Picture two parents and three toddlers sprawled across the living room, each too sick to move, reach for a tissue, or take a sip of water to stay hydrated.
This was Dale Berg and his family — his wife, three year old son, and two year old twins — during the 2018 cold and flu season. And while the illness was horrible, the feeling of being unable to take care of himself and his loved ones was even worse.
“As a parent, you don’t get sick days,” began Dale. “Your responsibilities carry on; your kids still need to be taken care of.”
To Dale, this was something that hit especially close to home. Two years ago, he and his wife began a not-for-profit organization called Parenting 101. Having three kids under the age of 3, they wanted to create a safe space to connect to others navigating life as parents. Through this, it has become a place of conversation, understanding, education and growth.
Knowing the pressure that parents deal with on a daily basis — without throwing illness into the mix — Dale vowed to help other parents who found themselves in the same situation that the Berg family did during cold and flu season. And the Interior Savings $10,000 Local Give gave him the opportunity he was looking for!
Putting his passion and creativity to work, Dale created a Cold and Flu Survival Kit for parents. But before creating the actual kits, he invited two local companies: – Lake Country Save-On-Foods and Bamboo Chopsticks Vietnamese Restaurant – to join him in his act of local good. Thanks to their collaboration, Dale turned $100 into $300, plus enough of “the best chicken noodle soup in Okanagan” to include in each kit!
From there, he put the Parenting 101 network to the test. “I knew we’d be able to use Parenting 101 to reach parents who needed these kits as much as we did,” said Dale. And the response was phenomenal! They created a small promotional video for Facebook and Instagram and reached over 1,500 people in a very short period of time. Most importantly, they were contacted by those in need of the kits.
So, over the weekend of December 8th and 9th, the Berg family traveled between West Kelowna and Lake Country hand-delivering 20 kits to 20 families.
“We saw it all,” said Dale. “One mom had three kids and a dog hanging off of her, and we could just see it in her eyes that she didn’t have an ounce of energy left. Another mom broke down crying because it meant so much to her.”
And the story doesn’t end there. The Berg family plans to reach out to more local companies and create a supply of kits to keep on hand – ready and waiting for whenever parents may need them.
“It takes a village to raise children,” concluded Dale. “We need to come together and help each other during the hard times.”
We couldn’t agree more! From all of us at Interior Savings, a big thank you to Dale and his family for their creativity, and helping us create a wave of local good!