By Bella English  |  November 26, 2006

Last weekend, as so many of us prepared for Thanksgiving with loved ones, dozens of families were gathered around tables under a tent in Quincy with other families on their minds. It was National Family Volunteer Day, and Cradles to Crayons was sponsoring Family Time to Give. The nonprofit group, a brilliant charity run on an efficient business model that relies heavily on volunteers, had put out the call for a "good to go" drive, and it was answered.

It was, in the words of one staffer, "children helping children, families helping families, communities helping communities." The goal: to put together packages of clothing, books, and other essentials for children who have little, if anything. Towns throughout Greater Boston recently held drives to collect such items, and now residents were sifting through the stuff to create packages for "girl, 6," "boy, 11," and the like.

Cradles to Crayons is a Quincy-based charity that empties attics and drawers of new and "gently used" items and redistributes them to families in need through various social service agencies.

At one table, 12-year-old Rebecca Nova of Cambridge sorted through books with her sisters, 9 and 6. "I like to help people who aren't as fortunate as us," she said. Her father, Dan, is on the Cradles to Crayons board, and he and his wife, Annette, think it's important to introduce their children to volunteer work at a young age.

"I think it shows them very early on the importance of giving back," he said. Nearby, Wyc Grousbeck, owner of the Boston Celtics, hefted a crate of books. "Where do these go?" he asked a staffer as his wife and children worked at a table. Through "sponsorship" of each table, $268,500 was raised, and between the drives and the tent event, Cradles to Crayons will be able to serve 9,000 more poor children. Last year the group helped 25,000 children.

It's the holiday season, and the giving is easy. People are looking for ways to help, things to do. Many volunteer opportunities have strict age limits; little youngsters need not apply. But at Cradles to Crayons, even 2-year-old James Delaney of Milton helped. Along with brother Jack, 6, and sister Kate, 5, James sat on the floor and drew on brown paper, creating wrapping paper that would grace birthday gifts.

"I think it's one of those things where all of us in suburbia feel so grateful that we have so much that we need to give back to families who have virtually nothing," said their father, Jim. He went on to describe Christmas at their house -- like so many of our houses. "It's insane. The grandparents send way too many presents. There's a chance for our kids to lose sight of what's really important. We're trying to teach them it's not all about the stuff."

In many ways, the day was about children helping children. As Ellen D'Isidoro of Braintree put it: "So we'll have a generation who'll be givers, not takers." She was there cutting fleece into baby blankets. Malden Mills had donated 700 yards of Polartec -- red, green, blue, and yellow -- which, before the day was over, would yield 700 blankets. At a long table, 16 women and a lone man sat before sewing machines, affixing labels: "Cradles to Crayons, Given to You with Love." They were workers and customers from Quilters' Compass in Quincy.

Candace Chang, director of the Bay Cove Early Intervention Center in Dorchester, surveyed all the activity and smiled. Her agency is one that benefits from Cradles to Crayons. "A lot of organizations do Christmas toy drives, which we are very grateful for. But for us to have a place to come to year round . . . it's been a huge help."

"Year round." Those are important words. It's after the decorations are taken down, the Christmas tree put at the curb, that "poor children" recede to the back of many minds. Our need for giving might have eased, but their need for receiving hasn't.

It's important, too, to remove the "other people" aspect of giving, to move the poor child from an abstraction to a real, live person. At last weekend's event, Cradles to Crayons took a step in this direction, including heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of their clients on colorful pieces of paper scattered on lunch tables. Lunch, by the way, was donated by the ever-generous Jasper White, who served the burgers himself.

This year, my son -- who always wanted a little brother -- decided to tutor a fifth-grade boy at an inner-city school. They do math, geography, and English and talk a little basketball. At the same time, I tutor a sixth-grade girl (I'll admit to having trouble helping her with math). The ride over and back is an added bonus for me, if not for my son. I call it captive car time, a great way to catch up with a sometimes taciturn teen.

At Cradles to Crayons, 11-year-old twins Marisa and Adam Haber of Wellesley worked alongside their parents, Marcy and Bob. The kids said they wanted to help other children; their parents said they want to make the world a better place. "We have so much and other people have so little. It's a pretty easy call," said Bob Haber.

Marcy Haber took a break from a box of books and quoted Winston Churchill: "We make a living by what we get, and we make a life by what we give." I think a Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day is an OK idea, but I think a Take Your Daughters and Sons to Volunteer -- and not just for a day -- is a much better one.

Bella English of Milton can be reached at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .