On July 17, 2014 I had the pleasure of volunteering with A Child's Place during their My Place Summer Camp. The summer camp “a six-week oppportunity for rising first through eigth grade students. When the academics year comes to a close, homeless children lose the structure and food school provides." My Place summer day camp provides these students with a safe, fun and educational environment for the summer. During the summer camp I worked with the rising 2nd graders. It was such a pleasure and I enjoyed every moment of it! I signed up to be a volunteer months prior . As it got closer to the date of service I started getting nervous wondering what activity I was going to do with kids. I wanted it to be fun, yet educational and memorable for them.
I arrived at the Westerly Hills location and met Ms. Lindsay Wilson, the student advocate. She was very welcoming and explained a little of the process and what time the kids would be entering the cafeteria. Prior to the kids arriving I setup so that it can save some time since I only had an hour. When the kids arrived they were full of energy. Upon entering the cafeteria there was this one little girl who walked up to me and gave the biggest hug, mind you I had never met the little girl before that day. However, she was so welcoming and excited to be there. Once all the kids entered they started asking “is this a birthday party?” “what are we going to do?”. I introduced myself to the kids as Ms. Tori and I let them know that we would be making toy parachutes. They were all excited asking if they could keep the toys and take them home. My answer of course was yes! During the activity the kids were being kids, active, talkative, and asking a lot of questions. Overall the kids were on their best behavior. I honestly didn’t expect anything less from 7 and 8 year olds. What warmed my heart was the same little girl who gave me a hug in the beginning, offered me her toy parachute. I told her that is was for her to keep and that was my gift to her. It seemed from the moment she walked through the door she was fond of me. She wanted me to help her, asked questions about me and we engaged in some small talk. She told me that her birthday was September 18th, and that she will be 9 which is the same exact birthday as my son who will be 9 as well. I told her I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my son I met a pretty little girl who has the same birthday as him. Needless to say, I think I made her day because she was smiling from ear to ear and asked if I could stay longer. After the children completed their parachutes it was time for them to get on the bus. They all told me bye and thanked me for coming, as well as thanking me for their toys.
I truly enjoyed myself with the children, they were a pleasure to work with. After working with these children I realized that a lot of them don’t get to really see or experience beyond their unstable conditions. So when they do get the opportunity to experience different things they are filled with Joy. After cleaning up and speaking with Ms. Lindsay a bit, I left. I walked to my car filling fulfilled and Joyous knowing that I may have made a difference in a child’s life that day. That child will go home talking about their day and playing with their toy that I gave them. Even if situations are not the best for them and they are not as fortunate as other children, at least for that moment they were able to enjoy themselves and experience something new. It was truly a pleasure. I can’t wait to go back on the 31st.
