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YMSL Southlake promotes mother-son charity teamwork
Submitted Photo - Members of the Young Men's Service Leauge of Southlake's first senior class (2011-2012). The Southlake chapter was founded in 2009 with about 40 members and has since grown to 200 mothers and sons who have dedicated close to 6,000 hours of service to philanthropies in and around Southlake. The chapter is part of the national YMSL organization founded in Plano in 2001, which now has 19 chapters throughout Texas, California and Georgia.
By Jasmin Brown, jbrown@acnpapers.com
Members of a community service organization in Southlake have embraced a unique way to foster a good working relationships between mothers and their high school-aged sons.
The Young Men's Service League of Southlake was established in 2009 by Lorrie Hill, the chapter's first president, along with Nancy Morgan and Michele Turner with about 40 members between the beginning freshman and sophomore classes.
The Southlake chapter is part of the national Young Men's Service League, which was founded in Plano in 2001, and has grown to nineteen chapters in California, Georgia and Texas. The chapters have collectively dedicated approximately 56,000 hours of service work to their respective communities.
"We started off with just freshmen and sophomores, kind of like opening a new high school," Morgan, who is now the chapter's president, said.
The Southlake chapter has grown to 200 members (mothers and sons) and has amassed close to 6,000 hours of community service hours in and around Southlake. This year marks the first the chapter will have a senior class. The group also recently assembled 92 Teacher Appreciation Baskets filled with gift cards, spa products, books, toiletries and candles for the Vogel Alcove School day care teachers and City Park Elementary School teachers in Dallas, who teach homeless children on their own time.
Morgan said the group strives to fulfill their motto "To assist, serve and support those who are in need in our community" while promoting a healthy mother-son relationship.
"It's about fostering that mother-son relationship through community service with these young men," she said. "It's trying to go outside the box a little bit. It's a win-win situation. You have a little bit of learning and a little bit of mentoring going on."
Morgan said her own son has expressed satisfaction in getting to complete service projects with her.
"It's not because he's cautious or anything not wanting to complete projects alone," she said. "It's more because of the relationship and the thought that 'This is what we do together.' It just goes hand-in-hand."
Morgan said the mothers and sons don't lead fundraising efforts, but rather take part in service projects for philanthropies such as Habitat for Humanity, Homeward Bound (Foster Adoptions of Animals), Relay for Life --- Southlake, Special Olympics (Carroll ISD) - Dragons Helping Dragons, Battered Women's Foundation and Christmas is for Children. The group also takes part in meet and greet events to welcome U.S. troops home from military service.
Just this spring, the group undertook a Habitat for Humanity home remodeling project in Fort Worth involving painting and fence and landscaping repair.
"The boys love that kind of work, but we hit all kinds of different realms of philanthropies," Morgan said. "It's all hands-on volunteer work."
Last fall, the Southlake chapter teamed up with other Texas YMSL chapters for a community restoration of Plano's Douglas Community. Morgan said the Southlake chapter was in charge of running the celebration marking the completion of the project, which featured a community cookout and carnival.
Leadership is another quality that YMSL was founded to encourage in young men. Morgan said the organization has its own curriculum, which all chapters follow, to teach leadership skills. The young men are in charge of running the groups meetings, which are organized and have designated member positions and responsibilities.
"They're run like a true board meeting with officers and each member having his own responsibilities," Morgan said. "The curriculum is really about fostering leadership and life skills."
For information about YMSL Southlake, visit www.ymslsouthlake.chapterweb.net/c_default.aspx.
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