Text Story: Giving Back to the Community

April 30, 2023

Meg Wolfe saves lives in her professional life and helps students achieve their college dreams in her free time.

Wolfe currently works as a registered interventional radiology nurse in Dana Point, California. In 2015, Wolfe started a non-profit community service organization, Hands Helping Hands, in West Linn, Oregon. The organization consists of Portland area high school students.

After moving to Dana Point, California, in 2021, Wolfe passed HHH down to new leadership. However, she still checks in regularly. “One of our kids from Wilsonville just got a full ride to Cal Poly for her community service. She was a Hands Helping Hands officer all four years of high school,” said Wolfe.

Wolfe founded HHH to provide local community service opportunities for high school students. “There were no volunteer opportunities unless you joined that National Charity League, which was a super exclusive mother-daughter thing, and no boys were allowed, so that’s why I started it,” said Wolfe.

The group originally consisted of Wolfe’s daughter, Abby, and her close friends, but quickly gained popularity once Abby got to high school. Soon enough HHH became a federally recognized non-profit organization reaching 501c3 status. “We put 492 students through our group in seven years,” said Wolfe.

Former HHH member, Claire Matthiessen said, “I don’t think I would’ve gotten into UCLA if it weren’t for Meg and Hands Helping Hands.” According to Matthiessen, a correlation exists between community service involvement and academic success.

“Educational achievement was positively related to community service,” according to a 2014 report from Wiley Online Library, a highly regarded publishing company.

For Wolfe, the organization means so much more than boosting college acceptance. “I mean yes that was part of it, but my purpose of Hands Helping Hands was to teach high school kids how to be better humans and to care for other people, and I think it worked.”

Wolfe plans to start a similar organization in Dana Point, California. “I reached out via Facebook, and I had about nine parents want to schedule a meeting with me at the beginning of the summer. I’m starting all over again.”