Play Acting and Candy Machines

This week at the Boys & Girls Club there was a church group volunteering at the club. As Bonners serving our community allows us to make long lasting relationships with the people we serve and hopefully make a long term difference that the people who only volunteer for a short period of time don’t have the capability to accomplish. However, one of the great things about having so many volunteers for such a short period of time is that there is the opportunity to change up the everyday routine and add some extra excitement to the days. With this church group at the Boys & Girls Club the kids were able to perform short plays about anti-bullying. The kids were great! They were so excited to be doing something new and be able to perform it in front of all of their friends. Even though it was impossible to understand the kids in most of the acts and some of their plays didn’t actually cover bullying, the kids learned so much from the experience (like hopefully not to bully one another and public speaking) and they really enjoyed it!

Since most of the kids have managed to read almost, if not all of the books available to the Boys & Girls Club Mr. Chris, the staff member of the middle age group, and I had the kids act out the short story “Blame it on the Wolf”. This spin-off of LIttle Red Riding allowed the kids to act out the characters and really gave them the opportunity to hone their public speaking skills. Some the kids loved it and others really looked like they would rather have been anywhere else, but overall most the kids definitely enjoyed this reading time more than than any other.

The Border Collie Rescue was also an interesting place this week. We were clearing up the yard which basically translates to getting rid of the twenty-five of so candy machines (90s flashback) located next to one of the sheds. Ani, Abby and I probably made some significant damage on the mosquito population considering how much sitting water was lodged into those machines. All of the events of this week have made one thing clear: being a Bonner is never boring and you never know what to expect.

Wait, they steal the babies?!

This week, we visited the Duvall Home, Hope Reins, the Literacy Council, and Grace House Pregnancy Resource Center. Whew! Funny story with Hope Reins though... Heather and I get all the way out there, and we can't find Hope anywhere. We see horses. Plenty of horses; girls riding horses, horses trotting around, etc. Naturally, we call Hope to see where she is. No answer. We drive up to the house, we drive around the barn, and nothing. Unfortunately, that was a bust. Considering that this is the first time this has happened all summer, I really can't complain. On the other hand, our visit at the Grace House Pregnancy Resource Center went really well! I went with Savannah on the day she was finally announcing her pregnancy to everyone. As soon as she told Donna, Savannah was presented with a tiny, life-like 3-month old synthetic baby. She had one of these fake babies for every stage of pregnancy and told us that she had to be careful with them because she's had them stolen several times. After all the baby talk, we spent a good hour discussing what kind of help is needed over at the center. Of course, this site is a tricky one because of its mission and beliefs. However, as long as a student is on board with the center's values, there's no issue!

This summer has been a great opportunity for me to work on strategies for the upcoming year. I know that once the year starts, it becomes hectic. I'm deeply appreciative for the chance to reach out to so many of our community partners. I've learned so much, and I already miss the one on one meetings we were able to have. I hope to continue following up with partners to better understand how community engagement is changing with each new incoming class. It's been a challenge for me to change my perspective, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Last week Of SoS

Actually, I wasn't supposed to write anymore, but I just wanted to write my last post about this little kid named Guilherme. Guilherme is one of the 2-year olds that I worked with this summer. So, Guilherme is 2 and he has a brother and a sister (they are older than him). He is currently malnourished and so are his siblings. Their mother is single and the four of them live inside one of those cardboard kinda houses. He is the sweetest thing I've ever laid eyes on ❤️ So, during my weeks volunteering there, he got really attached to me. I got attached to him too. I started to learn more about him and we found out that his mom didn't have any money for groceries. Coincidently enough, the lady that assists my grandma lives close to Guilherme and his family, therefore, she gave us more info on his family. 

I bought him new shoes, new clothes, and underwear. We also bought things for his siblings. Mom gave some of her clothes to Gui's mother as well. Now, every two weeks my mom gives them groceries. 

I was supposed to take him to the mall to play with him in a game/arcade area we have, but he was scared to go because he has never been in a car before.

I am so so thankful and lucky to have done Summer of Service this summer, because I got to meet this amazing child ❤️

Hope you guys had as great of an experience as mine!

Andrea:)

Week 7 at Siena

This week, I experienced more turmoil at the Albany United Methodist Society as our first campers arrived. Preparation work on the building was completed just the day before our second scheduled start of the summer program.

