By Ken and Sandy Glass

Honorary Co-Chairs of the Giving from the Heart Breakfast

Please join us at the Mercer Island Youth and Family Services (MIYFS) Giving from the Heart Breakfast from 7:30-8:30 a.m. on Feb. 10. Register at www.MIYFS.org.

We believe a community is only as strong as the way it supports those within the community who are in need.

MIYFS is a gem on Mercer Island: it provides the services and support to those in our community who need it.

MIYFS offers a range of services to anyone and everyone who needs them, from school counseling to senior support, from suicide prevention to food bank services, from emergency assistance to youth-based service opportunities, from mental health services to drug and alcohol counseling.

Many times, we may not be aware of those in need, but they can be our neighbors, friends, children and/or parents and grandparents — they are our friends, acquaintances, neighbors and sometimes ourselves.

We believe, providing the kind of support that MIYFS offers is the only way Mercer Island can call itself and remain a wonderful city to call home.

It is a great thing to live in a community where we have an organization that works hard to offer these services that provide a helping hand and care when needed and it is a privilege and an honor to support MIYFS.

Every year, many hundreds of Mercer Islanders gather together to hear about the crucial help MIYFS to young children, students, adults, seniors and every one in between.

We invite you to join us this year, Feb. 10 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center and help ensure Mercer Island remains the wonderful city that it is — by supporting those among us who are in need.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have little.”

We couldn’t agree more.

Giving from the Heart is Feb. 10

Giving from the Heart Breakfast co-chairs Ken and Sandy Glass have been active community members and volunteers for years. They moved to Mercer Island from New Jersey in 1998, when they had two kids in elementary school and one in preschool. Ken served on the School Board, and Sandy is currently leading a mosaic art project for students at Luther Burbank Park.

Their motto has always been to “just say yes unless there’s a reason to say no.” They said they are honored to co-chair the event, after being table captains for the past few events. They support the work of Mercer Island Youth and Family Services (MIYFS), and say a community is only as good as its safety net. Though some wonder if there is really a need on Mercer Island, the services MIYFS provides are used by citizens of all ages, from kids needing counseling in schools to seniors relying on the city’s in-house geriatric specialist.

The couple encourages interested Islanders to donate, attend and sign up to be table captains at this year’s Giving from the Heart breakfast on Feb. 10.