Page 12 - 2020-Impact-Report

Volunteers Shined

The National Charity League

DSCBA would like to send a huge THANK YOU to
the National Charity League (NCL) and several of
its Bay Area chapters for their many years of support. In
just the last year, despite the pandemic, NCL volunteers
helped at our Step Up and Step Out fundraiser and
delivered lawn signs, new family bags, groceries, and
holiday gifts to DSCBA members across the Bay Area.

None of this would have been possible without the
leadership of Lexi Ravarino, DSCBA’s volunteer
coordinator, and her daughter, Jenna, who joined NCL five
years ago and have been volunteering together—including
for the DSCBA—every year since. The NCL is a national
program that promotes philanthropy through mother-
daughter teams who volunteer together. Founded in
1925, NCL now has more than 230 chapters and 200,000
participants.
“We love love love our time together,” says Lexi of the
projects she and Jenna are involved in. During COVID, a
lot of that has been driving around making deliveries, but
in some ways this has been a blessing in disguise. “The
one-on-one car time is the best—there are no distractions.”
In prior years, NCL has sent DSCBA upwards of 60 Jenna and Lexi delivering signs.
volunteers from five Bay Area chapters to help at our Step
Up for Down Syndrome annual walks, our annual Gala, our
Christmas Party, and our THRIVE (formerly called Peer Development) classes.
As volunteer coordinator, Lexi says she loves getting to work with others who care so much
about helping people. DSCBA is so fortunate to have Lexi and Jenna. Thank you for giving
back to our community!

In 2020, NCL reached out to our families far and wide with the following:

z Delivered 120 lawn signs (with help from the Boys Team Charity of Lamorinda)
as part of the “We love you” campaign

z Delivered 25 new Halloween surprise bags to our newest families with a child
under age one
z Made posters for our Step Up and Step Out walk
z Stocked and delivered 140 goody bags to Step Up participants, getting
donations of cowbells, pom-poms, hand clappers, and other noisemakers to
use during the walk’s car “parade”
z Delivered class supplies to 20 THRIVE participants

z Over the holidays, delivered 30 food boxes to families in need and 40 holiday
gifts (donated from We Are HOME INC—see next page)
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