Giving Back: A Look Inside the Weaver Private Foundation – Rays of Hope Children's Grief Centre

The Weaver Private Foundation is dedicated to creating a relationship between our employees and the communities in which we work and live. We encourage a workplace culture of outreach, and one of the Foundation’s goals is to support Weaver employees in their personal volunteer efforts. So, twice a year, we give our employees the opportunity to apply for contributions to an organization they’re involved with. In this half of the year, the Foundation donated $19,000 to 14 different organizations on behalf of our employees in support of their community involvement efforts. Below we highlight one of these organizations and the reasons our employees support them.  

Rays of Hope Children’s Grief Centre of Midland – Midland, Texas
Nominated by Mackenzie Stone

Rays of Hope Children’s Grief Centre is a community outreach of Hospice Midland that seeks to meet the unique needs of grieving children and their families. They work with children 4-18 years of age who have experienced a loss due to death, divorce or other painful transition by providing a safe, neutral environment. Group Facilitators guide the children through the classes by listening and supporting as the children express their feelings and fears. All activities are geared toward dealing with grief, allowing the children to sort through their confusion and begin the healing process. Their services include summer camps, Creative Wednesdays and 10-week programs in the spring and fall. No child or parent is charged for attending their groups and activities.

Weaver’s Mackenzie Stone, Audit Senior Associate I, volunteers as a group facilitator at Rays of Hope by guiding kids through the activities the organization has planned.

“I nominated Rays of Hope because they rely solely on donations to carry out their organization’s efforts, which I truly believe in. It was important to me for them to receive this donation because I’ve personally seen the impact Rays of Hope’s events have on grieving kids,” Mackenzie says. “It’s a common misconception that children do not grieve like adults, and as a product of divorced parents, I feel like I can truly be a mentor for these kids and help them cope with their grief in healthy ways.”

To view all Fall 2017 recipients, click here.