Community service rewarding, local mom says





By Michael Picarella
Acorn Staff Writer

People around here often call themselves "lucky" because they live a wonderful lifestyle. Some of them want to give back to society for their good fortune.


Calabasas resident Roberta Wilson said she wants to teach her 11-year-old daughter, Taylor, the meaning of "giving back through community service."


Almost four years ago, Roberta and Taylor started a group called the Big Help Group that assists organizations and people in need. Roberta Wilson and Calabasas resident Mari Levinson run the Big Help Group.


"I thought, wouldn’t it be neat to start a little community service group?" Wilson said. "And once a month, we go out into the community and do some kind of activity. We’ve done everything from feeding the homeless to working in food pantries, to doing car washes to raise money for whatever we decide to raise money for. One time we did 9-11, one time we did Tarzana Hospital and one time we did something for the Wellness Community . . ."


The Big Help Group is made up of about 18 girls and their families. The girls range in age from 10 to 12, mostly 11-year-olds, Wilson said.


"Right now it’s just sort of a way for these kids to be social and have fun," Wilson said. "But the older they get, I think the more meaningful it will become."


Taylor said she enjoys the communal aspects of the community service.


"We all work together and it’s a fun group to be with," Taylor said.


But Taylor also sees the community service side of the work and said she appreciates it.


"It makes me feel really good when I know that I’ve accomplished something that helps the community," Taylor said.


"Sometimes the work can be hard, like picking up trash. But sometimes you feel really good when you’re feeding the homeless and they thank you."


Over the summer, one of the girls in the group had heart surgery.


"She was at UCLA hospital for about six weeks," Wilson said. "She’s now in rehab. So, we decided to do a different kind of fundraiser this year. We’re doing a garage sale."


Wilson and the Big Help Group hope to raise enough funds from the garage sale to purchase items from a UCLA pediatric ward wish-list. After delivering such great treatment for their friend, the Big Help Group wants to express gratitude to UCLA, Wilson said.


This is just another way the Big Help Group has shown appreciation for others. The group has been active, doing things like cleaning up Malibu Creek, collecting food and baking cookies at Christmas time.


"We hope that this will make giving back in the community a way of life for these kids, that they will then want to continue on throughout their lifetime," Wilson said.


Others want to join the Big Help Group.


"We have so many kids that would like to be involved," Wilson said, "but that’s not something I really want to do because as it is, it’s really hard to coordinate that many people. What I was really hoping is that more branches of this would start. But unfortunately, whenever people find out about it, they all want to be together."


The fundraising garage sale will take place this weekend from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4043 Magna Carta.



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