It's All In The Family

~ By Angie J. Ballas, Red Tricycle

For the Edwards family, which consists of Kathy and George, their four adult children, and ten grandchildren, including two step-grandkids (who have all been PEPS babies), non-profit work is an important part of life. Most of the adult family members have volunteered or worked in the non-profit field over the years and they wanted to collectively focus the family on something "bigger than themselves".

That's why they decided to create the Cedarmere Foundation, a family foundation that typically provides capacity building grants to small, local non-profits focusing on (but not limited to) education and social services. PEPS has been one of the lucky recipients of Cedarmere grants for the past 3 years.

Grandma Kathy was first introduced to the PEPS program when her daughter joined in '98 after the birth of their first granddaughter. One by one and two by two (there are 2 sets of twins in the brood!) all of the other new babies got to join with their parents over the years. Kathy says PEPS is close to all of their hearts because "all of our grandchildren have been through the PEPS program with their moms" and she's heard over the years how wonderfully supportive PEPS Groups are for new parents.

"I wish I had had a PEPS Group back when I had my kids", says Kathy. On behalf of the Cedarmere Foundation, Kathy says "We feel PEPS fills a really important role in the Seattle area by strengthening families and helping parents raise their children." They believe strong families build a stronger society and that PEPS also acts as a preventative resource in the community because, as Kathy says, "It's easier to prevent a problem than it is to fix it later."

The entire Edwards family, with little PEPS-sters ranging in ages from 4 months to 15 years old, is living in the Greater Seattle area, except for one young family now residing in New Zealand. 
 

About the Author

Angie Ballas is currently a stay at home mom to two daughters - ages 5 and 22 months. She's also a freelance writer for Red Tricycle, an online parenting resource providing "Pint-Sized News For Savvy Grown-Ups".