On the day of the opening, Maura and I were very concerned that no children would come in. Indeed, after an hour of inactivity, it seemed as though our fears would be confirmed. Then a father and his two sons came in and I was introduced to another Jason, this one ten years of age. He and his brother Ryan were the only clients I had to deliver my seven youth employees, so one of the first issues that would persist throughout the week became painfully clear. As the day waned on, only two more children arrived, a brother and sister named Harrison and Trinese. This meant that even if I specifically assigned a counselor to a child, I had three extra counselors on hand with absolutely nothing to do. They quickly became disinterested in their jobs and sat talking to each other or looking at their phones for most of their shifts. This situation persisted into the afternoon shift, where the counselors simply counted the hours until the program day was over.

This first day was repeated with slight variation on the next two. Two more campers, sisters Divinity and Nativitiy, joined our group, but with six children the majority of the activities I had planned during the first month here, carrying the expectation of twenty or thirty members, were rendered useless. The campers were more than content to play sports and run around inside the gym or put their creative spirits to work via arts and crafts. Most of the campers took to most of the counselors fairly quickly, with Jason and Ryan being the exceptions. While they adored me and constantly sought out my attention, whenever I needed to leave the program area for administrative duties they attempted to find me unsupervised, causing more than one headache.

On Friday, our scheduled field trip days, the campers besides Jason and Ryan (simply didn't show), myself, Maura, Cari, and our camp nurse Roberta took a trip to Methodist Farms, a private campsite/vacation area for members of the methodist network churches. It was a gorgeous day out and we were able to swim in the lake onsite for hours, much to the extreme joy of our campers. The men and women running the farm prepared a delicious lunch for us and we spent some great time together with them eating and sharing some information about ourselves. By the time we got back to Albany, we were all exhausted from the effort but supremely glad to have gone out.

"Your values logo looks like a..."

This week was a fun one! The Bonner Summer Leadership Program kiddos arrived, and as always, I had site visits to keep me busy. The first visit that we were got to take the highschoolers to was University Center East. I was happy to be able to help out at the center, as they had expressed their dire need for volunteers during our site visit not too long ago. The kiddos, along with Pat, Heather and I, were given a tour of the facility. It was good for them to see that there is a big difference between nursing homes and retirement homes. After the tour, we were tasked with giving some of the residents hand massages. I could sense the apprehension as soon as we were given our task, but I knew we;d be able to handle it! It ended up being a great day, and I feel that it really challenged everyone to step outside of their comfort zones.

Our site visit with the Domestic Abuse Council went well! We were able to discuss what has and has not worked with college volunteers that the council has had in the past. As Heather and I reviewed the Community Partner manual with Lynn, she couldn't help but let us know that our 4-core value logo looked like a certain womanly body part. Needless to say, Heather and I couldn't quite see it ourselves, but uh, to each their own! I've also been working on projects over at DeLeon Springs each Friday since not many Stetson students are left this summer. Removing invasive species of plants is important this time of year, but they haven't had the hands to get it done as fast as they would like. In the office, I've been brainstorming ideas to better prepare our incoming community organizers. In the past, we haven't been able to bond as a staff, and I hope to help change this for the upcoming year!

Week 7- A Week at Border Collie

The past week and a half has been a stressful one. Along with Anni and Josh, I stayed at Border Collie Rescue. Every morning I would wake up and begin rounds at 7. I would feed the dogs, clean their crates, wash the dogs, and let them out.

In between rounds, I would work on our inside projects. I re-painted much of the hallway, cleaned the kitchen, and went through a lot of the garbage around the property.

We also had the bonner camp kids come out for two days. The first days they learned how to train a dog and how our establishment works. The second day we had them clean the property and wash dogs. It was a great help.

The second and third rounds of the day, we spent playing with the dogs and training them. I had so much fun this week getting to really know all of the dogs.

Josh's SOS #7

Week 7

 It has been a while since my last blog, but as the summer comes to an end, so will my blogs. Is has been a memorable summer. An experience full of ups and downs, but nonetheless, an experience I won't for get. Working at the border collie rescue all summer made me realize the importance of Abby and I being there. We have seen the change we've made in many of these dogs, seeing get adopted and make people happy is a very rewarding feeling. Ending my service there this summer by boarding at my site and working with the animals for 10 straight days was a handful, but staying there that amount of time brought me closer to my site supervisors and the animals. All and all so thankful for bonner, for giving me this opportunity to become much closer with my site, as the summer draws to an end, I can now look forward to the fall, to continue my work here at the border collie rescue.

Peace out,

P.S. Raider is doing awesome. Learning tricks like a boss.