Four generations changing lives together

By Troy Hill

Having built a strong family culture around volunteering, four generations of the Ahearn family, from six-year-old Abby to 95-year-old matriarch Margaret, visited St. Vincent de Paul’s NextPhase Family Dining Room to serve families in need and celebrate a shared tradition that continues to bring them together.  

“My joy is being here with my great-grandkids,” Margaret said. “My granddaughter started volunteering with them early in age, and I think it's the most wonderful way for them to really get a glimpse of all sides of life. And they absolutely love it. They look forward to it.”  

That sense of joy carried into how the family spent the evening. They split up so half served dinner, and the other half helped kids with homework. Margaret’s great-grandkids, Elliot and Abby, as well as their mom, Melissa, and her father, Mike, helped serve food to the vulnerable families in the dining room. To maximize the dignity felt by families, dinner is served restaurant-style, so volunteers go to families seated around individual tables, take their order from a small menu, then bring their food out to them.  

This was already Elliot and Abby’s fifth time volunteering at SVdP with his family.  

“I think serving the food is fun, I think it’s important to be here.” Elliot said. “I feel good that I'm doing something that is affecting other people, not just myself.”  

Margaret and most of her children (most of whom are now in their sixties) spent their evening in the Dream Center, a space for kids to play together, learn new skills, and get help with their homework, all in the hope to increase education and create long-term, systemic change in kids’ lives.  

Margaret grew up with parents who were very involved in the community, and she started volunteering when she was young, so the experience stuck with her throughout her life.  

“It was just such a feeling of elation where I was helping these people, and you see them, and you see the joy they get and how grateful they are just to get a plate of food,” she said. “It was just so rewarding to me. I felt like I was really doing something and giving up your time is really rewarding.”  

When it came time for Margaret to have a family of her own, she brought her kids volunteering with her. She even spent some time volunteering at St. Vincent de Paul!  

“That's how I learned it. I learned from my parents,” she said. “Children will learn from actions. It's parents’ actions, it's not just their words. You can believe, but if you're not serving, then you're not growing.”  

The spirit of service took hold in her kids, and when that generation grew up, they instilled the same sense of service in their kids, who are now doing the same for their own children. For Margaret, seeing her great-grandchildren volunteer now feels full circle.  

“I think the sense of service came to our family organically,” Melissa said. “I think we've all been doing this for a really long time, and it's just ingrained in our family”  

Melissa likes how much her children enjoy serving the families, and thinks it’s an important part of their development and character.  

“Just the simple, subtle act of handing out milk and juice to other families takes you out of your own selfishness and your own needs. I think it brings a unique perspective,” she said. “I want my kids to understand how good it can feel to help and think of others, not just yourself.”  

To cap it all off, everyone in the family appreciates that volunteering is also an opportunity for them to all come together.  

“It's a really cool way for our family to connect doing something with purpose that's bigger than us and super meaningful, and it's really exciting,” Melissa said.