Monthly Birthday Parties

At Family House, we love birthdays! Whether you’re turning 3, 15, 40, or 70, birthdays are something to celebrate! Many Family House families are away from home for extended periods of time, and most acutely feel the sting of being far from home when special days come up. We do everything we can to make Family House a home away from home, and that most definitely includes celebrating holidays and milestones big and small!

In 2018, volunteers from Salesforce took on the task of hosting the Monthly Birthday Pizza Party. Once a month, there’s a big party in the house for everyone who has a birthday: patients, siblings, parents, grandparents - anyone staying with us! There are presents for the kids, and pizza and cupcakes for all! The support that Salesforce volunteers provide is tremendous, and we are grateful that they hosted this party each month all last year, and are continuing the tradition for all of 2019. Thank you, Salesforce, for the many ways you support Family House families year-round!

To learn about ways that you can make a difference at Family House, visit https://familyhouseinc.org/volunteer/volunteer-opportunities/

Volunteer Spotlight: Mike Wong

Volunteer Spotlight: Mike Wong

Family House heavily depends on volunteers, and when our weekly volunteers are able to stay connected to help out week after week, it is a huge benefit to the organization. Mike Wong has been volunteering consistently as our of our Office Volunteers for over a year. He first volunteered with Family House as an employee at Salesforce through New Hire Training & Orientation in 2016. He felt so connected to the mission that he came back as an individual volunteer to help with events and back office data entry. With his knowledge, skills, and abilities he is able to help improve efficiency and overall effectiveness in thanking our wonderful donors.

Mike has even gotten his kids involved, and they donated stocking stuffer gifts for our families during the holiday season. His son Sean joined the 2018 Summer High School Program to have a deeper engagement and understanding of Family House.

Thank you, Mike, for all you have done over the past 2 years and we hope that you continue to volunteer with Family House for many years to come!

Learn more about volunteering at Family House at https://www.familyhouseinc.org/volunteer

“Books for Sick Kids” Fundraiser

Thank you to Tise, Toyin, and Toyo Obembe for hosting a great book drive for Family House families! By reaching out to their community, they raised $550 which, in partnership with the Scholastic Literacy Program, was used to purchase 338 books for Family House. We asked their father, Olu, how it came to be:

“My kids were challenged last year by my wife to think of something they can do to help others.  Last year’s effort was a teddies for sick kids drive. They built ‘build-a-bear’ bears for kids at Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland. This year, I shared with them what Family House Director of Volunteer Programs Karen Banks had shared when she spoke to my corporate team at Salesforce. I was inspired. My kids were excited. That’s how it started. You can help others with just a little effort.”

Thank you for caring about our community!

Learn how you can get involved: familyhouseinc.org/donate

Rockstar Volunteers: Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com has undoubtably been one of our biggest community supporters. Salesforce volunteers are efficient, eager to help, and compassionate in every project they do with us. Whether they are deep cleaning communal spaces, hosting fun activities for kids or painting many walls at our facilities they always do it well and with a smile.

Family House is one of the few nonprofits where they send their newly hired employees from across the globe to volunteer as a part of their orientation at Salesforce. For almost 2 years, we have had Salesforce new hire teams help every month - 20 people at a time. 

In 2014, Salesforce volunteers, including new hires and returning employees, donated 521 hours of their time. Salesforce has certainly been a force of influence and support - their employee volunteers are caring and are willing to help at any capacity.

Since 2008, they have volunteered a total of 3,050 hours (so far), and in conjunction with the Salesforce Foundation, have donated over $80,000 through volunteer grants and fundraising event sponsorships. They are a “Hey Mambo” level sponsor of the 2015 Latin Nights Family House Gala, and were a “Martini” level sponsor of the 2014 Speakeasy Family House Gala.

We would like to recognize and thank Salesforce and their employees for their willingness to always go far above and beyond for all the families who stay at Family House.