Photo courtesy Second Saturday Mother
Photo courtesy Second Saturday MotherGroup fosters volunteering, bonds with mothers
Spending time with their mothers is not typically something teenage boys look forward to but a brainstorming session between 10 mothers with sons in the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD in 2010 led to the creation of a new service organization called Second Saturday Mothers & Sons, which gets mothers and sons together to help the community.
The concept of the organization is simple: volunteers meet on the second Saturday of each month to participate in a charitable activity while nurturing the bonds between young men and their mothers.
"I was previously involved with the National Charity League with my girls," said Elizabeth Mattson, the president of club. "We wanted something similar to it but very flexible."
"There are no meetings, no seminars, no banquets. We wanted to keep the same date every month because lots of the boys were in sports, so their time came at a premium," Mattson said.
The first volunteer activity the organization participated in was at the Christ's Haven home in Keller.
"At our first event, we just did maintenance work," Mattson said. "The boys thought that it was hilarious that their mothers let them use power tools."
Shortly after their first event, Mattson and the other mothers realized that one event a month was not enough to satisfy the needs of organizations that rely on volunteers for help.
Today, 200 moms and 247 boys volunteer for the organization.
Service opportunities have also expanded. The organization now throws birthday parties for the male residents at Union Gospel Mission, helps bag supplemental lunches for food programs and also works with the Mid-cities Care Corps.
"Second Saturday Mothers & Sons is a bridge between willing volunteers and struggling nonprofits," Mattson said. "It's great to get [the boys] out of their ZIP code and get them to experience things they normally wouldn't see."
Registration period
Registration for Second Saturday Mothers & Sons is from March 1–30 and is open to any mother with a son who is in seventh grade or higher in northeast Tarrant County. Mothers can register for more than one son. Visitwww.secondsaturdaymothersandsons.com or its Facebook page for more information and to register.
During the school year, volunteer opportunities are only scheduled on the second Saturday of each month. During the summer the group also volunteers Mon.–Fri. for one week each month.
