x
Breaking News
More () »

Kennebunk family teaches kids how to give back to their community

Each of the five children got to choose an organization to donate $100 to.

MAINE, USA — Elizabeth Gould lost her grandfather over the summer and she wanted his legacy to live on.

"He was very into philanthropy and since I was little, always was very clear that you had to give back and provide opportunities to people," Elizabeth Gould said.

The idea came from Gould's father, now, they are trying to instill that same lesson in her own family. All five of her children and step-children were given $100 from their Gould's father to donate to a non-profit of their choice.

Hadleigh Daniels,12, donated to the York County Community Action because she wanted, "to local families in need connect with the community”.

William Daniels, 9, donated to the University of Maine Foundation, "to help people get an education”.

Grayson Cilley, 8, donated to KeepMEWarm, "to help families stay warm”.

Charlie Daniels, 8 donated to the York County Community College Foundation, "to help people get job training”.

Hattie Cilley, 5, donated to Preble Street, “to help kids have homes”.

Charlie Daniels' shocked the York County Community College Foundation with his donation.

"We rarely get support from children, if ever," Tim Fossett with the foundation told NEWS CENTER Maine.

He added that this donation warmed everyone's heart during a time when it was greatly needed.

"To see that a young child would see what we're doing and appreciate it and understand the role of the community college to help local residents achieve a better life for themselves," he said.

"It was really fun to hear and each one of them had such a different idea on how they wanted to help," Gould said.

The act of giving to others is bringing this family closer together.

"We had a lot of great dinner time conversation about all of this to try to promote what it might feel like to be somebody else in a challenging time," Ben Cilley said.

A tradition that will continue for years to come, and maybe inspire others to follow suit.

Before You Leave, Check This Out