From left to right: Designed For Joy co-founders Kristen Sydow and Cary Heise
DYNAMIC DUO Mothers and daughters bond together for a cause by CATHERINE CURRIN
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others and daughters around the Triangle are coming together for good. The National Charity League (NCL), a California-based organization with over 250 chapters, has planted roots in the Raleigh area with four chapters and a growing list of members. The groups are mother-daughter duos from 7th grade to seniors in high school, working on leadership development and community service. Each chapter works with over 20 nonprofit organizations, gaining thousands of community service hours. Katie Wrege has participated in NCL with all three of her daughters in the Cary-based Cardinal chapter. “We joined in order to have an opportunity to volunteer in the community together,” she says. Wrege and her oldest daughter, Lindsay,
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volunteered at organizations like the Miracle League and Anna’s Angels. Since her daughter aged out of NCL, she has gone on to serve the community through her business endeavor, 321 Coffee. The pop-up coffee shop on N.C. State’s campus (and now open at the State Farmers Market) employs individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Wrege credits much of her daughter’s passion to the exposure she received through NCL. “Her involvement with NCL has directly led to all that she’s doing in college. If we hadn’t been involved in the community, I don’t think she would have had an awareness or desire to start 321 Coffee. When she went to college, she realized that she wanted to continue that service.” Allison Smith and her daughter Sloan are members of NCL’s Dogwood chapter, and Smith says she loves spending
Laura Petrides Wall (DELIVERY); supplied by Cardinal NCL (LETTERS) ; S.P. Murray (TABLES)
GIVERS
