They came in all shapes and sizes. Girls with their hair in braids and pigtails adorned with barrettes and bands. Boys cool with spiked or slicked back hair. Brightly colored clothing. Every glorious shade of…brown, black, white. Most had smiles when they arrived despite feeling beaten down. All had smiles of hope when they left.
Our DJ spun turntables with albums (yes, albums!) playing an energized mix of all kinds of happy music. We had dance breaks and twirled around the gymnasium. We sang when we knew the words to the songs.
While some children wrote their letters to the President and painted their pictures, others painted t-shirts with messages that will be brought to Congo in September and given to their brothers and sisters in displacement camps, hospitals and an orphanage. Toddlers made a wonderful mess creating puppets and silly glasses out of colored pipe cleaners. Some of the adults fancied making an homage to Elton John’s eyewear look in the 70’s, too. Moms learned to design and make pieces of jewelry; and, each one walked away with at least one creation to call their own.
Lunch arrived and after eating way too much pizza, some surprise guests arrived when actors from Twilight, Nickelodeon shows, and the new Hannah Montana movie showed up to play with the kids, paint, help write letters, and take photos with their fans.
As our guests left, we passed out great Please Mr. President… t-shirts to all the kids and parents. For our volunteers, we gave everyone t-shirts and a TAKE ACTION flyer so they could keep up the great work in their own communities by donating their time volunteering, mentoring, creating their own local workshops, etc. Volunteers, adults and kids alike, were already signing up to come back to tutor and mentor at the Mission.
It was the kind of day that most of these kids and their parents rarely see. For those volunteers who helped that day – from our teachers, to our artists, to our writers, to our friends, and our kids, to the great staff at Union Rescue Mission – the end of the day brought tears over stories we shared, kids we played with, Moms and Dads we hugged. Memories captured in these photos, paintings and letters…not soon to be forgotten. And, we knew we had accomplished our goal – and that everyone there had seen firsthand how one person CAN make a difference.
