open Hearts Philosophy, Mieke Frankenberg.
Katie believes that volunteerism is where passion meets purpose and, as a Mom, Katie has found that volunteering has become a critical part of her life as a parent and a guidepost for raising compassionate, connected, and hopeful children.
She has recently launched a volunteering club called the Beehive, and she is hoping one day to support schools with a volunteer integration program during the school day.
Take a moment to hear some of the research and reasons why Katie and her kids volunteer:
The Foundation: During National Volunteer Month, we learned a bit about what inspired you to personally get involved in volunteering. Why did you choose to get your kids involved, too?
KF: It probably always has been an important lesson for children – to give back and to contribute to your community. But it is now more necessary than ever before for our community and for our kids. It is a complicated time to be a child. Kids (like many adults) are overwhelmed with feelings, overwhelmed with stimulation, and overwhelmed by the pace of a technologically driven world. Feeling the pressure to “keep up”, news events, climate change, community violence and more are all cascading in, when kids regulatory functions are not there to help them make sense of it all yet. Mental health concerns are skyrocketing among young people.
The Foundation: While there may be many reasons as to why this is happening, isolation was a huge issue during the pandemic. Is that what you’ve found?
KF: Yes! Many of the studies have shown that isolation and disconnection are some of the root causes of much of what we are seeing that affects kids, like bullying (including on social media), substance abuse, and mental health issues.
The Foundation: So what can we do? How does volunteering combat this challenge? How can the simple act of giving back support our kids?
KF: Volunteerism has been proven to have a positive influence on the developing brain. I started looking into research on how volunteerism helps with depression. This is probably because of a few important benefits of volunteering.
First, volunteerism can help kids develop an attachment to a cause they care about - giving them a big picture, long term focus beyond their daily lives. Instead of focusing on what’s happening on their social media or in the hallways at school, they can shift their vision to begin to understand issues like food equity, or environmental issues, or the unhoused.
Second, It helps us focus on teambuilding, connection with others, and compassion and empathy – connecting their hearts to the circumstance of others.
Finally, it honors the talents and skills of young people. It gives them a chance to share and in turn, offers nonprofits the abilities and energy of the next generation.
The Foundation: You’ve brought your kids to volunteer experiences with the Foundation. What other experiences have been particularly meaningful to your family?
KF: We used to do our own grassroots neighborhood program providing supplies to individuals experiencing homelessness in the neighborhood, but found that a local charity, Food On Foot, created a better way for our kids to really understand this cause on a deeper level-connecting with individuals and hearing their personal stories they share on Sundays.
Food on Foot’s mission is dedicated to assisting our unhoused and low-income neighbors in Los Angeles with nutritious meals, clothing, and a fresh start through life-skills training, full-time employment, and permanent housing. When we would volunteer at Food on Foot, my kids meet people who were unhoused. Many of the people going through this program share their own stories, about how they got there, and it made us realize that most people are so close to being in that same situation too. Many people are a paycheck away, a family illness away, etc. We learned that listening to people's stories is important; it’s a way to connect on a human level and understand each other. This changed my girls’ relationship with ALL people they encounter daily, and their values in life in general. They came to know how NOT separate we all are.
Here are some of Katie’s favorite places to volunteer with her kids:
FOOD ON FOOT
Hollywood, CA
https://www.foodonfoot.org/volunteer/
Help by distributing food, clothing and essential supplies to 280+ unhoused and low-income neighbors while you get to meet participants face to face.
HEAL THE BAY
Los Angeles Area Coastline
https://healthebay.org/take-part/
Spend a day outdoors helping to keep our oceans clean.
OUR VILLAGE
Torrance, CA
https://www.ourvillageslc.org/get-involved.html
Kids 4 -12yrs old and their families can volunteer as Play friends – Mentors or "advanced players" for our many fun, play & social skills groups in our "Kid 2 Kid" group program
CHILDREN FOR CHANGE
Marin County, CA
https://www.children4change.org/
A groundbreaking program, founded by moms, that brings volunteering into schools through clubs and curricula. Kids can participate in programs through their schools. Look for an in-depth interview with their Founders on this blog soon!