Compassion can be a family affair

By Mat Siscoe

This article originally appeared in Niagara This Week – St. Catharines on June 30, 2017

Time. Treasure. Talent.

We all have something we can give.

What we are able to give may differ from person to person, but we all have the means to give back or reach out to people in ways that can make a real difference in others lives.

The Compassionate City Project: Compassion can be a family affair As the June ambassador for the #CompassionateSTC project,my wife Chrissy and I made a decision that we would ensure our kids would have the opportunity to give back in as many ways as possible.

As we talked about different ways we could get the whole family involved, we kept returning to an idea we’ve floated before – to put together a group of children and have them brainstorm about who in their community they wanted to help, and how.

Our contribution would be to guide them through the process and help make their ideas a reality.

This idea led to the creation of this past weekend’s #CompassionateKidsSTC event at Happy Rolph’s – a resoundingly successful fundraiser for Community Care. The entire event was planned and organized by our team of 7 children -Mia Penetito, Sydney and Tessa Grosvenor, Brian Harris, Charlie Kryskowski, Sophie Burnard and Xavier Siscoe. With support from their parents and friends, these kids took the next steps in creating our future generation of compassionate citizens in the community. Their collective effort resulted in $1500 being raised for Community Care.

In addition to the Happy Rolph’s event,my wife and I went about doing things we’ve simply made a part of our lives together. Chrissy coached our daughter’s soccer team and we took our kids to run the Ultimate Kids Challenge race to raise money for Niagara Health. I ran in the Grapes of Wrath race for the Cancer Society and coached our boys’ baseball team.

We want our kids to see service and compassion as simply a way of life; something that each of us is capable of when we combine care and action.

This past weekend I was humbled by watching kids – including my own – share their time, their treasure and their talent. They helped reinforce my belief that we all have something we can give.

Niagara this Week is proud to support the Compassionate City Project with this first of a monthly series reflecting on the experience of one of the project ambassadors. For more on the Compassionate City initiative, visit www.compassionatestc.ca. Join the conversation with #CompassionateSTC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.