Giving back to those in need is crucial, particularly when those in need are single moms and their children in Marin and surrounding Bay Area communities. San Francisco Plastic Surgeon Dr. Karen Horton is proud and honored to support the SPARKLE Foundation and its mission to empower single mothers and families, and to sponsor and supply through gifts and goods, enrichment and resources to women and children in need. This mirrors her practice philosophy that her “role as a plastic surgeon is to educate, inform and empower women.”
Dr. Horton became involved with SPARKLE in 2013, when dear friend and founder Samantha Tradelius hosted holiday gift drives and 100-person wrap-a-thon parties at her home in Novato. Since that time, Sparkle has blossomed to a 501c3 100% volunteer nonprofit organization reaching hundreds of families in the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles. The SPARKLE Foundation’s mission is to make sure women (who rarely ask for help) and children (many times the victims of circumstances), have a sparkle in their eyes.
Though events such as the Holiday Gift Drive and case-by-case gifts to women and children in need, the SPARKLE organization supports single women with children and women who have become derailed to due uncertainties of life and need a little assistance to get back on track. One hundred percent of donations go directly to women and children who are hand-selected by SPARKLE, in whatever way best meets their specific needs, with dignity and purpose.
Bringing along her twins at age 5 (now 9) to wrap holiday presents for Marin families in need of toys, socks, toiletries and books, Dr. Horton instilled in her children the importance of giving back to others, even a few hours wrapping presents as a preschooler! Dr. Horton agrees with founder Tradelius that together we can really make a difference, teach our children to do the same, and allow those who receive SPARKLE assistance to “pay it forward” later through helping others in need as well.
Since that time, Dr. Horton has become a proud sponsor of Night To SPARKLE and other fundraising events that SPARKLE hosts annually, bringing friends, colleagues and patients to fundraising events and adding a little of her OWN sparkle to the events!
SPARKLE offers opportunities for mentoring local women’s businesses through the SparkleBiz Micro-Loans program, volunteering at initiatives held throughout the year or donating directly to SPARKLE – all of which contributes directly to the lives of women and children.
To learn more, visit www.sparklenow.org to volunteer, make a donation, nominate a mother to receive SPARKLE support, nominate or a child for a Sparkle Enrichment Program Scholarship – a one-time gift to help a child access programs they might not normally be able to attend – or apply to provide valued mentorship for women’s businesses through the SparkleBiz program. Share YOUR sparkle too!
