It began with a friendship between two sets of parents whose children both attended the same school which fostered a foundation for teaching the importance of community service and helping those in need. Peter DiBari and his wife Diana spoke so passionately about Child & Family to their new friends David and Pat Lea that they knew it was something special they could become involved with, but how? David’s company hosts an Annual Golf tournament and during the banquet following the tournament, he spontaneously announced that he would personally match contributions made to the raffles and auction items. He aimed to split the proceeds between two Rhode Island organizations that help local families achieve more.
David’s company, Brokers’ Service Marketing Group supported Child & Family’s Supportive Housing Program throught he proceeds of his annual golf tournament and other sporting activities. David simply stated,“help those who need it.” Pat was proud to convey that during the tournament many of the fun cash prizes for “closest to the pin,” for example, were donated back from the winners to the charities. Over the years the event evolved to include golf, 12 meter sailing and skeet shooting which attracted more of their customers who helped raise more funds and awareness for those served by Child & Family.
During a Sunday dinner event hosted personally by Pat at their home in Barrington, more than one hundred guests heard the courageous stories of the individuals that were helped by Child & Family’s Supporting Housing Program. David said, “They lay their souls bare to strangers and that is very brave.” After visiting the facilities for families in transition, the Lea’s were encouraged by everyone working together as family with the help of the Child & Family staff. They wanted to encourage others to get involved and David urged others to “Practice responsibility every day. It doesn’t take much time to realize the rewards.” Pat believes the same saying, “Its lots of little things every day, sometimes just even stopping to hold the door, or helping those in distress.” She added that, “While it’s hard to trust everyone, you still want to help, and when you have organizations like Child & Family you can give a lot of time and a little money and feel good about it.”