www.montereycountynow.com JANUARY 16-22, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 5 831 Community service for young people may be dismissed as a requirement; what if it was a family activity that helped multiple generations develop a shared interest? There is a mother-daughter organization where the duos work as teams to build community and provide service. Through the National Charity League Monterey Bay, mothers, called “Patronesses,” and daughters (in grades 7-12), called “Ticktockers,” spend time with other girls and women on community service projects, building leadership skills while they learn more about the community they live in. “You develop these relationships with people that you wouldn’t normally meet or interact with, because it’s kids from all over Monterey County,” says Hillary Fish, who joined in 2023 with her daughter Jocelyn. Last year her daughter Claire joined as well. NCL is a national organization based in Costa Mesa that has been around since 1925, and now has more than 250 chapters across the country. The Monterey Bay chapter formed in 1991 and currently has over 200 active members. The organization seeks to strengthen the mother-daughter relationship, while empowering women and providing community support. NCLMB works with a variety of different organizations across the county, including Alliance on Aging, Dorothy’s Place, MY Museum and the Big Sur Marathon Foundation. Members get involved in volunteer activities that need labor, from gift wrapping to serving food to unsheltered people to helping build a community garden. Gina and Addy Cremers joined NCL when Addy was in seventh grade. They like contributing to their community. “It’s time that we put aside to make sure we are spending time together,” Gina Cremers says. One project they say was fulfilling was with the Pass the Word Ministry, where they prepared and served breakfast for unhoused individuals. Fish says everyone contributes, from both generations. “It’s hands-on for both moms and daughters. I think that’s pretty neat,” she adds. The mother-daughter duos work in cohorts based on the Ticktockers’ high school graduation year, with each cohort working on a different project. Since the summer, the Cremerses and other members of the class, about 35 people including both moms and daughters, worked in the community garden at the Hope Housing program at the Nancy Dodd Community Center, a transition housing program in Marina. “We learned a lot of new skills like irrigation and planting vegetables,” Addy Cremers says. The group also set it up to become an ongoing project for future cohorts to continue their efforts. “We’re hoping that in the future, other girls in NCL can go to the garden and help maintain it and keep it nice,” Addy says. Members hold annual events including a mother/daughter tea, a senior recognition luncheon and Martin Luther King Jr. book drive. Last year through the latter initiative, they collected around 1,300 books. The book drive is now underway again, with 14 orange collection boxes at a variety of locations, seeking donations of books for readers ages 0-12 in English, Spanish, bilingual or pictorial. “This is an initiative that is done nationally for NCL, but on a local level, we get to choose our participating organizations,” Fish says. That means books will be distributed to local organizations including Community Partnership for Youth, the Salvation Army and The Village Project. Patronesses and Ticktockers are involved in an array of volunteering opportunities; while some may be fun, others show the harsh realities many people experience in their lives. “I feel like every time it’s just opened my eyes more to the need out there, and every time we go and do a philanthropy, I just feel like, ‘Wow! Why haven’t I done this before?’” Gina says. National Charity League Monterey Bay’s annual MLK Jr. book drive runs until Monday, Jan. 20. For information on how and where to donate, visit nationalcharityleague.org/chapter/montereybay. Family Time A local organization brings mothers and daughters closer through community service. By Celia Jiménez National Charity League volunteer Crystal Gaudette paints a child’s face at the MY Museum New Year’s event. The National Charity League is a mother/daughter organization that gets involved in different events. “Wow! Why haven’t I done this before?” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE DANIEL DREIFUSS
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