What We've Been Waitng For

Friday, October 23 the day when we would see all our hard work pay off as we got to interact with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. We all went in with our plan and what we expected to happen. Everyone knows we are the sports group who decided to share that passion with the children of Lafayette. However, on the blog today I'm going to share about what I hadn't expected that really made the afternoon great.

When we arrived we went to the gym to start setting up our first game and I volunteered to play a game with the kids that didn't want to play in the gym. Little did I know what I would be getting myself into. These kids were running around like crazy, talking over each other, and not being very agreeable. I got the kids together and really pumped up the idea of hide and seek. We played for a while and the kids still weren't real sure this was a cool enough game. So we switched to hiding a ping pong ball and playing the "hot and cold" game. The longer we played the more I realized it wasn't the game that mattered it was the fact that someone was showing an interest in them. We played "Simon Says" and "Red Light, Green Light" and the kids seemed to change right before my eyes. These crazy children were only acting that way because they wanted attention and to know someone cared about them

There are many examples I could share that assure me we accomplished our group mission of helping those in our community. One example is a little boy named Rylan. He was a first grader that thought he was a fifth grade champ. Rylan joined my group that was not playing games in the gym. I hadn't really noticed Rylan until all of a sudden he was standing in front of me on a couch and launched himself into my arms. I hugged him until it was time to go find the hidden ping-pong ball and from then on he was the sweetest little boy. He minded what I said and played every game with us. The second example child was a very shy little boy who joined my group later in the day. He never said much but his face would light up when we included him. Finally, as we were leaving to go home he tapped my arm and told me him got 3 A's and 2 B's on his report card. I was so proud of him even though I had only known him for an hour or two, but what a special little boy who just wanted someone to share his good news with.

Our group wondered why we didn't just collect cans or pick up garbage and I believe we now know why. I feel we did make a difference and I would love to go back and play with the kids again. It was only a few hours but I feel we did make an impact in the lives of lots of children.

Christy