Dear Friend,

WELCOME TO LOTSA COMMUNITY WORKS
Happy New Year from all of us at Lotsa Helping Hands. We hope 2011 is off to a wonderful start for you and your community. As many of you know, Lotsa Helping Hands was created to support family caregivers by empowering their family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues – what we call a family’s ‘circles of community’ – who are eager to help with the daily tasks that become a challenge during times of medical crisis, caregiver exhaustion, or when caring for an elderly parent. Empowering family caregivers through community has always been at the heart of our work. That’s why we were so excited by a recent announcement made by the U.S. Administration on Aging that celebrates family caregivers.

2011 has been designated the Year of the Family Caregiver – in recognition of the more than 65 million adults who care for a clinically ill, disabled, or aged family member or friend. Throughout the year, caregiving organizations, community leaders and policymakers will be hosting events and programs to support and celebrate our nation’s family caregivers.

Chances are, each of you reading this newsletter falls into one or more categories — either you are a family caregiver, you know a family caregiver, you are being helped by a family caregiver, or you will need a family caregiver in your lifetime. At Lotsa Helping Hands, we are committed to supporting you, wherever you may find yourself in the journey. As we begin a new year, we hope you stay involved with our larger Lotsa Helping Hands community. Contribute your own stories of community support, post your ideas about the service, and share your experience with others in need.

     From our community to yours,

          Hal Chapel, Co-Founder & CEO



LOTSA TIPS AND FEATURES

We have two tips to share this month.

1. Custom Sections for Your Community: Our easy-to-use community-building features facilitate communication among community members and provide the ability to post photos, well wishes and conversations on message boards that keep everyone up to date. Coordinators can also create custom sections to address the specific needs of the community — including posting personal blogs, instructions about dietary needs of the family, links to local resources, and more. Coordinators can click on the Administration tab in your private community to create custom sections.

2. Add More Members to Your Community: There is no limit to the number of members who join your community – in fact, many Lotsa Helping Hands communities have hundreds of members and our largest boasts nearly 1,000 volunteers. It’s simple to add more members. If you are a Coordinator in your community, visit the People tab and click on the Add several members at once button. You can also read our help topic in this section for adding large numbers of members at one time.



CREATE A COMMUNITY — IT’S FREE!
Free, private, web-based communities for organizing friends, family, and colleagues – your 'circles of community' – during times of need. Coordinate activities and manage volunteers with our intuitive group calendar. Easily communicate and share updates using announcements, message boards, and photos. Safely store vital information. Get Started.