Mother Teaches the Value of Helping Others
Family joins together to raise $4,725 for Cincinnati Walks for Kids
Beth and Lee Demis chose to give to Cincinnati Children’s, where their son Sam is a patient.
Beth Demis grew up helping others. Her family held holiday food drives, went on mission trips and built houses in Appalachia. Now a parent herself, Beth realizes her parents were teaching her and her brother the value of giving.
Beth’s mother, Kate Gaunt, recently inspired her children to continue giving. Instead of accepting gifts for her birthday, Kate gave her grown children $1,000 each to use as they chose, so long as it helped improve someone else’s life.
Beth and her husband Lee immediately thought of Cincinnati Children’s. Their 18-month-old son, Sam, became a patient after toxocara, a parasitic infection, caused vision loss in his right eye. “Everyone provided us such wonderful care. We wanted to give back,” Beth says.
They chose to participate in Cincinnati Walks for Kids, an annual hospital fundraiser, in Sam’s honor. But they didn’t stop there. “We challenged our friends and family to join us,” Beth says.
Their family of three became a walk team of 60 and their donation grew to $4,725. They made team T-shirts and held a cookout.
“Because of my parents’ example, we’re inspired to teach Sam the value of helping others,” Beth says. “We don’t want philanthropy to be something Sam thinks a lot about; we want it to be second nature to him.”
Join the Demis family at the 2008 Cincinnati Walks for Kids benefiting Cincinnati Children’s on October 11, 2008, at Coney Island!
