As a PTA volunteer and teacher’s helper at my daughters’ school, I would help cover the school field trips or after school activities for some of our daughter’s classmates. I also saw first-hand how many children were struggling with literacy under teachers who were too stretched to help. When a teacher told me that some of the kids had never held a pair of scissors or a crayon because their parents could not afford daycare, my heart broke. Our children are the most precious of God’s creation, yet too often they are overlooked and underserved. But what could one person really do?
The call to action came during a sermon from our pastor. He challenged the congregation to attempt something so great that it was doomed to fail unless God was in it. My husband and I took up that challenge, put our faith in God and formed NGF. Through a secular non-profit with a secular mission, we aimed to share God’s love with the community.
NGF started out in 2007 with 2 teachers and 10 teen tutors serving 32 children on Saturday mornings. Over the years we gradually grew with more students and more volunteers, and we started helping students in more subjects and for longer periods of time, until the tutoring became year-round. Our service now spans metro Atlanta counties in Georgia.
Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, from tutors, teachers, parents, and even school staff. Many have won “Most Improved Student” awards or made the Honor Roll at their schools. So many people have made positive impacts on NGF over the years, but our teen tutors are the reason NGF is special. Because of them, our students respond especially well to the curriculum created by our wonderful teachers. I’d like to thank the parents of the teens, who raised such fantastic citizens. I’m confident the future of our country is in great hands.