Volunteer and Donor Spotlights • Kiddo! Mill Valley Schools Community Foundation

Katy Olds

Fall, 2019

Chances are, if you have attended a Kiddo! event in the past few years, you've run into Katy Olds. A mom whose two boys, Rowan and Evan, went through both Tam Valley and MVMS (Rowan is currently a junior at Tam High and Evan is an 8th grader at MVMS), Olds has long recognized the importance of Kiddo!, and even more crucial, the importance of volunteering for Kiddo!. That's because between the two of her sons, Olds says her family has received 18 years worth of wonderful learning experiences from Kiddo!.

"I feel deeply grateful for all of the special learning opportunities that Kiddo! has provided my sons -- many of which I would not have been able to give them otherwise. I am particularly grateful for the free music lessons that both of my sons received through the band," says Olds. "I enjoy volunteering frequently for Kiddo! as a way to show my appreciation. As a single mom working for a non-profit, I cannot donate as much as I wish I could to Kiddo!, so I enjoy donating my time and energy to help raise more money for Kiddo! through events such as the Fall Arts Festival pizza booth, the Mill Valley Block Party, Memorial Day and the Kiddo! Gala."

Michelle Connolly, who is the Kiddo! Events Coordinator, is thankful for Olds' donation of her time and service to Kiddo!, and calls her a frequent flyer on the Kiddo! volunteering airline.

"It's rare to find someone so selfless with their time," says Connolly.

Interested in donating your time to Kiddo!? Click here to see our volunteer page.

The Pingel Family

Fall, 2019

When Scott Pingel and his wife, Iris, were looking to move to Marin three-and-a-half years ago, Kiddo! quickly came to their attention.

"We were especially excited about the quality of the art and music programs that were offered through Kiddo!, and it's one of the primary reasons we decided to settle in Mill Valley," says Pingel.

The Pingels are passionate about the arts, and make donating to Kiddo! of primary importance to their yearly budgeting. Scott and Iris met at the Manhattan School of Music where Iris was studying cello. Scott is currently the prinicipal bass of the San Francisco Symphony. Their eighth grade daughter Hannah plays flute in the wind ensemble and advanced jazz band at Mill Valley Middle School, and first grade daughter Sophia loves her art and music classes at Edna Maguire.

Because of Scott and Iris' backgrounds, and because they want to foster an appreciation of the arts in their own children, the Pingels find Kiddo! to be invaluable.

"Kiddo! supports the most powerful mechanisms for discovery, processing the vicissitudes of life, and for knowing beauty," Scott says. "Einstein said that 'imagination is more important than knowledge,' and the arts bring us intuitively to that which consciousness and reason cannot. They are a reflection of the soul of a civilization."

Thank you, Pingels, for your support of Kiddo!. If this inspires your family to donate to Kiddo!, you can do so here!