“It Takes a Village to Raise a Child” has come to be a very meaningful phrase. The origin of the motto may be debated, but the meaning of this message truly is irrefutable! It may originate from the African continent or Native America, but its message is pertinent, timeless and wise!
Making BIG, important things happen, really takes a team of people, all wearing many different hats in the project or overall activity.
At CES, we like to operate on a key phrase that Patrick Clouden, CEO, is a living, breathing example of:
“Find like-minded people and groups and get to work, making good things happen!”
Such a like-minded group is Mothers of Minors, run by Andrea Clark. M.O.M is a non-profit charitable organization based in Clearwater, Florida.
A single parent of four kids, Andrea was all too familiar with the struggle that mothers are facing. Apart from helping Moms and families in many ways, she wanted to do something very special. Andrea wanted to provide a Baby Shower experience, complete with all the shower games, good food, desserts, door prizes and showers of gifts for the new baby! Andrea had never had a baby shower herself with any of her four babies, so this was really an act of love and kindness!
We felt this was a great way to work with a like-minded group and so we helped in planning, collection of items, sponsoring and volunteering at the event.
On behalf of CES, I reached out to friends and caring moms to get many amazing donations coming in. Working with Community Learning Center we made sure that each mom had a true shower experience with games and prizes and all the classic shower gifts including clothes, car seats, high chairs, blankets, stuffed animals, cribs, strollers, baby bottles and lots, lots more.
After many months of planning and collecting items and volunteers, on July 25th, working in partnership with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Neighborhood Center in Clearwater, the M.O.M. Showers of Love Baby Shower took place!
Throughout the afternoon, M.O.M. gave out door prizes and gift baskets. The mothers also played shower games and heard from guest speakers. Motivational words on parenting and success were shared by several speakers including yours truly.
Each mother also received a goodie bag to help her in life. They included smaller baby items as well as a common sense guide to morals and good decisions called Making Good Choices and the DVD The Way to Happiness, along with the full packet of drug-education booklets on the Truth about Drugs from the Foundation for a Drug-Free World.
CES looks forward to working with Mothers of Minors on many future community activities. It takes a village to raise a child, after all!
