Nominate an Outstanding Family Service Volunteer!

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Lucy Fowlkes Breed

Family Service Volunteer Award

Dear Friends:

This April the New Hampshire Children's Trust will award the Lucy Fowlkes Breed Family Service Volunteer Award to celebrate Strengthening Families and Communities month in New Hampshire. Candidates for this award will have volunteered at a New Hampshire non-profit which serves children or families. They will have provided direct service to families and have worked to strengthen families. The volunteer service must have taken place over the past two years.

Nominations are due April 15. Click here for the nomination form.

Keryn Bernard-Kriegl, NHCT Executive Director, Dr. Peirce Hunter, NHCT Chair and Lucy Fowlkes Breed with Tia Parr (center) of Northfield, 2010 recipient of the Lucy Fowlkes Breed Family Service Volunteer Award

In 1972, while volunteering in a New York City childcare agency, Lucy Fowlkes Breed realized families needed parenting education and support to give their children the best start in life. So Lucy returned to school after a ten- year hiatus to finish her BA in Psychology and MA in Developmental Psychology. She graduated in 1977 from Columbia Teachers College having focused on early childhood development and parenting education.

Lucy got involved with the Children's Place and Parent Education Center in Concord because she recognized the need. "At the time there wasn't much support for young families except medical care." Lucy has been a long-time volunteer, founding and dedicating over 20 years as the facilitator of the New Parents Support Group at the center.

Lucy at The Children's Place

Lucy also served as a founding trustee on the board of the NH Children's Trust, dedicating 14 years as board member, 8 of those years as board chair. Upon her retirement, the New Hampshire Children's Trust set up the Lucy Fowlkes Breed Legacy Fund and created the award in her honor.

We look forward to honoring our 2012 recipient this April!

For an April calendar of activities for Strengthening Families Month for parents and caregivers, click here; for family service volunteers and staff, click here.

Julie

Julie Day

Strengthening Families Director

Volunteering Strengthens Families by Building Protective Factors

Volunteering with children and families can make a significant impact because volunteers develop an understanding of the family needs in their community, the impact and challenges of the nonprofit agency they volunteer for and what it takes to make a difference. Volunteers often become advocates and donors furthering their impact in the community.

There are many things you can do to help build protective factors and strengthen your community such as volunteering at their local food bank, homeless shelter, family resource center, school, library, church and others.

Research shows that families thrive when these protective factors are strong in their family. For more information about the Center for the Study of Social Policy's Strengthening Families Approach and the Protective Factors, click here.

The following poster highlighting the protective factors can be downloaded by clicking here.

NHCT logo

Vision

Every New Hampshire child will thrive in safe, stable and nurturing families and communities.

Mission

Lead New Hampshire's drive to eliminate child abuse and neglect.

The New Hampshire Children's Trust is the New Hampshire chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America.

To find out more about our programs and partners, go to our website.