True Leaders Serve First
Riverside, California (PRWEB) March 21, 2015
“True leaders serve first.” This is one of the cornerstones of the New Wealth Advisors Club, a local real estate investment club located in Riverside, California. Not only is NWAC is a community of people actively doing real estate in today’s market, members are also encouraged to proactively engage in seeking opportunities to help others in tangible and intangible ways in their personal lives and businesses.
NWAC’s co-founders, Dave and Melina Boswell, encourage others to give, and they lead by example. Melina is on two local non-profit boards that serve the homeless: Path of Life Ministries and Health to Hope Clinics; Dave supports his wife’s activities, along with being involved in several other outside ministries and groups. Through her work with Path of Life and Health to Hope, Melina was made aware of the basic needs of the homeless guests and patients these organizations serve. Thus, “Bags of Love” was born.
Last quarter, club members were presented with an opportunity to give by taking part in the preparation and distribution of “Bags of Love. The Bags of Love project came about as a practical, simple way to help meet some of the basic needs of the homeless in the communities of NWAC members. At a recent NWAC event, the theme was giving to the underserved, and Bags of Love was introduced. Each "bag," or backpack, was filled with necessities donated by club members with items such as: deodorant, socks, water, granola bars, peanut butter crackers, shampoo, lotion, toothbrush and paste, hand wipes, feminine hygiene products for women, soap, shaving cream, razors, etc).
In the weeks prior to the event, volunteers and family members from the club gathered and assembled over 500 Bags of Love, which were then brought to the event. At the event, club members who wished to participate were asked to donate $5 per bag. They would then take the bag(s) home with them to give when they saw a need. One hundred percent of the monies donated for the bags in turn goes directly to Path of Life Ministries, who’s core purpose is to rescue, restore, and rebuild the lives of those caught in the homeless cycle. NWAC members from Riverside, San Diego, Orange and Los Angeles counties gladly participated, with some in attendance taking as many as 20 bags!
Distribution of Bags of Love did not end that evening. It is an ongoing program, one which Melina Boswell is refining with the dream of Bags of Love becoming a model for businesses and organizations in the public and private sector, as well as faith-based organizations, to use as a tool to share with others the joy and gift of giving and serving a need in the homeless community. NWAC’s Riverside office keeps a steady supply of Bags of Love on hand, available for club and non-club members alike, for a nominal donation benefiting Path of Life.