Volunteers Honored for Helping Kids in Foster Care

(PASADENA, CA)—Volunteers are a special group of individuals willing to lend a hand to change the life of a child in foster care. A Pasadena children’s charity, Hillsides honored dedicated volunteers with Special Recognition Awards at its awards ceremony.

Receiving an award was Encino resident Jean Smart, Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actor, for bringing smiles and love to Hillsides youngsters. Smart, who can be seen on the television series, “24,” celebrates birthdays, holidays, and special occasions. Halloween is especially memorable for the children when Smart, dressed as a witch, goes trick or treating with the kids on campus.

“Volunteer activities done with great love certainly leave a magical imprint on the children’s memories of their time at Hillsides,” said John Hitchcock, the charity’s executive director.

With a passion for sailing, Encino resident Constance Miller has invited Hillsides children on numerous educational sailing trips to Anacapa Island, Santa Cruz Island, and Catalina Island. In addition, she has set up additional educational outings, provided fishing trips, offered sailing lessons.

Miller delights in seeing the faces of the kids in foster care when they catch a fish for the first time or see a pod of dolphins swimming and jumping around the boat. For Hillsides children, Miller’s sailing trips are first time experiences, provide a sense of accomplishment, and offer educational and cultural explorations of their world.

As another longtime supporter of Hillsides, Pasadena resident Beth Gertmenian has been involved in the making of the Hillsides’ library, the annual benefits held at the Keck Center, and was a Brownie Troop Leader to one of the children at Hillsides in 1977.

When Youth Moving On, Hillsides transitional living program, was established, Hitchcock asked Gertmenian, who had returned to charity work, to implement the mentoring program for the former youth in foster care. She immediately took to the challenge and loves feeling like “I’m a little part of the Hillsides’ team.”

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Preschool in Valencia, under the leadership of Mary Mercogliano, has wrapped their arms around Hillsides and provided warmth, comfort, and love. Mercogliano encourages the families to reach out to children in need, “channeling their desire to give to those who will truly benefit.” As a result, not only has St. Stephen’s Preschool taken on Hillsides’ mission, but the church members have reached out to make an impact on the lives of the children and families Hillsides serves.

“These generous volunteers have gone beyond a call to serve—they have given unselfishly to others in the hope that their gift will help heal the lives of children in foster care,” said Hitchcock. “We wanted to come together as a community and celebrate their accomplishments.”

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About Hillsides: As a Pasadena charity founded in 1913, Hillsides creates safe places for children in foster care living in its residential treatment center and is a community treatment center preventing the cycle of abuse for children at risk and their families. To learn more about Hillsides, visit www.Hillsides.org.