The River Center Christmas Angels program was established to help families through providing a couple of gifts for children at the holidays. We have two focus areas – first to get as many of our identified families hooked into existing programs in our region and second to help supply gifts for those who are not covered by the existing Christmas programs this year. I maintain a list of regional contacts and programs so that during October I can refer as many people as possible.​

​Volunteers are the secret sauce of the nonprofit world. Volunteers do so many things that are essential to the functioning of our nonprofits.
Let’s look at the volunteer Board of Trustees. They give of their time, their skills, their wisdom. The Board is responsible for ensuring that the nonprofit is fulfilling the mission of the organization and is fiscally sound. The River Center’s Board is comprised of individuals who are excited about the mission of The River Center which is, “The River Center provides parent education, family support and community connections in a welcoming environment to strengthen individuals and families in the Eastern Monadnock Region.”

We are heading into what is sometimes referred to as the Season of Giving. Which is preceded by the Season of Thanksgiving.
Personally, it makes me kind of sad when I see the jump from Halloween directly to the December holidays, skipping Thanksgiving altogether. It seems that pausing to reflect on thankfulness is important to our perspective. Could it be that a thankful heart leads to a generous heart?
When I pause to consider what I am thankful for, I start thinking about what I have, not what I don’t have; a position of bounty, not lack. And then I want to share and be generous.