The Family: Kordenbrocks

By Tammi DeVille

With two adults, four busy teenagers, and six completely separate points of view, it's a major accomplishment for the Kordenbrock-Riders to get on the same page. All four of their kids play extracurricular sports and have jobs. More importantly, they each have different perspectives based on their age and interests. And those don't always align.

So as mom Jennifer Kordenbrock describes it, their twice weekly volunteer commitments are a time to get on the same page as a family – to make a difference while experiencing shared realizations about the world they live in.

She recalls one episode at the Welcome House of Northern Kentucky, a shelter for homeless women and children near the family's home in Covington, Ky. Each month the family makes a trip to the shelter, bringing cookies and other desserts, playing board games, and making jewelry and other crafts with residents. That day they found out that one of the teenagers at Welcome House went to the same high school as the Kordenbrock-Rider teens. The moment of awareness was profound.

"It makes you realize [homelessness] can happen pretty quickly," says Jennifer. "And it can happen to anyone."

In addition to their Welcome House visits, the Kordenbrock-Riders also pay once-a-month visits to the St. Charles Nursing Home for its Family Nights. There they engage elderly residents in activities to get them down from their rooms, serve them food, and visit with them. The work may seem mundane, but helping out at these local nonprofits brings the family much closer.

"It gets us together, six of us who have different lives and schedules," says Jennifer proudly. "It's almost like a holiday. It's rare that we have dinners all together – but twice a month, we are all together for this."

For the Kordenbrock-Riders, volunteering began one Christmas with the realization by Jennifer and her husband Andy just how lucky the family was. Naturally, they wanted to show their kids what they were feeling, and the two made it a goal to have the family demonstrate generosity through community service. They wondered, "Can we commit six people to do this?"

After a month of consideration they decided to push ahead, and today they feel that they really have made it work.  Twice a month through volunteering, their big "family" gets bigger – and as families do, they share their jokes, their stories, their humor, and their love.        

The good news is the kids now get it, too. When asked how volunteering has impacted them, daughter Natalie says, "It makes me thankful for what I have." Daughter Chelsea adds, "I feel good about myself when I help others."    As daughter Caitlynne says, "It brings us closer together." Son Drew declares, "It strengthens our bond as a loving, caring family."

Most importantly, the whole family agrees that being of service together and keeping this commitment has huge rewards.    

Or, as Chelsea sums it up: "It makes me proud of us."